Ikea Safari

[dreamshark]

So finally, I've been to Ikea. Twice, actually, if you count bringing back the defective merchandise for exchange. *whew* Those Scandinavians sure know how to make shopping into a lot of work. I wish I'd worn a pedometer - I'm sure we logged at least a mile or two on the forced march past every piece of merchandise that Ikea sells. Okay, I'll admit it was kind of fun, at least for the first hour, and we did find the two things we were looking for. But I'd think twice before doing it again. It's an interesting retail approach, apparently intended to weed out the old and infirm so that only the young, fit target audience remains. And you do sort of feel motivated to buy lots of stuff just to make the time investment worthwhile. But it seems like an odd strategy to choose to market only to people who are willing to devote the better part of an afternoon just to getting in and out of your store.

The point of the trip was twofold. 1) buy some more CD storage drawers, which are no longer sold at ordinary stores and 2) replace the barely usable old vanity table I've been using as a sewing table with something that has a decent work surface and at least one set of shallow drawers. We found a couple of sets of small wooden drawers suitable for CDs (although not exactly CD drawers). For the sewing room, I had intended to buy rolling storage-drawers and lay a tabletop across them. But I found something I liked even better - one of those big slab desks with a pullout typewriter table on one side. I can put the sewing maching on the typing table pullout, and use the main desk surface for laying out fabric. For storage I bought one rolling stack of steel basket-drawers (perfect for cloth) and one rather expensive 4-drawer set that rolls in under the desk.

Unfortunately, after we (well, mostly thorintatge) had hauled it all upstairs, I discovered that the rolling drawer set was unusable. Unlike most Ikea stuff, this item came fully assembled. That was nice. Unfortunately, all the drawers were locked. And not only was there no key, there was no lock! With this particular model you have the option of purchasing a lock set that locks all the drawers at once. We had not bought the lock, and indeed there was no lock installed in the round hole under the plastic plug on the front. But the drawers were firmly and unassailably locked. *sigh* So tonight we hauled the durn thing back to the store and exchanged it for one where the drawers could be opened (this time we unpacked it and checked before we left Ikea!).

Now all I have to do is install the casters, flip the thing back over, and roll it under the desk. I think I'll go do that!

Comments

[buttonlass.livejournal.com]

I have to agree. I like the things I have gotten at Ikea in the past but the store makes me twitchy. I really have to gear up for the overload to my senses and decompress afterwards.

This Hasn't Got Nothin' To Do With Nothin', But...

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

...have you read rivka's LJ? She's been doing updates on her just over a year old daughter's growth. I think you'd like it -awful similar to the "Thorin & Amber Updates" you used to do.

Note added later: Sorry, I tried to do a link, but I can't remember how... Good thing I'm cute, in an pre-elderly, fat way.

[mmagidow.livejournal.com]

Clever, those Scandinavians. Too bad you didn't have to put it together. I would love to read your interpretation of their "instructions." I have see the place described as a "Scandinavian restaurant with a furniture theme."

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Oh, there was plenty of stuff to put together: the desk, the CD drawers, the rolling wire baskets, and finally the collection of nine little drawers to sit on top of the sewing desk. I'm not a big fan of the all-picture instruction manual, but this stuff is so simple in concept that it wasn't difficult to figure out. I did put one piece of the desk in upside down initially, but my mistake was obvious when I got to the next step and easily reversible. The furniture is cheap and tacky, but cleverly designed for easy assembly.

I didn't realize the food was such a big part of the experience. Richard wanted to eat there, but I sort of hustled him out the door. Probably insensitive on my part - he just wanted to get back to his Scandinavian roots. He's actually Norwegian not Swedish, but was confused by Grandma Strom's stories of her childhood and believed most of his life that she was Swedish. Of course, Scandinavian-Americans have lost track of the fact that there's any difference between Sweden and Norway anyway.