My house has been really tidy lately and John has been trying to make his way to IKEA for weeks now. So yesterday, it happened - I made my way over on the free shuttle bus.
Walking to the A train, I encountered this long-ass line of Showtime At The Apollo audience members; the ride over was uneventful, perfect for reading some magazines
I love the concept of IKEA (its name derived from initials of the owner and the name and village of his family's farm in Sweden). You save money by putting it together yourself; the whole process stokes your creativity. The storage systems they sell are like Lego: buy a shelf, add a cabinet, add another shelf, change it around, add a set of drawers ... it's fun!
And the men! I saw lots of eye candy there! Thank goodness, because all those little unruly brats truly tested my constitution! So, it makes a lot of sense: men, design, furniture, creativity ... you know ...
Here's what I got:
LACK wall shelf
BENNO wall shelf
RÅDA wall shelf
DIRIGENT CD racks
PLASTIS ice cube trays
REDA Grater
Like most New Yorkers, I need lots of storage. So I got lots of shelves. However, the easy favorite here is the grater. This thing is truly a work of art: you can use either of the two included stanless steel grater lids (for coarse and fine grating) with the bowl (which has a rubber bottom - nice touch!). No more messy grating! Plus, you can grate to your heart's content, pop the included plastic lid on and store it in the fridge! Freshly grated cheese, whenever you want! Now, I'm assuming cheese (which I shouldn't; it's an addiction, you know), but you could grate anything hard up in this. It's the perfect size for a single guy living in a small space. And at $2.99, this price is right! I truly plan on making another trip to get lots of these as gifts - every cook should have one!
I really didn't mean to buy all this shit (or to spend almost 3 hours up in there), but IKEA is that kind of store. You go in looking for one thing, but along the way you encounter all kinds of stuff that's too cute and too cheap to pass up! I mean, really cheap - so cheap that you might as well bypass the tired "AS IS/CLEARANCE" section (nothing but broken junk).
So, after I made my way through checkout and was getting a bite to eat, who did I run into but John! He is so sweet - he was riding with friends, but offered to take my stuff home for me. Thank you, John! *hug!*
I'm getting it started up in here, even thinking about painting - finally! This month's Real Simple has a cute article about painting; that article and John have inspired me to open up to the possibility of applying a fresh coat of paint and color up in she. Light and airy, I want it to feel like I'm living in a fluffy cloud ...
I desparately need to make a run to IKEA. And I heart that grater. Something like that (and a few other items) may actually get my behind burning in the kitchen again.
Lemmeenoo if you go ahead with painting. I’m down for a painting party.
Those ice cube trays are TOO cute! The whole damn store is just fabulous - I can’t wait for the one in Atlanta to open up.
I’m dieing to send this to my good friend that does the visuals at IKEA, he would love this. IKEA is much more than a great store there’s some huge very open and very gay minds at work and they are about it on alot of levels. Keep Ikea as one of those places you’ll turn to when the going gets tough, they are making the moves. Their catalog is a major must have too. It’s all about Ikea. Conran’s here in the U.S. used to be within reach to the urbanite but I don’t hear as much as I used to. Anyhoo, I enjoyed this one. IKEA for everyone!
IKEA is cool? Okay. But, sweetie, I tought you were already living in a fluffy cloud - heh, heh.
Um, I went back again today for some more of those cute ice cube trays … and a couple of those grater sets …
This could easily turn into an addiction.
Ikea…that Dutch furniture company, if my memory serves me correctly. I first found out about it about a decade ago from a dear friend. He raved at how one could decorate stylish and cheaply (I mean affordably). I have to say I agree. Though one must exercise some caution and have some taste, and shop sparingly. Owning too much Ikea is like owning too many Patrick Nagel prints: your space could look like a dollhouse if you have too much of the stuff.
Oh! I got the greates deal on a mattress/box spring set several years ago: $299 for a regularly $799 set. (I should note that I found the items in the “Imperfect/Damage” department. But the damage wasn’t visible—actually it was ridiculously negligible. And that bed held up well…What a shame I had to get rid of it. Long story…)
Donald: I’m glad you found a grater you like. God knows you needed to get rid of that rusty-ass one you have. Did you by any see any microwave ovens on sale? Hint.
Glad you enjoyed your shopping trip, Friend.
Looking forward to seeing you again very, very soon.
Now which of your John’s did you run into this time?? hahahahah… if you think Ikea has eye candy… prep for a visit to Homo.. oops, Home Depot.
Ya can call a brotha when you cross the border into Jersey… I’m only 25 minutes from Ikea.
Oh how I miss that store. Sounds like you had a glam!! shopping day. oh, and throw caution to the wind and toss up some wild berry colors on those walls.. LOL
Man if you ever want a ride out there let me know. I went and picked up a bed last week, and now I need some of those under the bed boxes. I do have wheels you know. I won’t charge you gas, but you can help with tolls. Then we can go over to that little outlet mall nearby.
Dear DBD,
“Ikea…that Dutch furniture company, if my memory serves me correctly”
No no no. IKEA is swedish. It stands for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd, Agunnaryd.