What is it...
G'day all!
What is it about IKEA that brings people in again and again?
I've had Billy bookshelves for years. They are cheap, cheerful (well mine aren't - they are a sorta metallic charcoal grey/black) and despite being made of particle board with flimsy paper-like backs, have lasted for quite some years. (They must be about 10 years old at least. I know I had my Starlet when I brought some home - I had to take them out of the packaging, open up the hatch, lay the front seat down (the passenger one!) and then load the long bits in there. Apparently the Starlet could only take things that are 2m long.)
On the weekend, since I had hired a car, we choofed off to the Seattle IKEA. My goodness. It is interesting seeing the differences and the similarities between IKEAs. I suspect they are basically the same - the layout might be a bit different, the electrical goods on offer are a little different (just as well - Oz runs on 240V rather than 110V and has different shaped plugs) - but the US and Oz ones really are so similar. Except for the prices. Oddly enough, the Stuff in the US is much cheaper. I am sure this won't surprise any Australians.
We bought Stuff. We bought lots of Stuff. And we had to go back on Sunday because we accidentally put other Stuff down whilst loading yet more Stuff onto our flatbed trolley (aka shopping cart). Ooops!
You would be surprised at what you can get into a Nissan Sentra, as long as the driver is willing to put her seat forward a bit. It has a loading area that is as long as my nose is high off the ground, assuming I'm standing up and have runners on. It actually took a box that was a bit longer than that but we had to do IKEA origami or maybe Tetris to get the thing in. It could not take 2m long stuff, though maybe if that Stuff was narrow and could go in the passenger side, but a Sentra doesn't have a hatchback to load stuff through.... The Fusion would've eaten all we had in one go and been waiting for seconds.
We also saw six people with a LOT of Stuff standing around a people mover, scratching their heads as they tried to get their Stuff into their car. It seemed they had not only bought a lot of Stuff, they had neglected to ensure that their people mover was long enough to take the really long Stuff whilst allowing the front passenger to sit in the front passenger seat. (Apparently they had two cars with them, which was good because I could not work out how six people and that much Stuff could fit in one vehicle, legally anyway.) IKEA Tetris is so much fun! (except for when you have to return stuff cos it just does not fit in your car...)
It also amazes me when I see what comes out of the boxes. Like this:
becomes this:
We have a new desk (wood tabletop and wooden trestle legs), two office-type chairs (as above, green and blue) with Kolon mats to roll around on (that makes me laugh - rolling around on a kolon), a blue 8 drawer dresser, a mirror for Nathan to write on (so much cheaper than a whiteboard!), two little LED desk lights, a groovy table light...
Now if only our stuff would appear from out of the ether (aka a container ship), it would be grand. We were told it would take a month, and it is now nearly seven weeks, and I really don't expect it for another two or three (though earlier would be good!) But we have not heard from the shipping people at all. We have a few furniturey items to get that we can't really fit in alongside the rental furniture at the moment (like a dining table) and set our place up as we want it. And we will have storage options, which we don't really at the moment. We do have closet space but only one comes with more than the above the rail shelf. There's only so much you can pile on the floor in a cupboard....
We did lots of other things on the weekend too, but this is enough for one post. Do I have to make a guilty confession too? Or have I already done that?
anon!
What is it about IKEA that brings people in again and again?
I've had Billy bookshelves for years. They are cheap, cheerful (well mine aren't - they are a sorta metallic charcoal grey/black) and despite being made of particle board with flimsy paper-like backs, have lasted for quite some years. (They must be about 10 years old at least. I know I had my Starlet when I brought some home - I had to take them out of the packaging, open up the hatch, lay the front seat down (the passenger one!) and then load the long bits in there. Apparently the Starlet could only take things that are 2m long.)
On the weekend, since I had hired a car, we choofed off to the Seattle IKEA. My goodness. It is interesting seeing the differences and the similarities between IKEAs. I suspect they are basically the same - the layout might be a bit different, the electrical goods on offer are a little different (just as well - Oz runs on 240V rather than 110V and has different shaped plugs) - but the US and Oz ones really are so similar. Except for the prices. Oddly enough, the Stuff in the US is much cheaper. I am sure this won't surprise any Australians.
We bought Stuff. We bought lots of Stuff. And we had to go back on Sunday because we accidentally put other Stuff down whilst loading yet more Stuff onto our flatbed trolley (aka shopping cart). Ooops!
You would be surprised at what you can get into a Nissan Sentra, as long as the driver is willing to put her seat forward a bit. It has a loading area that is as long as my nose is high off the ground, assuming I'm standing up and have runners on. It actually took a box that was a bit longer than that but we had to do IKEA origami or maybe Tetris to get the thing in. It could not take 2m long stuff, though maybe if that Stuff was narrow and could go in the passenger side, but a Sentra doesn't have a hatchback to load stuff through.... The Fusion would've eaten all we had in one go and been waiting for seconds.
We also saw six people with a LOT of Stuff standing around a people mover, scratching their heads as they tried to get their Stuff into their car. It seemed they had not only bought a lot of Stuff, they had neglected to ensure that their people mover was long enough to take the really long Stuff whilst allowing the front passenger to sit in the front passenger seat. (Apparently they had two cars with them, which was good because I could not work out how six people and that much Stuff could fit in one vehicle, legally anyway.) IKEA Tetris is so much fun! (except for when you have to return stuff cos it just does not fit in your car...)
It also amazes me when I see what comes out of the boxes. Like this:
 |
(Except that is the second chair and is blue, I hope) |
becomes this:
We have a new desk (wood tabletop and wooden trestle legs), two office-type chairs (as above, green and blue) with Kolon mats to roll around on (that makes me laugh - rolling around on a kolon), a blue 8 drawer dresser, a mirror for Nathan to write on (so much cheaper than a whiteboard!), two little LED desk lights, a groovy table light...
 |
| I love the groovy shapes on the wall. |
Now if only our stuff would appear from out of the ether (aka a container ship), it would be grand. We were told it would take a month, and it is now nearly seven weeks, and I really don't expect it for another two or three (though earlier would be good!) But we have not heard from the shipping people at all. We have a few furniturey items to get that we can't really fit in alongside the rental furniture at the moment (like a dining table) and set our place up as we want it. And we will have storage options, which we don't really at the moment. We do have closet space but only one comes with more than the above the rail shelf. There's only so much you can pile on the floor in a cupboard....
We did lots of other things on the weekend too, but this is enough for one post. Do I have to make a guilty confession too? Or have I already done that?
anon!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteShould I tell you that IKEA will deliver, for a rather modest fee?
ReplyDeleteWe got tons of stuff from East Palo Alto into San Francisco for about $89. Which isn't bad when you consider it's insured against breakage and they carried it all up stairs for us (-:
Forgot to punctuate my comment before ... oops!
Ikea, not something we have access to on our island. Love the chair and the weird light shadows too. Your 'stuff' must be in moving limbo, hope it appears soon.
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of those chairs and find them very comfortable.
ReplyDeleteDelivery from IKEA? Never again from the place at Rhodes. Haven't yet been to the new place at Tempe. It was abominable and cost $82 for absolutely no service at all with four hour late delivery and extremely rude delivery men.
I'd hire a caged ute from Balmain Rentals for $70 for the day, less for half a day and DIL would do it.
It left me with such a sour taste about IKEA that I haven't yet been back in 10 months to use a voucher given when I complained.
I think problem was in third party firm doing the delivery. No real access to them.
Oooh I'm dangerous in Ikea!!
ReplyDeleteHaa haa I've done that thing of buying things then getting out to the car park and realising I have to fit them in my car!! to this day I have no idea how I managed. I've got white Billy bookcases, they've moved interstate with me and 3 house moves and they're still standing proud. Not bad for a bit of chip board. I really love that light you got!!
ReplyDelete