Ikea
The other day I was invited with a friend to go along with her to "Ikea" (www.ikea.com) and since I am always looking for something to do that involves getting out and about I took her up on it. Ikea is a Swedish company and they are all over Europe. I noticed that there are some Ikea in the northeast USA too.
Jake and I had made one trip to Ikea when we first got the car. It was a bad experience...for me anyway. First of all, we drove for the first time on the autobahn that day and it took about a half an hour to get there. (a half an hour of chest pounding fear) We couldn't read the signs...(duh)....and wandered around quite a while in that town before we found Ikea. We had heard people raving about how wonderful Ikea was and we needed curtains here so we thought we'd go see what all the fuss was about. So, we got inside and followed the herd of people going upstairs. Basically the store is designed to take you through their showrooms in a maze. There is not really any way to get out of this maze environment once you get in it. You go through kitchens and living rooms and offices and bedrooms and childrens bedrooms etc. At the time, we wondered how you manage to purchase something you wanted. Anyway, on the day that Jake and I went I had just 'had enough' of being 'out there' and was confused about this crazy building set up. (Which by the way we were not that impressed with their merchandise) All I wanted to do was get the heck out of there! We kept following signs that had what looked like an exit symbol and eventually we got out of there.
So this time when I went there, I was going with someone who knows the ropes and knows her way around, etc. It was better but still not that great. Ikea has very modern stuff. It is nice looking, I guess....but I just don't see what all the fuss is about. A lot of people "LOVE" Ikea. And my friend swears that I will too by the time we leave. Ikea has a lot of what I call pressed wood furniture and I am not that impressed with that anymore. I want real wood furniture. It 'moves' better and to me looks better. Plus, I have had pressed wood furniture for years upon years and I've just had enough of it.
My friend and I (and her baby) had lunch in the cafeteria style restaurant that was there. Another interesting experience when you don't speak the language but I managed to say "schnitzel" and then was able to push my tray to the end and pay without too much difficulty.
So, I bought some Swedish Blueberry "Extra jam" and a garlic press from Ikea. I was so unimpressed by my second trip to Ikea that I decided it would be unlikely that I would return. They had lots of decorating ideas and stuff, but not in the style that I am interested in. And they don't really have the furniture that I like. This morning I tried the Blueberry extra jam on some toast and it was heavenly. Maybe Ikea ain't that bad, after all.
Jake and I had made one trip to Ikea when we first got the car. It was a bad experience...for me anyway. First of all, we drove for the first time on the autobahn that day and it took about a half an hour to get there. (a half an hour of chest pounding fear) We couldn't read the signs...(duh)....and wandered around quite a while in that town before we found Ikea. We had heard people raving about how wonderful Ikea was and we needed curtains here so we thought we'd go see what all the fuss was about. So, we got inside and followed the herd of people going upstairs. Basically the store is designed to take you through their showrooms in a maze. There is not really any way to get out of this maze environment once you get in it. You go through kitchens and living rooms and offices and bedrooms and childrens bedrooms etc. At the time, we wondered how you manage to purchase something you wanted. Anyway, on the day that Jake and I went I had just 'had enough' of being 'out there' and was confused about this crazy building set up. (Which by the way we were not that impressed with their merchandise) All I wanted to do was get the heck out of there! We kept following signs that had what looked like an exit symbol and eventually we got out of there.
So this time when I went there, I was going with someone who knows the ropes and knows her way around, etc. It was better but still not that great. Ikea has very modern stuff. It is nice looking, I guess....but I just don't see what all the fuss is about. A lot of people "LOVE" Ikea. And my friend swears that I will too by the time we leave. Ikea has a lot of what I call pressed wood furniture and I am not that impressed with that anymore. I want real wood furniture. It 'moves' better and to me looks better. Plus, I have had pressed wood furniture for years upon years and I've just had enough of it.
My friend and I (and her baby) had lunch in the cafeteria style restaurant that was there. Another interesting experience when you don't speak the language but I managed to say "schnitzel" and then was able to push my tray to the end and pay without too much difficulty.
So, I bought some Swedish Blueberry "Extra jam" and a garlic press from Ikea. I was so unimpressed by my second trip to Ikea that I decided it would be unlikely that I would return. They had lots of decorating ideas and stuff, but not in the style that I am interested in. And they don't really have the furniture that I like. This morning I tried the Blueberry extra jam on some toast and it was heavenly. Maybe Ikea ain't that bad, after all.
posted by Amy at 7:55 AM
1 Comments:
I loved getting the chance to sit and finally read your blog. Mom and I had quite a few other comments but I thought I would keep them to a minimum. Keep writing and taking those pics. I love you guys.
Post a Comment
<< Home