Still confused? I suspect half my friends know nothing of what that word means. It is the name of a Swedish furniture store that is raved about among homemakers. I will not go into the history of the store, because I do not know it, and it would prove of little interest to you. It has strong roots in a few cities around this country, and the heart of it, is Chicago. Chicago, Illinois is the home of not one, but two IKEA stores, and the one to the north is the second largest IKEA furniture store in the world; the largest being in Sweden, of course.
This weekend, I drove up to IKEA, for the first time, with my parents, who are veterans of the store. My mom is an IKEA fanatic, to put it lightly. Since the discovery of the store, my house has undergone a transformation. My mom is German, and for whatever reason, she is very particular about furniture here in the US, preferring European style furniture (which makes sense if you think about it). Before, our house could have been considered to be furnished as Euro-American, but that has changed to a dominance in European furnishing, with a slight hint of American styling.
Getting back on topic, I went to IKEA this weekend to find a bed and desk for my new place, and I brought my camera. I will post a few thumbnails that link to the photo album, click the link to get to the album. There is even a picture of me, attempting to look sinister.
This is the IKEA store, as you drive in from the main road.
The place is huge, three massive floors of furnishings. The second and third floor has all the furniture and furnishings on display. Each display item has a set of tags on it, describing the item, and more importantly a row and aisle number. If you want to purchase an item, such as a bed, you go to the first floor which is like a warehouse, containing the items that the second and third floor had on display. Most is self-service, you go down to the first floor, grab a cart, and with your shopping list, you find the items that are all neatly packed away in boxes, awaiting assembly.
A view of all three floors. You can see the boxes of furniture on the first floor. An island with walkways leads you to the lights / lamps section.
We spent four hours in the store and we really only spent time in the bed, bathroom, desk, and kitchen section of the store, sampling each section only. I could probably could have spent twice as much time there, especially in the kitchen and tableware section, looking at glasses, plates, pots and pans, and other useful kitchen and eating items. Yes, I enjoy that stuff, because I like cooking, and I like to make things look nice, especially if I have guests eating. You need the proper utensils, from start to finish, to make a proper meal.
This view shows about a third of area for kitchen stuffs, table ware, and furnishings. Glasses, mugs, plates, utensils, are all there.
A nice thing about the store is that you do not even have to leave the store, if you are hungry. The third floor has a restaurant with Swedish food, including Swedish Meatballs. The first floor has a quick meal place, such that you find at baseball stadiums, and even a small food area, where you can buy authentic Swedish food-stuffs. Bathrooms are on each floor. You can spend all day at the store, like the store owners intended.
When are finished shopping, and you have paid for your items, there are even convenient loading areas where you can pull up your car and load the big boxed items into your vehicle. Workers are available to help you jam your newly acquired furniture into your car.
Two guys loading an item onto their car, at the loading area, that is too big to fit in the car, as it was too full with the other boxes they had bought.
By the time we left, my feet were tired from all the walking around and looking. Content with our purchases, we left after a meal at the restaurant on the third floor, helping ourselves to the cookies that were marked "Free milk & cookies for kids." Next time I visit the place, I hope to see more of Chicago than the inside of IKEA. I would show you pictures of the new items I got, but they have not been assembled yet. :)
Ciao for now,
-K
