A typical 2-bedroom apartment in a typical American apartment complex
where we lived for 1.5 years. Shelves and curtains - IKEA.
Oak dining table set was bought on sale in my first year living in America.
A desk by the window which you cannot see because of the fern is also from IKEA.
10
Write about your last trip to a furniture store – or
about a memorable one. Was it with purpose or just browsing? Did you buy
anything, or did you leave empty handed? What store was it and why did you choose
it? Or maybe it was online shopping?
I can’t remember when exactly I visited a furniture
store last time, but I am pretty sure it was IKEA. I hear many snobbish
comments about this brand name, but I admit I love IKEA – love both the concept
and the reality, a comfortable, creative, affordable and what’s very important
uplifting store for many families. My own home has a combination of old
furniture (my own hand-me-downs so to speak, since I started here with not a
single piece of furniture, and when I earned some money I was able to pick and
buy the furniture that I liked, which was many years ago, but I dragged some of
those early pieces from city to city, from state to state, from home to home,
and so they became my own sort of hand-me-downs over the years), a few pieces
from antique shops, though not especially antique in the actual meaning of the
word, but still something unique and cozy, and pieces from IKEA.
When I visited IKEA
last time, I don’t think I bought anything – we don’t seem to need any
furniture for quite a while now, we could even get rid of a few pieces that we
store in the basement and don’t use for two or three years. A visit to IKEA is
more than a visit to a furniture store to buy a piece for your home. It used to
be a playland where our little daughter absolutely loved spending time, and we,
young lovers, could simply walk around or sip a cup of coffee and chat in the
restaurant while we were child-free for an hour or so, which seems like forever
for parents of a young kid. It used to be a place where we from time to time
just went for lunch or dinner which is always affordable for a family and
almost always good. It used to be and still sometime is a place where you can
get fresh ideas of how to organize your own living, using the pieces you
already have. I remember that it was such a revelation to hang narrow shelves up high,
close to the ceiling, when we lived in a tiny beach house, and then later in an
apartment with not enough closet space. Those shelves were space savers,
additional storage, and also our own quirk – owners of big houses loved being
in our cozy space and complimented us on how we organized it. I credit this
store for many of the ideas we got for our little living space, along with
those interior decorating books and magazines which I read for years. I did not
even have a desire to go to another furniture store for the last ten years or
so – I could find anything I needed between antique malls, my own hand-me-downs
and IKEA.
I like how yoy describe your older furniture as your own hand me downs. We are just in our second home and have been here since '91 so have limited moving experience.
ReplyDeleteWe have one arriving in our town soon, so I can experience the joy that is IKEA!
ReplyDeleteNot that we need much. Maybe a bed and some shelves. Xo Jazzy Jack