In a word.....IKEA

The Swedish sensation. This past weekend marked my first visit to IKEA. Much to Tom's dismay, I am hooked. He only has himself to blame. I mean, it is not often dear husband suggests we go to a store just to browse. And browse we did for nearly 2 1/2 hours. It was fantastic. "Why did you love IKEA so much?" he asks whenever I speak of this new love...well, I cannot really answer. First, I love furniture and even more, furniture stores. And, I love accessories for our house. No matter how fat I get, I can always enjoy shopping for household items. With our upcoming move, I found myself eyeing all sorts of wonderful odds and ends that I will gladly get for our new home when the time is right. One item I really enjoyed were the Vurm wineracks. I want to hang three of them (stacked) in our new kitchen. While we found most of the furniture to be a bit less than "high quality" (mostly plastic/inexpensive wood, Tom and I both agreed that the Fagelbo sofa bed with storage is the ideal relationship between functionality and form that we need for what will eventually be our guestroom/office. I could have ordered the sofa bed the moment I saw it....but then I realized we should probably find a place to live before we buy the furniture! We also really loved a table and chairs set that is sure to eventually make its way into our playroom. To be honest, I was mostly struck by the accessories. I loved the assortment of lamps and lamp shades. I really LOVED the curtains that they had on display and I found that many of the art pieces were quite attractive. And, to top it off, the prices just cannot be beat. I know we have spent well over $100 to have a print framed. At IKEA, there were endless possibilities in clsoer to about $20. We have very simple lamps that were about $60 each. At IKEA, similar lamps (including the shade) would run you around $10. I was also shocked to see the area rugs they were selling for about $15 compared to my $150. You can even get a kitchen mat for less than $2!!

All in all, IKEA strikes me as a fantastic place to go and pick up odds and ends. Maybe a table for a spare room or an entry way. It also gives you the option to mix things up a bit since the prices are so reasonable. I know when we spend a lot of money on an item, I want to get all the use out of it that I can. With the IKEA products, I think you could almost get away with changing your decor with the seasons. Or at least annually or however often you get bored with your surroundings. I think, in general, the quality is good enough that you would be proud to have it in your house. The true test will be to see how often their product lines change. I can see IKEA as the type of place I could visit monthly (this is a HUGE store....it takes at least 2 hours to really evaluate the selection). If I get through my second visit with the same stars in my eyes I had the first time, I will be personally signing the petition going around the NC area to get an IKEA built in our new neighborhood. Until then, I will be dragging everyone up to Maryland or down to Atlanta for my IKEA fix.