IKEA
seduced me slowly over the years. My son found the store when visiting friends
in Austin. He fell in love with the simple lines of one headboard, ordered it
at first sight, and paid for shipping to have it arrive in various boxes.
Another Austin trip and he brought home more boxes to add to his small bedroom.
Sleek and black and made for apartments or smaller homes, these pieces blended
well with his existing furniture and added function with its form.
About
five years ago, IKEA opened a store in our neighborhood. Rainy and cold days
found me ambling through decorated square footage. I picked up shelves to hang
on bedroom walls and a glass display case for collectables. In 2020, we opted
to get rid of our very heavy wood bedroom set and searched for something streamlined
and practical. Our bed choice meant added storage with drawers underneath. The
dresser, smaller than our previous one, turned out to fit perfectly and somehow
had more organizational options with the small SKUBB boxes that fit snugly.
When my husband’s company decided to make his remote work a permanent move, we
sighed in relief that our new, smaller furniture allowed us to absorb another
desk in the room.
Every
now and then, a walk through IKEA results with purchases—entertainment unit,
dressers, and an ideal unit for the second printer purchased as a Christmas
gift this year. Each item arrives home in a nice, neat brown box easily
transported in our car. We embrace the ability to save money by assembling the
piece ourselves. Last year, we found a couch that all three of us loved. Couches
present a special problem for a home built in the 1960s as they are often too
large and overpower rooms. Our last few couches, purchased at Pier One, have
been perfect fits. But . . . Pier One no longer exists. A stroll in IKEA last
fall found us checking out various couches. Like Goldilocks, one was too hard
and other too soft. Something that felt comfortable for the taller men
swallowed my shorter frame. Then I sat on one couch and sighed in satisfaction.
My husband joined me and smiled his approval. With my son’s smile, we realized
we’d finally found the perfect sofa. We priced it out, built in into our
budget, and finally bought it last Saturday.
Now
all of the IKEA furniture we’ve purchased in the past came in practical containers
with assembly required, but for some reason, it never occurred to any of us
that our new sofa would arrive in one large, brown box with assembly required!
Copyright 2025 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman
