#4 😂

(Good luck!)

#s 2 and 4.

Also hahahahahahahaha!

#2 & #4. Can't go to Ikea and not eat meatballs and mashed potatoes.

#2 or #3 and #4.

5, y'all come home with an IKEA desk you like better . . .

1. Anyone who thought #1, you live in a dream world. Can I join you there?

2. They had 4 locking pin styles that they thought might work. Apparently the desk calls for 12! DH decided two styles looked about right (uh-huh) and took 12 of those.

(meanwhile, I asked why we just didn’t bring two of the panels we need to connect with us to the store. He actually got mad at me.) We will go down later this week to try it out. Hmm Hmm, might need another poll.

3. Since the desk is a good 8 years old, even if it IS ikea, they change things and they don’t keep making old parts.

4. The restaurant was open! We got our meatball plate! AND, because when I signed up for Ikea Family I told them my birthday is in January, they had sent me a $10 coupon we used in the Swedish Market AND a coupon for a frozen yogurt cone for the ride home!

5. Haha pink. we already have one! My older DS gave me an ikea desk a few years ago (Alex, i like it). But then I had to move my workspace to his old bedroom which has a desk (Company Store or Pottery Barn Teen). Then DS’s classes went virtual and he moved his study space into my old den. Then he moved his setup to a different surface in there (don’t know why) So, the original plan was to bring THAT desk. (Maybe I’d better check in with him, maybe he moved his setup because he doesn’t like it!)

Anyway, Then Bro said, ”I have this desk in a flat pack that will fit in the car better, why not use that?”

So, if these locking pins don’t work, yes, on to Plan 5. Stay tuned, results will post on Friday.

Again, I’m pretty sure this is not an ikea desk. I don’t think the guys even know what it looks like assembled. Reminds me of the librarian lament of people coming in to check out ”a book i loved when I was just out of college, it was red, do you have it?” The woman at the returns desk actually rolled her eyes, just like a librarian.

I live in a house with five desks and four rockers, plus my dad has three desks and two rockers. One can never have too many desks is our motto . . . or rockers.

LOL, I was looking for option #5: "We'll have a screaming match inside IKEA, be forced to leave the premises, but will stop for meatballs first, and then will return home to drag the desk out to the curb with a "FREE" sign on it!"

So true, pink! (Have you seen Christmas in Connecticut? Barbara Stanwick’s fans have sent her 38 rocking chairs, 8 in her apartment and the rest in the storeroom!)

btw, I have stayed out of this whole apartment situation for the most part, have made a point of being an interested observer and offering only to clean the bathroom and the kitchen counters. If someone needs to know how to work something, unless it’s a safety issue, I wait for them to ask me. I have enough to worry about without getting involved in this move. And I know DS wants to take care of himself. So when DH asked me where something should go, I always replied ”ask DS”. My involvement with the desk is only to go with DH to ikea, so we can use my coupons before they expire! And besides, no one is listening to me when I suggest that it is not an ikea desk, i can’t imagine my brother buying an ikea desk, and maybe they should get off that ikea fixation. Do you think they thought to ASK him where he got it? hohoho. But i got my frozen yogurt, and nothing will be my fault, so I feel like a winner.

Bestyears, that’s why I’m keeping out of this! I’m just in it for the meatballs!

Too funny!

I will not even tell you the saga of the desk i ordered on line. Proof positive of Murphy’s Law. Just to give you a hint, here is one small part of how it arrived. Note piece on the floor.

Dedtired, oh no!

Now I'm thinking, we'll just let DS pick out a new desk himself.

On the way to Ikea, we saw something that put things in perspective. When we got home later, DH looked up what thought we saw, and found this:

Not my photo, we looked up the event when we got home on DH's aviation forum. A small Cessna was taking off at a small airport alongside the highway, and a guest of wind blew it into this truck. An aviation fuel truck. Yikes. It hit the cab, the driver must not have been in it. The pilot was injured and we drove by while the Life flight was in the ground. We saw all the activity but couldn't quite tell what had happened. We thought maybe it was an exercise, but on the way back the runway was still closed and a couple of official and sheriff cars and people were there. So that pilot is definitely in our thoughts this evening.

Yikes, bpath. what a day you had.

I've really been trying to avoid drama, I have enough going on. But it keeps finding me!

I’m taking a momsnt to rephrase that less flippantly. Opportunities to pray, to send good thoughts, keep finding me. And I am happy to do so. It’s what i do.

You people gotta lotta desks.

Y’all are lucky to have an Ikea you can go to and not find something. No Ikea for 2500 miles for me. color me envious! And meatballs?? who knew . I learn so much needed information on GW. DH will be shocked next time we are on the mainland passing an Ikea And I suggest we stop for meatballs. When he asks why and I’ll tell him my GW friends said ”yum” he will crack up! Thanks for a fun read!

ETA on my ipad. Punctuation and keyboard issues

Honu, here’s the other reason to go: cinnamon rolls. As we walked toward the check-out:

Read the small print:

This Ikea is a few years old and even thought it is further than my ”other” ikea, i think it will be ”my” ikea. It’s easier to get to and very nicely arranged.

Jakabedy, yes, too many desks. .Oh, when you go, try the salmon, too. and both come with lingonberries. yum yum. And bring a cooler, you can buy meatballs in the little market for home. You’ll need a really well insulated cooler, i guess! Tell ya what, it’s going to be below 20F Wednesday here, how about if I bring some to you on the island? no problem, it’d be my pleasure!

Too funny, bpath. Do you think someone complained when they didn’t get a 2-foot wide cinnamon bun? Yes, do come. Bring food. Our hanai (adopted) family brings scallops from Nova Scotia. Don’t forget the lingonberries. Be still my heart.

This is one funny thread. I’m just jealous because we don't even have an Ikea closer than 4 hours away and only 2 desks in the house. One is my very small one and the other is a huge honking beast I cannot get DH to downsize.

I have never bought anything from Ikea, nor been in one. I want to see what it’s like.

I’m close to ordering this, I need an indoor watering can and it’s very cute:

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/vattenkrasse-watering-can-ivory-gold-40394118/

Jinx, they can be fun to walk through. Especially the model kitchens! and model room setups. There was a time where they would creatively use their products in different ways, in different spaces (like an office file sorter as a kitchen towel rack), sort of like the ikea hacks blog. Now it’s more ”by the book”. But still fun, and some cute designs. That’s a cute watering can.

Back in the day when I lived in small apartments, (and within an hour drive of an IKEA) I liked going there to get creative ideas for utility and storage. Not so much anymore. Even the web site is not as well done as it once was for ideas, and the product lines have gone down in quality too.

I LOVE that watering can. I had to get one like it last year to water my tomato seedlings. My full size can couldn't get under the vegetation and then sloshed too much. But mine is all plastic and turquoise! It was a relatively inexpensive one from Amazon. Some times I have to go with the cheaper path of least resistance. IKEA shipping is not cheap, even if the item is. We have one two hours away but I am almost never in that area anymore, not going to make a special trip for just a few items. Last time we went we just ordered some new IVAR shelves to go with what we already had, and picked them up curbside. There was a fee for that too, but we were in a hurry to get somewhere else, and during the pandemic we are even less enthusiastic about milling around with the masses at IKEA than ever. I try to go if I go on less crowded times, pre-pandemic. The hustle and bustle and noise of all those hard surfaces doesn't inspire joy for me. And as I said, the displays are not where near as fun or nice as they used to be.

Pink, I used to go just to enjoy the displays. The one we went to yesterday was almost back to that level, but not quite. I agree with the website, and the catalogs. They used to be so much fun!

That looks like "my" Ikea, too, Bpath. It's smaller and more manageable, and I'm heading over there tomorrow as part of the Great Reorganization of 2022. The "other" Ikea takes me in too many circles. There are also Ikeas on the way to each of my kids' colleges.

However, I've never tried their meatballs or the cinnamon buns. I think I'm missing out.

One of my first Ikea purchases were the Aina curtains a la Joan from For the Love of a House. Sadly, they don't carry them anymore--they were beautifully simple.

#4, but the frozen meatballs you can buy in their food shop are just as good! (I love the chicken.)

note: you might be able to buy what you need at a hardware store or amazon. if it's a cross brace you need, a couple of these might work. or if you're all out of ideas / options, anchor it to the wall. (which could at least be a decent temporary solution.)

What a great thread. Jinx that watering can is too cute. I just checked and it's in stock so maybe a little trip will be in order. DH loves their kitchen stuff ( gadgets, and silly little things like the cork trivets and stuff). We haven't been in quite a while so I am thinking maybe next week maybe.

I have never had any of the food there but apparently I am missing out?

Feathers- when you say it looks like 'your' ikea, do they really look different form one another?

(asking earnestly).

I remembered Ikea' swedish meatballs w lingonberry very fondly, but when I had them for the first time in decades last winter, I was very disappointed, YMMV

Ours is very large, lots of fun concept rooms, must be navigated like a maze, impossible not to impulse shop there!

Salonva, I think they are all different, depending on their site. Feathers’ is on a tighter site where itt was more cost-efficient, i imagine, to build up. My new one is in an area of distribution centers, cheap land I guess, so they spread out.

Mtn, I love fun concept rooms! Like going to open houses without the driving lol

Salonva, I'm familiar with 4 Ikea stores (2 near me, 2 near my kids' colleges). The major differences to me are their accessibility, parking, and how easy it is to pick up major items from their outdoor loading areas. Since I only shop on my own, I want the loading to be seamless. Once inside each store, yes, they can vary, but they all have mostly the same merchandise. And any visit to any Ikea store is a time commitment.

Bpath, I think you're in Chicago area, if I recall. I prefer the Bolingbrook Ikea because it's so much easier to access from the highway than trying to work around the Schaumburg/Woodfield traffic. I primarily shop at the Bolingbrook location, so I know its layout better. I also pay attention to its shortcuts between departments so I don't have to zig-zag through sections that I don't want to go through.

I will say the Indianapolis area Ikea (I think in Fishers) had the best stock availability and curbside pickup when I moved my youngest to college last year. i had checked with my Chicago Ikeas, but Indianapolis, on the way, was the better option.

what a fun thread. It reminded me of this:

eta: ( couldn't get this to post for some reason).

@Olychick no visual. :(

Feathers, I haven't been to the Bolingbrook store, I'd drive right past Schaumburg lol. Actually, the Schaumburg sure is so hard to get to I HAVE driven right past it.

New poll:

We are going to see DS today and try out the locking pins. DH has a "brute force, it'll be fine" attitude when it comes to assembling things. Which will happen:

1. The pins will fit and no swearing will ensue.

2. The pins won't fit, efforts to make them fit mean nothing will ever fit, and the desk flies out the window.

3. The pins eventually go in, the desk gets put together, the monitor is placed on the desk, and the whole shebang promptly collapses.

4. The correct pins are in another box of Bro's shipment, now in a storage unit somewhere between here and Florida.

Feathers and bpath, i love the Schaumberg Ikea, have not been to Bolingbrook, but the one nearest me is in Oak Creek WI. That store is a dream. Easy on and off I94, seems to have everything Schaumberg does, no parking problems, has a few friendly staff, and is on one sprawling floor. Even the restaurant is easier to navigate.

Oak Creek is about 30 minutes north of the border. I havent gone there (or anywhere else) during the pandemic so cannot attest to current conditions.

Definitely Number 4. When the pins turn up, no one will know what they’re for but no one will throw them away, either, “just in case.”

sheesh, Oak Creek is where we went! Great store! This was my first time. It wasn’t busy at all, no lines! Masks aren’t mandated in WI but the store had a sign that ”strongly recommended” masks, and everyone we saw had one on. And the easy on easy off, and the ease of getting around, and the nice displays, make it my new Ikea.

As I clean out my parents’ place, I keep finding ”pieces” of things. I do hat throwing things away because they might belong to something! A little piece of white ceramic kept turning up, I though it looked like a bunny ear and eventually tossed it. The next day, VERY next day, i opened a closet I hadn’t been in yet, opened a few little boxes, and in one there was a pair of bunnies, one with broken ear. Sigh. I tossed them.

That’s exactly the kind of thing my kids will find when they clean out this home! They know what they’ll be getting into :-). I try, I try, alas, things just seem to get away from me. Always have.

I’m glad you liked Oak Creek. I wish Wisconsinites would quit griping about masks and wear them. Good to hear that they were wearing them in Ikea / probably most you saw were from Illinois! As I wait in the grocery store parking lot for the person to fill my trunk, I watch as most people go in and out unmasked. Infuriating.

Good luck finishing your projects!

Jinx, I've never been in an Ikea either, but I think I would love it. All my cotton panel WTs are from Ikea online. I love them.

I enjoy assembling furniture and am ready to drill holes if none exist where needed.

Well, here we are! I never woulda believed it! And, DS is carrying on the family tradition of multiple desks and completely mismatched and ”hand-me-down/can-I-borrow this?” furniture lol. Stay tuned in case I come back tomorrow with reports of total collapse. (Battery candles, btw, on the console table that came assembled.)

Maybe picture didn't post because of the connection,

If there's not a picture, it didn't happen.

I finally posted it above, thanks for letting me know....one more:

Good ones, olychick, and I think both are true. Divorce narrowly averted this time.