So today, this morning, Andy and I got up and headed over to IKEA to get that bookshelf, and ONLY that bookshelf. But naturally, IKEA being the evil forest of wonderfully cheap (and not so cheap) things, we couldn’t get out with only the bookshelf.
You see, it started with the bookshelf itself. While we were wandering through the shelving area (we managed to get there unscathed, and with some quick manouvering around the weakminded slowpokes who had already succumb to the enchantments that are the IKEA showrooms.), we saw a bookshelf that looked really beautiful. It was in the same wood antique style that our dining room table is, and it was ten dollars cheaper than the bookcase we had originally planned on getting. Hmm. IKEA throws us another twist. We then looked at the bookcase we had come in for and thought immediately: “You know, it looks cheap.” It did. We wandered back to the antiqued bookshelf. Hmm. Yes, we liked it. So we decided, why not? Saves us ten bucks we thought we’d have to spend, AND it looks better. Marvellous.
What made this better, was that we had seen a coffee table (that we would have used as a TV stand) which was in the same wood style. Hmm… It was tempting. But that would be another hundred dollars more than we were planning to spend, and we can live without a nice TV stand. Still, the loans are kicking in soon, which will take care of rent, so we’ll have a little more expendable–No! We fought the urge. However, the enchantments of IKEA were starting to take their hold, and we decided to wander back to the sofa section, just to test out some of the sofas. We do NEED a sofa… And we could put it on the credit card and pay it off little by little… The IKEA fairies whispered in our ears all the sweet logic we needed.
Luckily for us, none of them were comfortable enough to tempt us. Thank goodness! There were a few which were comfortable, and if we grew money trees, we would definitely have considered getting, but as it is, we let them go and felt proud of ourselves for breaking the IKEA spells.
Headed down to “The Marketplace”, where the IKEA geniuses make you walk through all the lovely little “necessities” of life. We found a lamp. “It’s only ten dollars,” the IKEA fairies whispered in our ears. “You already saved ten dollars on the bookshelf. Why not get a small lamp? You could use it for the bedroom so you don’t have to walk through the dark from the door to the bed. Wouldn’t that be nice?” It sounded so charming, we picked one up. Plus the energy-saving, warm-light lightbulbs (luckily very cheap) which make the soft-light effect we wanted for both the new lamp and the floor lamp we already have.
We continued on. Found our aisle and row for the bookshelf. Hauled it toward the check-out. But oh! Just when we’ve almost reached the safety of the check-out line, we notice a sign for “As Is” furniture. Discounts. Oooo.
We wander over. Wouldn’t you know it, but there was one of those coffee table/TV stands we’d been eyeing. Minor dings. Very minor. Much better price. Hmm… “Go on,” the IKEA fairies tittered, their greedy little eyes glittering. “You’ll never get another bargain like this. It’s fate. It’s like it’s been sitting here, lonely, waiting for you. You, and only you.” I was beginning to think these IKEA fairies are similar to the green absinthe fairies of yore. But the words it whispered were tempting. Nay, more than tempting. They were convincing.
At the check-out, another little piece of “fate” engineered by the IKEA geniuses kicked in: Sunday morning before 12, there’s an additional 10% discount on “As Is” furniture. Coincidence? I think not.
At any rate, we escaped that dreaded place with more furniture than we’d anticipated purchasing, but without completely selling our souls to the IKEA geniuses, or the IKEA fairies. And I must say, I’m not even a little angry about the way they manipulated us. I’m glad, because now our living room looks like a living room. It still doesn’t have a couch, but it looks lived in. It looks, actually, a lot like a Japanese living room. I can more than work with that for now.
PICTURES!!:
Also, that cold that has been threatening for the last couple days is hitting home. I blame my weak resistance to IKEA on an overstretched immune system.
Maggie Slater 