Sunday was a rough day. I had to be parted from my Macbook which is going to Texas (TEXAS!! not Cupertino, just 60-odd miles away, but Texas - 3 or 4 states away!) for a new sound card or mother board or some such... it has been making unusual noises for a while, so I got an appointment at the "Genius Bar." If you're planning to go: please make note that the GB may have geniuses (genii?) but they have no bar. Anyway, after that traumatic moment, it was time to hit the Ikea.
It's been several years since we've been to Ikea, and frankly, after yesterday's experience, it could be several more before we return again. I knew it was overwhelming. I planned to get lost. But I didn't really intend to spend hours upon hours there. We looked at curtains and blinds of all kinds - first in the showrooms, then on the ground floor. We admired sleek shelving and interesting headboards. We tried the soft-close drawers and cabinets. We even found someone who could tell us about the price of putting in such items ($10/door and $20/drawer), which was prohibitively spendy.
We tried in vein to find "Bathroom Land". We wondered through Bedroom Land multiple times, managed to mostly avoid Kid Corner, and breezed quickly through Office Space. We spent way too much time in Living Room Land and Closet World both. We even tried out mattresses, which was very confusing. They had multiple types of mattresses (spring, foam, and latex), as well as different firmnesses and thickness, and don't forget the toppers! All kinds of toppers. And then we realized there were different platforms they were resting on: slats or box springs or other types of adjustable firmness slats. It was overwhelming beyond compare. I finally had to stop with the beds and focus on what we came for: a full-length mirror, a laundry hamper that would fit better in our new closet, and curtains.
We spent an inordinate time in curtains. Well, first we had to decide between curtains, blinds, panels, or "other". Don't even ask me to describe other. After about 3 years, we decided on curtain and curtain - i.e., curtains for both the sheer layer and the darker (sleep-mode) layer. I was referring to it as black-out layer, but I think the ones we finally chose will not be true black-out style. We'll see... Of course, we also had to choose and then find what to hang them on - curtain rod, wire, or track. We chose a triple-track design which should be minimalist.
We finally got out of there a few hundred dollars lighter and very wary, only to realize we really should stop by the Home Depot Expo to see if there was anything on sale we'd be foolish not to get now during their big going out of business sale. A shower head, door knobs, fun stuff like that. Of course we did not find anything worthwhile and left even more exhausted. I think it was 5:30pm, earlier than we had stopped worked on Saturday with the Ipe flooring, and we were both completely spent.
Thus, I conclude that shopping is more taxing than hammering. At least with hammering, there are things you can do to make it more pleasant - like earplugs and frequent breaks. Little did I think to bring earplugs to Ikea... now I know.
Well, posts this week may be brief as I am without my trusty laptop. Let's hope the geniuses in Texas can get it back to me soon.
It's been several years since we've been to Ikea, and frankly, after yesterday's experience, it could be several more before we return again. I knew it was overwhelming. I planned to get lost. But I didn't really intend to spend hours upon hours there. We looked at curtains and blinds of all kinds - first in the showrooms, then on the ground floor. We admired sleek shelving and interesting headboards. We tried the soft-close drawers and cabinets. We even found someone who could tell us about the price of putting in such items ($10/door and $20/drawer), which was prohibitively spendy.
We tried in vein to find "Bathroom Land". We wondered through Bedroom Land multiple times, managed to mostly avoid Kid Corner, and breezed quickly through Office Space. We spent way too much time in Living Room Land and Closet World both. We even tried out mattresses, which was very confusing. They had multiple types of mattresses (spring, foam, and latex), as well as different firmnesses and thickness, and don't forget the toppers! All kinds of toppers. And then we realized there were different platforms they were resting on: slats or box springs or other types of adjustable firmness slats. It was overwhelming beyond compare. I finally had to stop with the beds and focus on what we came for: a full-length mirror, a laundry hamper that would fit better in our new closet, and curtains.
We spent an inordinate time in curtains. Well, first we had to decide between curtains, blinds, panels, or "other". Don't even ask me to describe other. After about 3 years, we decided on curtain and curtain - i.e., curtains for both the sheer layer and the darker (sleep-mode) layer. I was referring to it as black-out layer, but I think the ones we finally chose will not be true black-out style. We'll see... Of course, we also had to choose and then find what to hang them on - curtain rod, wire, or track. We chose a triple-track design which should be minimalist.
We finally got out of there a few hundred dollars lighter and very wary, only to realize we really should stop by the Home Depot Expo to see if there was anything on sale we'd be foolish not to get now during their big going out of business sale. A shower head, door knobs, fun stuff like that. Of course we did not find anything worthwhile and left even more exhausted. I think it was 5:30pm, earlier than we had stopped worked on Saturday with the Ipe flooring, and we were both completely spent.
Thus, I conclude that shopping is more taxing than hammering. At least with hammering, there are things you can do to make it more pleasant - like earplugs and frequent breaks. Little did I think to bring earplugs to Ikea... now I know.
Well, posts this week may be brief as I am without my trusty laptop. Let's hope the geniuses in Texas can get it back to me soon.
Comments