Destination Ikea

Judy and I have a favorite store for furniture and housewares. It is Ikea. Ikea is a swedish store that carries a huge selection of furniture, housewares, and more. It is really amazing. The store is about the size of a two story mall. A good bit of their furniture reflects more of a contemporary design, while they also carry some traditional items. The real catch here is that almost everything they have is very well priced. A lot of the furniture and such that you buy comes in flat-packs. This is the innovation that made Ikea popular (and more affordable). That's right, you have to do some minor assembly on many of the items. Now, let's not get confused here...This isn't exactly heirloom worthy material, but instead offers the ability for young people (or old) to furnish more of their homes with less resources. Overall, it is really a good way to do business. It certainly isn't the end-all for furniture or housewares, just a great place to start. One more catch... there aren't any local to Jacksonville. There is talk of one opening in Orlando soon. The closest for now is Atlanta, GA. If you think that seems too far, we used to drive 2 hours North of Richmond, VA to go.