Ikea again..

Judy and I were able to take a trip this past weekend to the new Ikea store in Orlando. As most of you know, we are huge fans of Ikea. I must say that the Ikea Orlando store is much better than the Ikea Atlanta store. I don't recommend anyone bother going to the Atlanta store. They just don't have it together. [reference Ikea Atlanta post]

We went with Josh and were supposed to meet David and Avonn there. If you've ever shopped in an Ikea, you'll understand that we just weren't able to meet up with them. But, nonetheless, it was nice to take Josh on his first trip and we were also grateful to spend time with LB. She lives in Orlando and met us there to walk around and catch up.

Seven hours later, we had procured a few items including a new dining table and chairs for the kitchen, a new bed frame and such for the guest room, and some other items. Yeah, I said seven hours. We arrived before 10:00 AM and got in the car to leave after 5:00 PM. (Hmmm... Judy seemed fine to wander around Ikea for 7 hours, but she is "too pregnant" to put the Christmas lights on the house?? Yeah, right!) ...wait.... just in case you can't see my obvious sarcasm, I'm only kidding. Judy "tested" a lot of the chairs and stuff. hehe..

Josh was able to get a few things for his house, too. I think we all left Ikea with a things still on our lists. That's the draw of Ikea, I suppose. Judy and I are planning another "mini run" soon.

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.