rekkidblogga

I go IKEA

Call me a whore for affordable, stylish, easy-to-assemble modern furnishings. Because I love IKEA. And I haven't even set foot in the gigantic ATL store yet. I've only been driven by it once and that was months ago - long before it was finished. I'll say this for the Swedes: they're real go-getters. If they want something - like you, in IKEA - they are relentless in their pursuit. Must be the old school Viking in them. That explains the forthrightness of ABBA's "Gimme Gimme Gimme A Man After Midnight" as well as IKEA's in-your-face marketing blitz here in Hotlanta.

I got my complimentary 2006 IKEA catalog in Sunday's paper. It was neatly tucked in the midst of fast food coupons and screaming "NO MONEY DOWN!" car dealership ads. 366 pages of Swedish efficiency later and I'm still unable to put it down. It's better than any beach reads I've tried plowing through all summer and that includes those Nicholas Sparks books everyone else zips through in, like, a day. Initially, I dog-eared the pages of the housewares I need and have since been repeatedly sucked back in, scrutinizing page after page of things I just want.

Someone at IKEA in the catalog design department has a healthy dose of snark flowing through his or her veins, which is another of the 524 reasons I love this handy book and the store it's reppin' for. Take page 89, for example. Here's the large-type tagline, meant to summarize why you should buy everything you see on the two facing pages, which feature a cool, clean white-and-blue living room/den set: "Socializing is easy and relaxed, getting friends to leave is harder." Hee. Sure, somebody needs to introduce the notion of the semicolon to Team IKEA Catalog but that's one of the funniest things I've read in a catalog - hell, in print - in years. Sears or JC Penney would never have the cojones to put anything remotely like that in one of their catalogs. If they even still print catalogs. And here's something to make any parent happy, from the Children's IKEA section: "Children can discover new worlds and get lost in their imagination without ever leaving their room." I'm for that. Here's a thought from IKEA interior designer Monica Lofven: "Living with kids should be carefree and not hard work." You can take the store out of the socialist country but you can't take the socialist country out of the store, I guess.

No printed product is without its flaws and the IKEA 2006 catalog is no exception. More than a few sentences describing the Joy of IKEA are Just So Exciting That They Must Be Punctuated With Exclamation Marks! A lot more than a few. Too many, in fact. Say it with periods, IKEA. Your cool furniture speaks for itself, 'kay? And... how do I put this without sounding like an immature 7th grader? Including the FARTYG wall spotlight in the bathroom section probably wasn't the smartest idea. Yes, I giggled when I read it. And when I wrote that just now.

All told, I'm still amped about hitting the local, brand spankin' new IKEA with my nieces once they get back from Iowa later this week. We'll load up on all things Swedish, like TINGA cutlery, JOKKMOKK dining sets and heck, if the girls are little angels in the store I may just buy 'em each an EMMABO rocking chair at the New Lower Price of $19.99 apiece. It's RA - "requires assembly" - but a few clicks, snaps and twists here and there and hey, we're mod, baby.

posted by rekkidbraka @ 6:07 PM