Soma Sembly

IKEA has the best shopping carts.  'This true.  Very true.  IKEA's shopping carts fairly glide along.  No ker-chunking going on there at all.

I went to IKEA today in hopes of finding a sofa table and a couple of end tables for a very reasonable price.  I found a sofa table I really liked, but found it was out of stock when I went to the pickup area.  

I still was able to find more than a girl should ever need, which is why I don't go there often.  

I have been doing a lot of thinking, which is something I do regularly, seeing as how it is impossible for a person not to think.  I never fully unpack my material possessions when I move from one apartment to another, knowing that I'll be there a year and a half, on average.  This has really stunted my 'abode decor maturation', and I'm finally biting the textile bullet and am in the process of thoroughly 'setting up house'.  There is the small matter of the 15+ boxes of something/stuff sitting in the living room which fate needs to be determined.  Then there is the getting over the idea of not buying too much furniture because I'll just have to move it again and again and again and again.  Well, I've been living in this apartment for 3 1/2 years now, the longest I've ever lived in a place since I was 18 years old, and I'm tired of living halfly.  That's a made-up word, by the way.

And so, with a plan in my head, I hopped on the Tollway and drove to the North in search of inexpensive Swedish home furnishings.  

As I said, I found a nice-ish sofa table (you know, the long high skinny table you place between the back of your sofa and the wall so you can put lamps, a picture, and some trinkets on it).   I didn't find end tables that I like, but I did find a nice large rug in a lovely pattern, and I bought a sheepskin rug to center on that.  I love the look, and I'll be sure to post a pic tomorrow.  I do not have a coffee table, but I have an oversized rectangular ottoman that I am trying to find a large wooden handled tray to top it off with, and that will work nicely.  I also picked up some inexpensive black picture frames, which I'm always wanting to frame my photos.  Topped off with a wooden bowl, wooden hangers, and plastic food storage containers, my trip was complete.  They had cowhides for $199, in brown and black, and I really really wanted one, but I don't have a place to put it.  Man, they were cool, though.

And then I went to Target where I found THE perfect endtable.  It seems that most endtables are too short, and this one is the correct height for my needs.  I also picked up a lamp base and shade to place on that table as well as two pieces of furniture for the bathroom.  Apartment bathrooms have no storage, really, so I found a simple metal over/around the toilet thing as well as a two shelf + one drawer floor unit.  This allows me to get all my make-up and other items off the sink and the floor and hidden away.  Imagine the greatness.

And I also bought a vacuum.  My vacuum died quite a while ago, and I've been making do with a battery-powered cordless unit, but it just doesn't have the power.  So I bought a canister vac called the Shark Roadster.  This is my first bagless vacuum, and I'm already loving it.  

Tomorrow I shall venture out again in search of the perfect sofa table.  And then I'll need 2 lamps for it, of course.  And I want a small brown wicker chair for the wall where all the boxes currently are.  Ahhhh...it's a good thing there are 3 paydays in February.

And if you haven't figured out what the blog title means yet, keep trying.  Let me know how it goes...