IKEA
The girls are getting set up with the tables and the supplies to work their craft as often as their hearts desire...
We received some simple little IKEA tables yesterday, and they will be covered in markers and paint soon.
The dining table can get a break after being bombarded with markers and permanent pens for years now. I think it will need a full-on refinishing.
The IKEA closets have been a bit of a challenge on both ends - from the purchase process to getting the correct rough openings. In the end, it’s probably still worth it, as the doors on these things are still superior to what we could get for the price point with a totally custom closet system.
Things to keep in mind: How the baseboard will interface with the base of the wardrobe system, how to treat the last bit of space used for “rough opening”, and pull options. To my knowledge, the system completely forgoes any sort of finger pulls, so we need to install additional hardware for ease of operation.
After nearly an entire day at the IKEA store down here in Tempe, Arizona, we came away with some mixed feelings about the whole experience. We’ve always believed that it represented access to decent (and sometimes great) design for a very reasonable price. Back in Vermont, we designed/built a kitchen with Ikea cabinets combined with custom built tall oven/pantry units and it worked out very well.
On this house, we’ve always envisioned using their closet systems for wardrobes in each bedroom (thanks to our friends Marcel and Olga for leading us to them) and any other location where we needed storage or affordable shelving.
However, if you don’t have an IKEA in your city or within driving distance, shipping is a nightmare. Many items they don’t carry on their web site (available in-store only), and even if you show up at the store, they don’t really want to ship it from there! The shipping costs are at least 25% more for whatever you buy, and if you do end up getting “special shipping from the store”, it’s even more! It boggles the mind that they can get this stuff shipped around the world to any of their hundreds of stores, but they can’t easily get it to the last destination - to your house... Very frustrating.