Last week I went shopping at IKEA for two things.
- Storage baskets for the storage unit I showed you a couple of weeks ago in this post: The One Where I Went Shopping For Bargain Homewares
- Storage boxes for my cousin who lives in NZ. Her closest IKEA is the one in Brisbane, so obviously it was a bit easier for me to get them for her!
Now I’m not a very competitive type of person and I’m definitely not sporty, but something strange happens to me whenever I enter that enormous blue and yellow flat packed filled building and it is GAME ON.
Yep, I power walk through those highlighted concrete pathways like a woman on a swedish meatball mission.
I do not stop to look longingly at the lounge room displays, nor do I wander aimlessly through the kitchen set ups, randomly opening cupboards while telling my bored looking husband that when we eventually get around to renovating these are the cupboards we totally should get!
Nope, I head straight to whichever part of the IKEA maze I need to be, select my items and get the hell out of there.
My last visit took a total of 45 minutes, which you can read about in this post: IKEA Olympics. Imagine If They Were A Thing
But my proudest moment was when I made it in AND out of IKEA in under 10 minutes.
If only trophies were handed out for shopping goals. Then I’d be able to cross that one off my Goal List for 2016!
Shopping At IKEA, Take Two
So last week I walked through the sliding doors towards the escalators with my game face on.
I was wearing sensible, comfortable shoes and was ready to take any slow walkers on. And by take them on, I mean politely walk around them while saying “excuse me” and “sorry” because manners cost nothing, even in tense situations.
But my focus was interrupted by a very friendly staff member who was standing at the bottom of the escalator.
“Good morning! Welcome to IKEA. Would you like a catalogue? And perhaps a notepad and pencil? And do you need a carry bag at all?”
“Um, a catalogue would be lovely, thank you. I won’t need the other things.”
Friendly Staff Member slid the catalogue into my hands, “There you go. Enjoy your day!”
“Thank you. I will!” I smiled back, before stepping onto the escalator and heading towards Level One.
And that’s when it happened.
I hit the top of the escalator, stepped off and walked straight towards the very first display I saw.
As if in some sort of IKEA trance, I walked into the display and started opening cupboard doors and picking up random items that I don’t need but holy crap, are those pin boards that they’ve grouped together like that only $7.99 each?!
I continued on, walking through IKEA slower than a grey nomad at a caravan and camping expo.
TWO HOURS LATER, yes you read that correctly, I was loading my car with the items I needed plus an entire trolley full of items I didn’t need:
Although I have to say that the cushion covers were a bargain at 5 bucks each and the feather inserts were also a good buy at $7.99 each. And they don’t look too bad on the couch, either:
As for the moral of the story? Well, that one is simple.
Don’t accept IKEA catalogues from strangers.
I’m fairly sure they come with some sort of secretly hidden mind altering drug. That could be the only logical explanation to my sudden case of severe slow walking followed by a fill your trolley with random crap chaser, surely?
Have you been shopping at IKEA lately? What’s your approach – slow walking or fast paced borderline jogging through the flat pack display centre? Let’s discuss!
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