I know many people look down their noses a bit at Ikea furniture. Certainly some of it is rather flimsy, and much of it is clearly flatpack and inexpensive. Not that this is necessarily a problem, and with rather a lack of reasonably priced furniture shops in Cyprus, we were delighted when an Ikea superstore was opened in Nicosia six years ago.
We don't go there often; it's about a 35 minute drive from our home, so although that's not a huge distance, it's not somewhere we pop to regularly. But perhaps a couple of times each year: sometimes more often still.
Our most recent trip was on Thursday last week. The reason - as so often - was that we were in need of more bookcases.
Or rather, Tim was in need of bookcases. When he moved back to Cyprus a few months ago, he brought out most of his library, a somewhat eclectic mixture comprising - among other things - a large number of theology books:
We spent some time brainstorming possible ways of rearranging Tim's room to fit in another bookcase, but it's not a large room - and one of the bookcases he has already is in a rather awkward place, meaning he can't access one of his closets.
So Richard proposed having a bookcase or two in the little bit of corridor outside Tim's room. There's not much space there - certainly not enough for the Billy bookcases that we usually buy - but we had discovered another range, called Besta, which have much shallower shelves. We weren't sure if they would fit, but Richard measured the gap carefully...
... And sure enough, when we found the Besta bookcases at Ikea last week, they were exactly the right width for the gap. Not really tall enough, but we realised that one of the smaller ones would fit exactly on top of one of the larger ones, and the two together only cost about the same as one tall Billy. Moreover, they came with fittings so that they could be joined together.
So over the next couple of days, Richard spent some time - assisted by Tim - putting these shelves together. They do indeed fit perfectly in the available space:
We paid a couple of pounds for that chair nearly sixteen years ago, so it's done me very well, but it was starting to look extremely tatty.
I sat in an identical chair to the one Tim liked, and was astounded at how comfortable it was. Richard took this not-very-flattering photo:
We sat there quite a while while Tim debated whether or not he wanted it, and eventually decided he would. And I was somehow persuaded to have one too. If I didn't like it, I reasoned, Richard could have it.. he has an adequate desk chair, but it's not particularly strong and won't last forever.
We got everything home and unpacked. And then discovered a significant problem, in that my desk (also very old - the same one from the photo above, which has also lasted me 16 years and probably cost us not much more than the orange chair...) has an opening that's too narrow for this new office chair.
I tried all kinds of ways of sitting on it before opting for a semi-diagonal method, which seems to work. The chair really is very comfortable when I'm sitting back in it; it has a slight rock, and a fabric covering, and Sophia has given it her decided nod of approval:
We don't go there often; it's about a 35 minute drive from our home, so although that's not a huge distance, it's not somewhere we pop to regularly. But perhaps a couple of times each year: sometimes more often still.
Our most recent trip was on Thursday last week. The reason - as so often - was that we were in need of more bookcases.
Or rather, Tim was in need of bookcases. When he moved back to Cyprus a few months ago, he brought out most of his library, a somewhat eclectic mixture comprising - among other things - a large number of theology books:
We spent some time brainstorming possible ways of rearranging Tim's room to fit in another bookcase, but it's not a large room - and one of the bookcases he has already is in a rather awkward place, meaning he can't access one of his closets.
So Richard proposed having a bookcase or two in the little bit of corridor outside Tim's room. There's not much space there - certainly not enough for the Billy bookcases that we usually buy - but we had discovered another range, called Besta, which have much shallower shelves. We weren't sure if they would fit, but Richard measured the gap carefully...
... And sure enough, when we found the Besta bookcases at Ikea last week, they were exactly the right width for the gap. Not really tall enough, but we realised that one of the smaller ones would fit exactly on top of one of the larger ones, and the two together only cost about the same as one tall Billy. Moreover, they came with fittings so that they could be joined together.
So over the next couple of days, Richard spent some time - assisted by Tim - putting these shelves together. They do indeed fit perfectly in the available space:
So far there is only one book that has made its way onto the shelves, but we hope they will be filled soon, thus easing the overflow of books in Tim's room.
However...
It's almost impossible to go to Ikea and just emerge with nothing extra. Prepared for this eventuality we had picked up a store bag on our way in, and had found some sticky replacement roller things for getting cat hairs out of furniture, and a few other random small items.
But then we came to the office chairs. Tim had been hoping Ikea might still stock the chair he had bought in the UK, which he liked very much indeed, but they didn't. He really wanted a comfortable desk chair since he sits at his desk so much, and tried out several before discovering one that he said was wonderfully comfortable. It wasn't even horrendously expensive.
I commented that I had never found real office chairs comfortable. I have tried many, but for many years have found nothing suited me as much as a rather garish orange kitchen chair - here it is, in front of my desk, way back in our old house in 2005 (note the old computer and screen!)
We paid a couple of pounds for that chair nearly sixteen years ago, so it's done me very well, but it was starting to look extremely tatty.
I sat in an identical chair to the one Tim liked, and was astounded at how comfortable it was. Richard took this not-very-flattering photo:
We sat there quite a while while Tim debated whether or not he wanted it, and eventually decided he would. And I was somehow persuaded to have one too. If I didn't like it, I reasoned, Richard could have it.. he has an adequate desk chair, but it's not particularly strong and won't last forever.
We got everything home and unpacked. And then discovered a significant problem, in that my desk (also very old - the same one from the photo above, which has also lasted me 16 years and probably cost us not much more than the orange chair...) has an opening that's too narrow for this new office chair.
I tried all kinds of ways of sitting on it before opting for a semi-diagonal method, which seems to work. The chair really is very comfortable when I'm sitting back in it; it has a slight rock, and a fabric covering, and Sophia has given it her decided nod of approval:
So I'll probably keep it. I do like it, very much. But Richard and Tim think I should probably now have a new desk...
2 comments:
I do like some Ikea furniture, it definitely has its place. I decided to get my son an Ikea dresser because I knew if I got something expensive, he would just ruin it. That way, I wouldn't have to worry about drink rings and such...
I have purchased two desk chairs in this past year after a very old one finally capitulated to time. Both were nice for the right back, but neither is perfect for me although I make do with the second -- for now. Never thought of Ikea as a source. Hmm ...
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