Adventures in IKEAland

So, after Patchie sent me this, I knew I had something awesome to craft.  I don't have access to a darkroom anymore like I did in college, and I have binders of negatives lying around waiting for the return of their glory days.  Before I do this project, I need to professionally get my negatives scanned in full res so I can always print the images (I need to contact my aunt and ask to borrow her machine).  Anyway, to even DO this project, I needed the supplies, specifically the lamp.  Which is from IKEA.

My experience with IKEA was previously limited to one online browsing excursion, various "revamp your IKEA furniture using photos and photo-geek paraphernalia" online tutorials, and the flick (500) Days of Summer.  I had seen IKEA signs off the highway when on drives to Baltimore, but never seen an IKEA building, let alone took a step in one.

So, this Thursday brought rain and icky weather, closing down Bear's working site.  With him home, I decided to try for a day-trip.  We called it Date Day.  And I finally ventured into IKEAland.

I'm sure the rest of the world is rolling their eyes at this old-hat experience, but for me, it was AMAZING.  Like a giant doll house for adults to play in.  So I did what any mature young woman would do: jumped on couches, complained that the remote had gone missing again, called on a dead phone for a tech to fix my eProp computer which was clearly broken, and rummaged through kitchen drawers for utensils to aid in cooking the most exotic dinners.  Also, I needed to find the information for the landlord... we were missing half of the shower in EVERY ONE of our bathrooms!  And why did people think it was okay to walk into our bedrooms every time we snuggled down for a nap?!?!

We found an adorable cheap little kitchen table set I am dying to own for when our renovations are complete.  At the moment, our apartment is filled with mismatched hand-me-down vintage furniture, all of which is beautiful and heirloom worthy.  I love it all, but with four cats and a dog, many rare pieces are being destroyed, and much of our furniture is too large for the space we have.  I want this furniture to be preserved for our first home of our own, and pepper in some cheap resilient(ish) pieces for now that are angry-pet friendly.

My only gripe?  IKEA has no registry, which blows my current mantra of "register for it" to hell.  Boo.

I hope to have many more obnoxious visits to IKEA in the future!  I bought the lamp needed for my project, and can't wait to have a custom lamp for my office (you know, after the whole negative scan thing)!  I'm so pumped to get our apartment renovated and multi-functional... sometimes it's so hard to wait.

In the meantime, I have pictures of our adventures!