On to a much more fun topic... we're two days away from our long-awaited trip to Ikea to buy baby furniture.
View Larger Map
In some ways it feels wrong to drive so far you need an extra large Google map to show your trip just to go to a furniture store, but hey, it's Ikea! And the truth is, we have shopped around in town, and we haven't found any baby furniture we like as much as what we've seen online at Ikea for the same price. Yeah, you have to assemble it yourself, but everybody knows (or should know) that I am terrible at things that involve spatial reasoning (ie putting things together) and am planning to
Right now we're for sure planning on buying this Sundvik crib that can convert into a toddler bed:
 |
| Car playmat/ rug |
If we make it out of the baby section before closing time (debatable), we're also considering are a futon or sofa bed to go in the nursery. The problem is that futons tend to be ugly (Ikea futons being more attractive than others we've seen locally) but in our price range and sofa beds are more attractive but also much more expensive. We could potentially get a twin bed just to have something for me to sleep on in the early days, but that's not very useful for guests (don't worry, guests, we would move the baby to our room). I can see us going either way on this one (and if we don't buy one, that means more room for toys!)
The other thing we need is a computer desk since our kitchen table has finally been repatriated to the kitchen (along with... unfortunately... the computer). Like the futon, the problem with cheap desks is that they look really cheap and crappy and decent desks are expensive. Buying a small table to use as a desk is an option, but with the way we have the living room/"office" arranged, we need some kind of storage for computer stuff.
I'll update on Saturday with what we actually buy. There will definitely be baby furniture, but we'll see how it goes with the desk and bed. Or if we return to Madison with a car full of toys.
I'll update on Saturday with what we actually buy. There will definitely be baby furniture, but we'll see how it goes with the desk and bed. Or if we return to Madison with a car full of toys.
We have multiple Hemnes pieces [benefit of being less than 15 minutes from the nearest Swedish Wal-Mart]. They're relatively durable, but I would flag for you that they scratch really, REALLY easily. Plain silver wedding band? Scratch. Set my computer on it? Scratch. Accidentally set TV stand on a rouge tiny Ikea screw? Huge freakin' gauge.
ReplyDeleteIt's also a bit tricky to get the drawers aligned and to slide just right. I mean, I married someone with 3 engineering degrees who grew up on a farm and can fix anything. This should be easy, right? Nope - our Hemnes nightstand that we use for our DVD Player/Living Room Storage/Hiding Internet Routers has slightly off-kilter drawers [bigger gap on the left than right] and it drives me a little nuts until I remember it was $80 vs. something $300 at Pottery Barn. I always remind myself it's very durable [Our latest nightstand purchase fractured pieces off my elbow last week!] for a few years, and it's 'for now' furniture, not 'forever' furniture. For that, it serves it's purpose really well.
Also remember that when you fill out your change of address info that the USPS sends you that great mailer full of coupons - DON'T throw it out - it has a really nice one for $50 off $250 for Ikea.
Last -- have you checked out Verlo for futons? They have REALLY nice stuff and it's super cost-effective. Plus they deliver for free. The nice wood futon and comfy mattress Alan and I had in Madison was Verlo, and if I recall it only cost about $500 and had a 10-year guarantee - which could come in handy if the little ones break/ruin/stain anything.
Don't rule out craigslist for anything either. Half our Ikea stuff came to us already assembled [score!] and for half the price too. Plus I scored a big $4,000 custom-built executive desk for $500 last fall. [working from home necessity] Steal of a lifetime. :)
Good to know about the scratch-ability of the Hemnes furniture. Anything that goes it a kid's room is going to face some major wear and tear at one point or another.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't given too much thought to Craigslist for furniture because we're on a somewhat tight schedule for the baby (hard to wait to find just the right thing), but it's a good idea for the desk since it's back at the kitchen table with no problems.
Thanks!
Will it scratch? Sure, though my experience with our stuff hasn't been nearly as bad as Kate's has. I've noticed that it can dent. But the big benefit of Hemnes is that it's solid pine, so it won't delaminate like most of the other IKEA styles when it gets wet. I've already passed some of my IKEA assembly experience to Daniel. Use wood glue and they'll come out pretty sturdy.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of desks, I'd take a look at some of the smaller tables at IKEA. They have some that are solid birch that might work. We've got a couple of birch pieces from there (kitchen island and sideboard) and they're built to last.