IKEA Karlstad

Oh hey LOOK, it's December! Yay! This means that it's almost time to bust out the snowshoes and I. Can't. Wait. One of the cool things about working at an outdoor shop is that you meet people who don't mind being out in the cold or the rain too much. Of course I have to attribute it partly to the fact that most them all own really good gear, which obviously helps. Because really-- who wants to go rainstorm hiking in a poncho? Not me. No. Oh dang it, weren't we talking about snow before? Geeez. Sorry about that. I'm just super thrilled to be tromping around the snowy woods with my friends soon. AND and and, a friend and I were hiking a few weeks ago and found the BEST PLACE EVER to carve out a sweet sled luge as soon as the snow flies. Well...second best place. Joe and I found an even cooler place over the summer, but it would take a lot more work and it's not as accessible. Ooooh dang. I'm sooo excited.

But anyhow, that's all in the future and I came here to talk about the now, so let's talk about the now. After 6 and a half years of cringing, loathing and hating our old couch, we finally have a new one. WITH a chaise lounge, of course. In dark grey, of course. And much bigger than our last one...of course. 

After a couple years of swooning over the CB2 Annex Sofa, which was discontinued last year, I droopily moved on to other thoughts and found a couple new ones that I liked. These couches stayed on my lust-list for quite awhile, but over time I began to realize something that was kind of hard for me to swallow. I'm a firm believer in holding out until you can get the best quality you can afford when it comes to making purchases. And with that in mind, the months went by. And then the years. And then years of years. I eventually realized and admitted that there was [a] no way we were ever going to afford the $2500 couch I had been eyeing [b] we really needed a new couch and [c] who the EFF spends $2500 on a couch unless they've got mad cash?


And so, I snailed on over to the drawing board again and began to sketch. First I looked at the mega-box ugly furniture websites. That lasted for about 3 minutes...who was I kidding? While I am not going to spend a fortune on a couch, I'm also not bringing something that I find to be hideous into my house. Sorry...I'm sure it looks great in my best friend's aunt's house, but it's really not my cup of coffee. Enter IKEA.


First and foremost, I was a bit reluctant to even consider a couch from IKEA. But when I started browsing, I really liked what I saw. A nice, sleek sofa, in a color we liked, in the size we were after, which a chaise lounge [this was a muusssst] and at a price we could afford. And so off we went to Schaumburg, IL to scope out our options. When we arrived, we headed straight for the couch area. I was deciding between the KARLSTAD and the KIVIK and crossed the KIVIK off the list as soon as I saw it. Kind of cool, but not right for the space. I sat down on the Karlstad that was in the color I liked. Ugh. I looked at Joe and told him that something wasn't right about it. It felt....icky...and I didn't like the way it sounded when I ran my fingers across it. I got up and went to another material that I loved. But the color was terrible. I then went over to the felted one that I REALLLLY loved...but there was no way in hell that would ever co-exist with 2 shedding cats. Ah, cats, you axed my plan for a leather couch AND a felty couch? Come ON.

[Hi Clem!]


So back to the first one I went. I sat down again and was just getting the worst vibes. I was trying not to make it obvious...I was trying to love it. And I was trying to figure out what the heck it was reminding me of that was so entirely repulsive. And then it hit me. This material was the same stuff they use on all the generic couches found in dirty hotel rooms. That smooth finish with an almost silky feel. And not the good kind of smooth and silky that I expect from my BIC each morning. Along with that was the noise...the sound was driving me NUTS. I decided to do the IKEA floor loop and think about it for a bit. After we went back, I hesitantly agreed to it. But we weren't taking it home that day because we were counting on delivery. Until we found out it would be almost $400. Ha, yeah. Okay.

The thing was that we were kind of in a time crunch. We wanted something before Thanksgiving, when we'd have both of our families over. Thanksgiving was fast approaching....and so I put a second IKEA trip on the calendar and called it a day.

That day came, and down to Chicago I drove, trailer in tow, $20 in change for those annoyingly prevalent Illinois tolls. And there I was, in IKEA, eyeing the sofa, and trying to maintain some form of composure. Yeah. I was pretty fucking nervous. F bomb, I know, but it's true. Let me slide past the next 12 things that happened and say that I am currently at home, on my couch, enjoying it rather heavily. The noise doesn't bother me.....the feeling doesn't remind me of a sleezy motel.....and I think it's safe to say (and equally dangerous to admit) that I'm enjoying my couch quite a bit.