Klippans and Poangs and Fjellses, Oh My!

A month ago, I took my son apartment hunting. It was the first time doing this since 1989, and boy, was it an eye opener! I extend my sympathies to blogger friends who live in apartment buildings. First, the prices. My son is making twice as much in salary as I did at my first job after college, but all the apartments were three times what I paid for my first place, post-college. Second, not one single place included any utilities whatsoever, and I'm talking neither water nor trash. They can't just include that in the rental price??

The first place we visited, the 'manager' was a disheveled 22 year old. While showing us the apartment, the electricity went out, so we had to walk around in the dark. When asked what the average electric bills were for a 1 bedroom, she replied, "I don't know." When pressed for a ballpark figure, it became, "I have no idea." No, that's not suspicious at all!

The next place was a little bit better, but long story short, my son settled on the third and final place we looked at. This does not surprise me, because he hates shopping in any form, so once he liked a place, that was the end and I couldn't persuade him to continue the hunt. This was reminiscent of my oldest child, who chose the second wedding dress she tried on because she also detests shopping.

Three weeks ago, I drove with him to pick up the keys and move what we could in boxes. This amounted to 5+ hours on the road that day, in monsoon conditions. The following weekend, my husband, son, and I drove back to move the rest of his belongings. This time, we were climbing stairs covered in snow to reach his 2nd floor apartment, so I don't recommend moving in April if you live in the Midwest.

Next step was shopping for a bed. It took some convincing to talk our son into allowing us to buy him some other furniture as well. Not because he didn't want us to spend money on him, but because he is ridiculous about his whole minimalist lifestyle. Because he is a social person, I questioned where people would sit when they came over, since the only thing in his living area was a TV on a bookshelf. He relented and we went to IKEA.

This was my first experience at IKEA and I must say, I absolutely LOVED it! For a rule/direction follower like myself, this place is nirvana. You pick up a folded map and miniature golf-style pencil and you are on your way to shopping paradise. The only real problem is that there are so many people, it feels like you are in an airport security line from start to finish. There was a crowd just entering the timed revolving doors at the entrance (and it was funny to see how confused this made people). Lighted arrows from above are cast on the floor to keep traffic moving in the right direction.

I loved the way it was organized by category (all chairs are in one place, all coffee tables in one place, etc.). Every item is tagged with a name and price, and instructions on extras you might need, like a sofa cover. You just write down your product name and price, along with the aisle and bin numbers from the tag. Sample fabrics were located next to the items in order to see colors and texture. Next, find one of the very helpful customer service agents walking around and ask for a shortcut out of there! We spent a lot of time following exit signs that only lead to fire doors. Once we made it to the warehouse section, we found the aisles and bins with our merchandise and loaded it onto carts. Tons of checkout lanes were open and there are parking spots reserved next to the building so that you can pull up and load your car.

We ended up making two trips with our Honda Civic and CRV, but with how everything is in boxes (and the mattress was rolled up) it was amazing how we were able to fit everything and avoid any delivery charges. And for neither of them being the most handy people, my husband and son were able to assemble everything pictured below, plus a bed frame, without issue. And it was all surprisingly comfortable!



Poang chair, Lack coffee table, and Klippan sofa. Table lamp courtesy of Wal-Mart. Nothing fancy, but it's home for a 23 year old.