Ikea, I Miss You!

The only thing this part of the province is missing, whose addition would make it an absolutely perfect place to live, is an Ikea.

In last weekend’s New Homes and Condos section of the Toronto Sun, in which my House Proud column appears, there are two articles on Ikea.  One concerns its new line of trend-forward home stuff called PS and the other is about the prevalence of a process called “hacking”; taking a plain piece of furniture such as an Ikea cabinet, and turning it into a replica of something much more expensive-looking with the addition of some moulding and other doodads and whatnots.

I shamelessly love Ikea. My home isn’t filled with their stuff, not by a long shot.  I don’t even have an Ektorp.  But I love to just stroll the wide aisles and glean ideas from the minds of their brilliant designers.  Every once in a while they hit upon something that’s such genius, it makes me almost want to offer a standing ovation!

Take my Cyril for example.  It’s a tall, narrow cabinet whose bottom folds out to become a sturdy desktop for my laptop.  I first bought Cyril when I lived in my North York condo and space was at a premium.  Now, even though I have more room, Cyril demands that I keep things neat and under control so I continue to use him…I mean, it. 

Now I’m considering what to do with a vintage cabinet that appears to be crumbling and either needs one last fix or outright replacement.  I would love to fix it but it’s a lot like using a worn out bedsheet as a rappelling rope – you just know it’s not going to hold for very long.  So I’ve been scrolling through the new product ideas on Ikea’s website, as well as those hacking sites, to get some inspiration. (Google Ikea Hacker or Design Sponge) But I would much rather have the big blue shopping bag slung over my shoulder and the faint scent of Swedish meatballs surrounding me while I gaze at the items in the flesh.  Ikea says it has no plans to build a store out this way.  Pity.