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I am a mother of eight and grandmother of four who loves to make and create. Rosemary Hill is the name of our home where we live, work, learn and create together

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Ikea and thinking.

An Ikea room from the 2011 catalogue
I went to Ikea today. Since moving to Melbourne I haven't been as regular a visitor to Ikea as I was in Adelaide. Not sure why. Certainly I live much further away than our last house, (It's pretty hard to get closer than across the road!) but it's probably not further than the house before that. Some people assert that I have been to Ikea far too many times already and therefore extra visits are not only not required, but superfluous. This is possibly because they have been to my house. On admittance to my house some think they have somehow travelled through a wormhole into Ikea. Yes, some claim that it looks like an Ikea showroom. I like it. And I guess that proves that I like Ikea.

So today I went to Ikea. I had a list of items I needed and I was ready to spend! Unfortunately, most of the items were not there. (Despite my Bradley being told last week that the most important one would be there this week.) This is where the interesting thought I had today comes in. In Adelaide they have a system of placing a card on the shelf telling you when the out of stock item is expected in. Now I am sure they don't do this for every out of stock item, but I have seen it many times there. I thought, "If only they did that in Melbourne!" I decided to line up to enquire about my desired items, but gave up after 15 minutes of fruitless waiting. (I'm not very good at queueing, or waiting.) I had places to be you know. As I drove off I pondered on what a great store Adelaide is and how frustrating Melbourne's Ikea is. And then it dawned on me. All I was doing was championing the familiar. I think this is a thoroughly human trait and all the great advances in science and thinking that we have had have only come from people who were brave enough to step away from the familiar. For some of us the phrase "Familiarity breeds contempt" is incorrect and should read, "Familiarity makes us really comfy".

The moral of this story? We should all try to be as unprejudiced as possible and take each new experience on it's own terms, rather than comparing it to what may have happened before. Oh. And Melbourne Ikea should really put some notes up as to when out of stock items are expected in.

7 comments:

seabreezequilts said...

Thinking of visiting Ikea (Adelaide today) apparently they have good cushion inserts and I am in need.

Sarah said...

Oh and when you tell them can you suggest to have an IKEA in Tasmania pretty please!

Barbara said...

We live on the other side of
town from the Adelaide IKEA so
I always check online if some-
thing is in stock before I
go (my house looks like an
IKEA showroom too). I've been
to the one in Melbourne a
couple of times and actually
thought it was a lot better
than the Adelaide one. Even
better to the couple I've been
to in Sweden!

Lorraine said...

I like Ikea.....well I think I do....have only ever made two visits...both fruitful with no out of stock items. I really need some shelves for my sewing room...I should go visit again.

Always in knots said...

Gotta love a woman who loves IKEA (notwithstanding possible Melbourne store faults). My sewing room has become an homage to IKEA & its storage solutions.

quiltygal said...

Just paid my second visit to Ikea...took hubby who was amazed kept saying he didnt realise that they sold so much different stuff (he thought it was just sofas & stuff !!)...hes planning when he can go back next for the meatballs & applecake !!...

Jindi's Cottage said...

OMG you lived across the road from IKEA...and you moved!!!!...I redid the sewing room earlier this year out of IKEA RIchmond and I just LOVE it...and no trip to IKEA is complete without a trip to the canteen for some swedish meatballs, yum!...