A Trip to Ikea

Of course.  It was Labor Day weekend after all.

And a fun time was had by all.  Especially the Minx who became extremely bored and crotchety and miserable until we put her to sleep on top of a pile of rugs in the rug department while the Husband rushed around the warehouse collecting large boxes.  If you were trying to buy a rug in Ikea Seattle on Saturday, I do apologise.

Like most people we have a fair smattering of Ikea around the house – funnily enough even more so here in the US than in London, as it’s our only source of cheap European design and we have a much bigger place to fill.

We only went in to get three sets of Alex filing drawers and some Lack shelves for the Minx’s toy room but I came away with a purchase that made me extra happy – a new desk! 

Until now the global behemoth that is mirrormirror has been run from an old wooden desk I bought in a junk shop in Islington about fifteen years ago. Which is actually a beautiful old desk – or would be if it were releathered – but is also ridiculously small.  And I am ridiculously disorganised. 

I’ve been looking out for a replacement for some time, but saw nothing I loved until I saw this, one of Ikea’s Vika Glasholm range of interchangeable glass tabletops and legs, which looks like nothing on the website or the catalogue, but which is gorgeous in person. 

It’s large, unusual, doesn’t show sticky fingerprints too much and throws wonderful shadows when lit directly from above.

It is the sort of desk that makes me want to be the sort of person who always has one perfect bloom in a vase on their desk.

 

I’m not exactly thrilled by the trestles it’s standing on – I hope one day Ikea will add some nice spiky aluminium trestles to its range, but they’ll definitely do.

Now I just have to address this lot.

Actually Ikea was the least fun thing we did this weekend.  On Sunday we held a brunch party for a bunch of friends up on the deck, which was huge amounts of fun, and on Monday we went to Bumbershoot  – Seattle’s wonderful music and arts festival – which was completely fab. We didn’t bother to queue for any of the headline acts, but really enjoyed boogieing to Lyrics Born and Soulive on one of the smaller stages. 

The best thing though, was seeing the Minx’s reaction to seeing the Pacific Northwest Ballet.  It’s the first time she’s seen any ballet – and this was pretty adult-orientated stuff – but she was mesmerised throughout and devastated when the hour-long performances came to an end.  I think a trip to the Nutcracker is in order this Christmas.