As many of you know, outside of the Apple Store on Regent Street, IKEA would have to be my most favourite store on the planet. Oh the joy, the sheer exhilarance of wandering around the gorgeous displays, dreaming about the endless possibilities - how you, too, could have an IKEA dream home for a reasonable price - the only limit (other than your pocket) is your imagination. It makes me literally dizzy with excitement. And to top it all off, you can have a (relatively cheap) yummy lunch of meatballs with lingonberry sauce - oh it takes me back to Sweden and the Icehotel...fabulous...
So of course, every available chance I get, off I choof to IKEA. Well, its not like I have a real lot else to do! The fact that the nearest store to me is no longer 3 miles away is irrelevant - no, that just adds to the adventure. Its at least an hour long journey now to my nearest store, the only one in Queensland (although apparently that's set to change with one being proposed at North Lakes) - and I relish every minute of the trip, psyching myself up for the buzz of wandering those hallowed showrooms, soaking up that IKEA millieu...
Alas, my last few journeys have unfortunately not been "all that". First of all, I've had literally no money with which to shop - so I've had to gaze longingly at the lovely items, pick them up if possible, play with them, sniff them, drool over them - and return them to the shelf. Except for my most expensive IKEA purchase to date - my bed. I was so pleased with that purchase, a piece of 'proper' IKEA, not the sort of quasi IKEA stuff I'd been buying (you know, small storage boxes, a dish scrubber and the like - the small stuff). A real proper thing - fantastic.
Except for the mattress. To be honest, I really have a lot of problems with mattresses lately. I guess its just because I'm getting older, but it seems to me that particularly in the last few years, I've had a lot of back problems if I sleep on a mattress which is too soft. Mattresses are a really difficult thing to get right. Luckily though, IKEA have the 'love it and exchange it' policy - which means that you can try the mattress at home, and if its not suitable, bring it back and exchange for another within that specific brand. There are a few other terms and conditions, but that's essentially it.
Well anyway, this mattress has been giving me a bit of gip, so finally I decided to take it back and exchange for a firmer one. Out we trot to IKEA - Dad needing to come too as I don't have a bullbar on my car so I can't tow a trailer - and I return the mattress. We then have a quick spot of lunch and head off to the showroom to try out the others.
Eventually I selected one that I liked - some $400 dearer mind you, but nonetheless, I thought it would be ok. So I tell the salesperson which one I've selected and then she does a check on the stock levels. Alas, they're out of stock. Hmm. What to do now - my original mattress has already been taken away...
I went back down to the exchange counter and explained the dilemma. She, too, had a look and discovered the stocks were out, so we set about setting up a 'case file' so that the new one could be ordered. She told me the difference in price - and it was $50 more than I thought it would be. Why? Well it turns out that the salesperson had given me the code for the Queen size - but I wanted a Double. Quickly the lady checked - and it seemed that they did actually have a Double in stock. Great, I'll take it. So she cancelled the previous paperwork and set about arranging for the correct mattress. Meanwhile, she was now technically working overtime, as she should've finished at 4, so when the paperwork was in order, she told me all I had to do was wait til my number was called, and it would be ok. 4.30 came and went. 4.45 passed. 5.00 too. Then at 5.15, (15 minutes after the store had closed), I was informed that there were no Doubles in stock! Problem!
'Cos now of course my other mattress has well and truly gone - and its getting late - and I don't have a bed to sleep in!
So the long and short of it is, I've got to sleep on my dodgy pull out sofa bed for a week until a new mattress comes in!
Kind of makes you re-think this photo then, eh?
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