Janet Butler
You have to love a business whose catalog cover promises, “The prices in this catalog can only get lower until June 2014, never higher.” That’s a touch of fresh air, just as the IKEA Catalog has been for many people for years. Ask a college student where she got those handy storage bins in her dorm; ask a busy mom where she got the idea to decorate her daughter’s ceiling with designs cut from colored paper. Even ask the “hipsters” in your neighborhood where they found their distinctive, artistic — and portable! — “walls,” and you’re likely to hear the same word over and over: IKEA. An IKEA catalog is more than just a great place to browse; it’s also an idea generator to help you decorate in your own style and on your own terms. Browse through this latest 2014 edition and your only dilemma may be which idea to put in place first.
Imagine a room that combines three IKEA storage systems — Pax, Besta, and Akurum — to make a small space look B-I-G (as a playful letter graphic on the wall spells out). The containers vary in shape but are the same color — which is the genius of the IKEA system: items are mixable, matchable, and “mashable” to your own taste. Choose from home office chairs, desks, and lighting, or craft tables you can put together for expansive work areas. Get foldable or plastic seating — or a traditional wood rocker. Colors and sizes? Choose cool cream to dove-gray, vivid pink to traffic-stopping yellow, scaled from kids’ rooms to the parlor. And, although most items are packed for you to carry home yourself, if you need help getting that dreamy green sofa or charcoal-tone daybed home, just ask; delivery charges are modest. As the catalog puts it, “Life at home is about creating space for everyday life as it happens.” That’s what IKEA gives customers…year after year.
