My consumer habits brought me to Kohl's in Marysville this past weekend. My girlfriend and I decided to head up north to one of the 'outlet' malls (it's really just a big regular mall in out door outlet style) to look for running shoes for each of us. On the exit we take to get there we saw there was a Khol's and a Ross we forgot about... and we <3 Kohl's and Ross!
Cheap shopping is a plus in my book when you can find decent quality clothes for a great price, and holy crap did I score big. Kohl's had some massive sale going on before they started to get a lot of their summer apparel in. Going through countless 70, 80, and sometimes 90 percent racks, I managed to score some nice looking light pullover sweaters for $5 a piece! Bonus! Add to that the two pair of New Balance running shoes for about $40 each and I made out like a bandit. The woman picked up two sweaters for about $9 each.. very good looking clothes for us both ;D
I've been growing a bit tired of the stale wardrobe I've had for awhile now. Dockers button up shirts I've had for years have been just seeming oh so drab compared to other clothes I've been eyeing. Unfortunately I'm built like a tank and have trouble finding nice clothes that taper to my build, while retaining shoulder room AND arm length. It seems that most things I find these days are built for narrow-shoulder'ed waifes.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Welcome to the Fold
"And I wasn't the only slave to my nesting instinct. The people I know who used to sit in the bathroom with pornography, now they sit in the bathroom with their IKEA furniture catalogue." ~Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club, Chapter 5
Littered about my rental home in the upper east side of the Puget Sound.. wait, let me start over:
You can't walk more than several feet in my rental home, in the upper east side of the Puget Sound, without spying something from IKEA.
During my college years I gleefully succumbed to the madness of pop-culture furnishings provided by our dearly beloved, meatball eating, yellow VW driving, sweedish fish-crack pushing company. There happens to be one of those absolutely humongous blue warehouses not too far from here.
Only having limited space in college dorms, then a college apartment, then my own apartment: slowly over time I gathered, piece-by-piece, an entire living room of IKEA furniture. The black-browns, the antique-stains, the trendy dark reds and funky designs, oh yes they all looked awesome together in an orgy of cheap yet sensible furniture.
Then came my bedroom. I moved into a rental home with plenty of space, and I felt the need to have a real bedroom with 'real' furniture. A bed frame with head and foot boards. A pair of night stands. A small wide dresser. A tall dresser. All matching, all the same line/set. The furniture in my bedroom is entirely IKEA.
The joy I get of parusing through the entire warehouse when there are new displays, new products, new catalogs, new tchochkes, placates to my retail therapy habits.
By now some of you are groaning, or shifting in your seat thinking about the countless dwellings you've been inside and seen the same furniture time and time again-- or perhaps have seen your own tastes thrown back in your face. If you had the fortunate circumstance to go to college anywhere near IKEA, didn't everyone have the same of *something*? Chairs, picture frames, wall art, dishes, or maybe the cookware or lighting: Is it so wrong to be thrilled with the cheeky IKEA culture? Wrong to enjoy the pop-euro designs with simple yet effective asthetics? Above all else though.. compared to the likes of other "pop" furniture places (Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn..) IKEA is somewhat affordable (no, not everything is.. but a lot of it fits a modest budget).
If you are immersed in a lifestyle of brand whoring or human flock mentality, then it certainly isn't a problem to be a bandwagon fan of IKEA. Some of us honestly enjoy the products available, while some leverage the more affordable items as a means of staying within their budget yet feeling content on a level of 'cool' in their environment.
What happens (this is the "but") when we move on? Yes.. My bedroom set is entirely IKEA. Yes, my living room is about 90% IKEA. What happens when I *buy* a home for the long haul, and I want "better quality" furniture? I upgrade!
I'm looking forward to getting rid of my Ektorp corner couch. The thing is a beast, all be it a comfy one. I have my eyes set on various sofas from Crate & Barrel, and surprisingly a local furniture importer. I suppose I sell the one I have and hope it goes to good use, and doesn't end up in a landfill somewhere in New Jersey. Case in point. =T
There's all sorts of reasons why we gravitate towards the mass produced cookie cutter furniture out there.. and perhaps for a lot of us it doesn't make a difference since our circle of friends is so small that the diversity amongst our homesteads is enough to pass places like IKEA off as a valid home furnishings store.
Another thing that comes to mind as I'm mulling it about in my head, is that tastes change as we get along in life. Yes.. I'm still a fan of clean lines, and anything that presents very tight asthetics.. but I also treasure the solid woods and life-long assembly that goes into more expensive items. I won't find the best of both worlds (price and quality) at a place like IKEA, so when I "make it" in the world and own my place of residence then I will find myself with a very expensive shopping list for entire room sets of furniture. Good times =)
You can't walk more than several feet in my rental home, in the upper east side of the Puget Sound, without spying something from IKEA.
During my college years I gleefully succumbed to the madness of pop-culture furnishings provided by our dearly beloved, meatball eating, yellow VW driving, sweedish fish-crack pushing company. There happens to be one of those absolutely humongous blue warehouses not too far from here.
Only having limited space in college dorms, then a college apartment, then my own apartment: slowly over time I gathered, piece-by-piece, an entire living room of IKEA furniture. The black-browns, the antique-stains, the trendy dark reds and funky designs, oh yes they all looked awesome together in an orgy of cheap yet sensible furniture.
Then came my bedroom. I moved into a rental home with plenty of space, and I felt the need to have a real bedroom with 'real' furniture. A bed frame with head and foot boards. A pair of night stands. A small wide dresser. A tall dresser. All matching, all the same line/set. The furniture in my bedroom is entirely IKEA.
The joy I get of parusing through the entire warehouse when there are new displays, new products, new catalogs, new tchochkes, placates to my retail therapy habits.
By now some of you are groaning, or shifting in your seat thinking about the countless dwellings you've been inside and seen the same furniture time and time again-- or perhaps have seen your own tastes thrown back in your face. If you had the fortunate circumstance to go to college anywhere near IKEA, didn't everyone have the same of *something*? Chairs, picture frames, wall art, dishes, or maybe the cookware or lighting: Is it so wrong to be thrilled with the cheeky IKEA culture? Wrong to enjoy the pop-euro designs with simple yet effective asthetics? Above all else though.. compared to the likes of other "pop" furniture places (Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn..) IKEA is somewhat affordable (no, not everything is.. but a lot of it fits a modest budget).
If you are immersed in a lifestyle of brand whoring or human flock mentality, then it certainly isn't a problem to be a bandwagon fan of IKEA. Some of us honestly enjoy the products available, while some leverage the more affordable items as a means of staying within their budget yet feeling content on a level of 'cool' in their environment.
What happens (this is the "but") when we move on? Yes.. My bedroom set is entirely IKEA. Yes, my living room is about 90% IKEA. What happens when I *buy* a home for the long haul, and I want "better quality" furniture? I upgrade!
I'm looking forward to getting rid of my Ektorp corner couch. The thing is a beast, all be it a comfy one. I have my eyes set on various sofas from Crate & Barrel, and surprisingly a local furniture importer. I suppose I sell the one I have and hope it goes to good use, and doesn't end up in a landfill somewhere in New Jersey. Case in point. =T
There's all sorts of reasons why we gravitate towards the mass produced cookie cutter furniture out there.. and perhaps for a lot of us it doesn't make a difference since our circle of friends is so small that the diversity amongst our homesteads is enough to pass places like IKEA off as a valid home furnishings store.
Another thing that comes to mind as I'm mulling it about in my head, is that tastes change as we get along in life. Yes.. I'm still a fan of clean lines, and anything that presents very tight asthetics.. but I also treasure the solid woods and life-long assembly that goes into more expensive items. I won't find the best of both worlds (price and quality) at a place like IKEA, so when I "make it" in the world and own my place of residence then I will find myself with a very expensive shopping list for entire room sets of furniture. Good times =)
Today's Profile
Puma Roma's
Dockers jacket, button up shirt
Trendy shirt from Busted Tees
Levi's
Kenneth Cole watch
New Era 59Fifty
Caffe Ladro - Double Grande Organic White Mocha
Sony headphones
HP laptop
Dockers jacket, button up shirt
Trendy shirt from Busted Tees
Levi's
Kenneth Cole watch
New Era 59Fifty
Caffe Ladro - Double Grande Organic White Mocha
Sony headphones
HP laptop
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