Extra88

Saturday was the big New Haven Ikea trip. 2 1/2 hrs. each way and almost 5 hrs. in the store! Granted, we did each lunch (decent sandwiches) and "dinner" (we split 2 not-so-decent hot dogs, a coke and a bag of chips for $3) there. First and easiest decision was 3 79"x31" Billy bookshelves. We bought glass doors for one and opted to put off buying the shelf extenders for now. We're hoping to put at least one in the living room but that room has electric heating along every wall so that may not be possible. Otherwise, they'll all go in the study. The bedside table was a fairly easy choice but could have changed if we went another way on the dresser. It's somewhat of a tight fit but very nice to have.

The most important piece, the dresser (or wardrome, chest, whatever), took the longest. I was initially inclined to go unconventional and get a pair of tall (the 79" not the even taller ones) and skinny Pax wardrobes and fill them with shelves to make the most use of vertical space. Ultimately we went with a large chest that matches the bedside table. It doesn't seem to be listed on Ikea's site but it's big, it has 4 half-width drawers and 4 full width drawers. It's the thing we needed most and I think it's our favorite from the trip.

The final piece of furniture was a desk for me. We went for a very basic and cheap one, it's not something worth spending a lot on. I still need a chair and there were a couple of good options but Leah saw one at Staples the other day that might be better/cheaper for me. We weren't seeking non-furniture but we did find a red comforter cover. We recently put up brown roman shades and after the green walls of our last bedroom, we were definitely lacking color.

Sunday was Day 1 of assembly, we managed to do the dresser, bedside table and the desk. The dresser was by far the most complex. The bedroom furniture is solid wood (pine, I think) except the back panels and drawer bottoms and the desk is a manufactured wood material. I believe the bookshelves are the same material as the desk. We'll probably get to the bookshelves on Wednesday.

Aside from a desk chair for me, what we still need are rugs, at least for the bedroom and living room. We looove the oriental (which never had a place for in the previous apartment) and currently have it in the living room but it's too small for that space. I tried it in the bedroom but it's too thick for the door to clear it. That may be a problem, I think I'll have trouble finding a rug I like that is flat enough. It's a strange problem to have. We saw some possible rugs a couple of weeks ago but didn't want to make any choices before we were better furnished.