This lovely little cabinet is the new home for art supplies at my work table. Casters on the bottom roll to wherever it’s handy and magnets adhere because it’s powder coated steel. Meet the Helmer from IKEA.
You probably know that furniture from IKEA requires assembly and the Helmer is no exception. It had 36 individual parts not counting the bag of screws and other hardware!
It took me one hour and fifteen minutes to put together but thirty minutes of that was user error with me dithering around with the wrong part because I didn’t look at the instructions carefully. Once I paid closer attention, it went together in forty-five minutes.
Now, I’ve put together a lot of flat pack furniture, from small tables to desks to kitchen cabinets, but this was the best and most well executed ever. I would definitely buy more IKEA products but going to the store is a different story.
Most stores are more than I want to deal with and make me want to sit down and have a snack so the thought of a full sized IKEA was daunting. My friend Carolyn from WhollyPiecemeal generously drove us the hour to the store, acted as tour guide and was so very patient with my general lack of retail tolerance.
As we drove up to the freestanding store, I was astounded at the sheer enormity of it. Thankfully, we went on a weekday so there weren’t as many shoppers but there were still plenty of people there.
After we toured the upper floor of endless rooms and vignettes all minimalist and uncluttered, we stopped for lunch. I had the pasta and she had the smoked salmon but the star was the chocolate cake. That was the best chocolate cream cake ever!
After a restorative meal we went on to seriously shop the first floor where the bulk of the merchandise is. For someone with an aversion to shopping, I managed to load a shopping cart nearly full so I have some lovely house wares to use and beautify my home as well as pleasant memories of a day spent with a good friend. It was a wonderful outing.