Let the Swedish invasion in South Florida begin!
IKEA is finally here in Florida!
I was first bitten by the IKEA bug back in 1998 when I visited my friend in California. I thought it was cool and he raved about his bargains from the “As Is” section. But I didn’t really start appreciating it until I moved to Florida in 2001. Having lived in Tennessee before, I never gave interior design or decor the time of day. I thought it was all about dull blue country ducks and apples stenciled on the kitchen walls. When I started visiting (and later living in) South Beach often, my friend and I would drool over the sexy furniture in the display windows instead of the hot bodies on the beach.
The very first day I was in Florida to stay, I made my way down to the Miami Design District. The showrooms had some amazing stuff. There were some European design showrooms that floored me! (No pun intended.) But what was even more shocking were the prices. I knew I would probably not be able to shop there on a graphic design salary. (Little did I know how poor the salaries are in South Florida, particularly for creative professionals. But more on that later.) There had to be a way to create the “look for less”.
That’s when I consumed my friend’s IKEA catalog. I found so many nice accessories that fit my budget!!! (Though that’s about ALL that fit my post 9/11 relocation budget.) Much to my chagrin, the shipping was a hefty flat fee. We would have to assemble a group of people to compile a big order to make the shipping fees worthwhile. No cool rugs, vases or lamps for me.
I have been longingly looking at the catalog since. Until last year… Elliott and I decided it was time to ditch the out-of-scale, hand-me-down living room furniture as well as outfit our home office. Finally this would be a large enough IKEA order to justify the shipping. We are very happy with our purchases and had an adventure assembling some of the items (especially my son’s loft bed). But we were disappointed that many of the glass items we were interested in (lighting, accessories, etc) were not available except in the store. The closest store was in Atlanta. No way we would trek all the way across Florida and most of Georgia to buy some rugs and a light fixture.
Why isn’t there an IKEA in South Florida??? I asked myself that question a million times. Last year I finally got the answer. There WILL be… in Summer 2007. I’ve been anxiously waiting. When they started construction of the “box” it became more real. But summer came and went with no grand opening. I wanted to buy Ariana’s baby crib there. But she came before the store.
After a long anticipation, the new Sunrise (Fort Lauderdale) IKEA store opens this Wednesday, October 17. (Another store is opening in Orlando next month. And Tampa will get a store in 2009.) Find out the details and the location here. I’m sure the grand opening will be a madhouse. But it’s worth it! Now I can follow through with my plans for world domination through good design… one room at a time!
