As an expat living in the UAE for the quarter part of a century, I have memories of IKEA in Karama and then in the City Centre at Deira before it moved to its current sprawling location. Ikea’s brochure was and still is a coveted object. We used to ‘smuggle’ it home to show it to carpenters back home for them to replicate the designs. 🙂
A lot has changed and a ‘Home’ these days is not simply about the makeup of a building or a space, it is all about how it is configured, occupied, and used. The central theme at the heart of all contemporary homes is free flowing space, natural light, and a dedication to materials. Transience is a particularly important aspect of all our homes here and at times it feels too uncertain to invest a lot in a ‘house’ and sometimes décor becomes an afterthought. But that is what makes a ‘house’ a home’.
It all adds up to the fact that we don’t live the way we used to, and our relationship to home and its material trappings has changed. We look at ourselves as explorers of domestic spaces, rather than true inhabitants. Ikea is a great help here. It allows for self-expression but with a limited repertoire to suit your budget and nudges us to accomplish our task with a lot of help from them!
Nudges us and how!!! You set out to make that ’quick’ trip to IKEA but honestly, tell me, is any IKEA trip ever quick? And do we ever leave IKEA empty handed?
So, what is it about IKEA that draws us to it again and again?
Every IKEA has a very distinctive ENTRANCE and EXIT. Once you walk through the entrance, you begin your excursion in the IKEA maze. The design layout is like an IKEA catalogue in a physical form where you can see yourself sipping your morning cuppa on that lovely kitchen countertop under that beautiful pendant lamp that you have always wanted and yes, tea in THAT particular mug too! The same happens with the living room, bedroom, and other experiences. It is all imagined and laid out for you whether you live in a studio, a one-bedroom or more.
If you are looking for something, you are supposed to take note of the attached tag and pick it up later in their warehouse ahead or below as in the case of IKEA here.
To get to the warehouse, you go through the entire store and its various sections laid out in a tempting manner with smaller items placed along the way for a grab n’ go, which you predictably end up doing and before you realize you have picked a candlestand, a lovely throw, a few mugs and more! You are very unlikely to leave an item behind and come for it later as there is no way you want to walk through the maze again so you always end up keeping it in the bag to decide later! This is their way of nudging you towards an impulse purchase.
Midway when you feel that you have picked up more than necessary stuff and you decide to hurry and get to the end, you come across a lovely cafeteria that is kid-friendly and affordable! Perfect for that cup of coffee and a croissant and of course you end up ordering more! So once again you are rested and re-fueled and on for another round of shopping on your way out!
So at the end of your journey when you actually arrive at the warehouse to pick what you originally came for, you already have a bag full of stuff The final trip from the warehouse to the cash counter is dotted with sale items that again tempt you for that impulse purchase!
The icing on the cake is the ‘As Is’ section where you get heavily discounted pieces of floor samples, discontinued pieces, and customer returns at a reduced price. You are very likely to score a great deal here!
The IKEA experience is unique, and the temptations are difficult to overcome so the next time you end up at the counter with those obscure purchases, accept it! It works!
And this is my own experience every single time and I look forward to it again and again!
Written By: Viki Shah
The good:
I read somewhere that it is like an ‘Adult Lego’ – that is the best way to describe it! Shopping at IKEA is fun, affordable and they sell just about everything!!
The bad:
The temptations and the random purchases of stuff that you don’t need.
The trendy:
Smart. Clean Swedish designs that are ‘oh so instagrammable’ and the cute wooden pencils! I collect those!