The Wonderful World of IKEA

The Swedish furniture store still offers versatile and affordable items for the home.

Carol Labuzzetta, MS

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Blue IKEA building with yellow letters. Snow surrounding the parking lot in the Twin Cities franchise of the store.
Photo by the author of the outside of the MSP IKEA Store. © Carol Labuzzetta, 2023.

When we were first married, we had very little. Our big night out was Friday night at the local Greek restaurant at the corner of Hodge and Bryant in the city of Buffalo. It was a block up the street from the Children’s Hospital of Buffalo where I worked as a nurse. We could get two souvlaki sandwiches, a beer, and a glass of wine for $10.00! If we were “flush” with cash, a trip to Sweet Tooth across the street was in order for a Dole frozen fruit pop, adding another $4.00 to our big night out.

We were careful with our money and sought affordable options for furniture. We found the furniture at IKEA met our needs but the nearest one was over the bridge to Canada in Ontario. Still, we went. We got a futon and not much else.

A few years later when we moved to Maryland, outside Baltimore, another trip to IKEA was in order, thrilled to know a store was just up the highway near the White Marsh Mall. This time we bought a grey leather couch and a “Poem” chair. That chair is still in use today, at our son’s apartment. We upgraded couches as we had more money. But the poem chair moved everywhere we did, until this last move to the cabin — it's 30+ years old and still in great shape!

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Carol Labuzzetta, MS

I write about the environment, education, nature, and travel. Having two master's degrees, in nursing and environmental education, I am a teacher at heart.