Why I Love IKEA

A few weeks ago, I went to IKEA for the first time.  Louisville is the first place I've lived that is within decent driving distance to an IKEA, and so my wonderful friend Jessica and her son Joey joined me on my maiden voyage to the delightful Swedish store.

Oh.my.heavens.  Let me tell you why I am in love with IKEA; it's not necessarily because I want to buy everything in the store (because I really don't, even though I could see myself easily purchasing two-thirds of the items in there), and it's not necessarily because I can buy large bars of delicious Swedish chocolate and multiple packages of cookies which remind me of my grandmother, and it's not necessarily because I walked out of the store, turned to Jess and said, "This sounds so silly, but this store makes me proud to be Swedish.  IKEA and the Nobel Prize- those are some awesome contributions to mankind!"  No friends, all of those reasons are simply icing on the cake that is IKEA.  There is another reason why I love it:

IKEA inspires simplicity. 

When you walk into the showroom and see the model rooms set up, you notice an immediate sense of calm (aside from the other shoppers yelling at their children to not touch anything).  You look at the room and know that even though it's a model, it is still completely livable.  It's not one of those rooms that you look at in the furniture store or in the magazine and say, "Well, sure that's nice, but you can't really live in a room like that."

My favorite part about IKEA was the different complete model homes they had in the showroom.  Yes, that's right; the wonderful people of IKEA designed a few different floor plans which included multiple rooms and designed them as a complete home.  And here's the kicker: the largest "It's Our Home" display was around 800 square feet intended for a family with two children and included a full-size kitchen, living room, dining room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom.  And do you know what?

It didn't feel small.  It felt beautiful.

In the States, our homes have continually gotten larger and larger over the past several decades, but in many place around the globes, living smaller is just a normal part of life.  And don't automatically assume that living smaller means I'm referring to people living in a third-world country.  Just one example is the families of Germany; it's normal to live small.  This is a country the size of Minnesota with a population of 80 million people (the population of Minnesota: just over five million) with one of the strongest economies in the world.  The average-size house in the United States is over 2,000 square feet, more than doubling the average size from the 1950s and 1960s; and I'm pretty sure our homes haven't gotten larger because our families have gotten larger.  The average size home in Germany?  Roughly 1,000 square feet.  Don't get me wrong; it's not that everyone in America is demanding more room while the rest of the world sits quietly content with their homes; the average German home in the 50s was between 800 and 900 square feet, so there is some growth in terms of size, but not to the extent we see on this side of the pond.

Granted, I know the United States is laid out completely differently than Germany.  Mass transit is only available in a few certain cities in the States, and even if you live in a decent-sized city, chances are you live in some type of a suburb, all but eliminating the possibility of walking or riding your bike to work.  We live in a land of Sam's Clubs and Costcos and the ability to get lots for cheap.  That's just not a possibility in Germany; there aren't Wal-Marts in Germany anymore, and did you know the standard-size refrigerator in Germany is what most Americans would consider a 'dorm-room fridge'?  It's true.  If you live in a city in Germany, you're probably living in a flat and not a large house; you go to the market (on foot or by bike) every few days or so to get just want you need (remember you've only got that tiny fridge); there just isn't room to buy bigger.

Of course I know there are no absolutes and that there are many Americans who live 'small' while there are many Germans (and others around the world) who live 'large'.  But my trip to IKEA got me to thinking:

Do we really need all this stuff?

I mean really.  Do we?  You might be able to quip a reply, "Of course we don't need it, but it's nice to have."  Have you ever then sat down and tried to go through all your belongings to just get rid of what you don't use anymore?  It's hard.  Too hard than it should be, really.  Because possessions tie you to this world.  Not as in, "I have so much stuff so I just can't move to another city, state, or country."  No, having all this stuff ties us to this earthly world when we should be storing up our treasures in heaven.  I think the more possessions you own, the more you want to own, and you are willing to sacrifice something in order to keep accumulating; it's addicting, and it's easy to fall into the cycle when we live in a culture that tells you you will be happy if you just can get the next thing.  So we get the 'next thing'...but eventually, we're not happy because we don't have the next 'next thing'. 

We just keep on consuming, and we're never really happy because there is more to life than accumulating possessions and keeping up with the Joneses.

Jess and I were inspired by IKEA's simplicity.  Within a week of our excursion, I started going through our home and pulling out things we don't use anymore (and let's be honest, never actually did use) and making one big pile.  I haven't really even gotten to the spare bedroom, kitchen, or gone through our clothes, and the pile is already quite large!  Trust me, if I posted a picture of the obscene amount of stuff I am getting rid of, you would be astonished.  We've already sold some books (yes, that's right...and while I am a huge advocate of having a well-stocked library for your children, friends, and yourself, there are just some books not worth owning...i.e. the Twilight series) and DVDs and given away some other things.  Jess and I are going to have a yard sale sometime in September with some friends in order to rid ourselves of the unnecessary clutter in our lives.  Henceforth, Isaac and I are really making and effort to stop collecting things.  We definitely still purchase non-consumable items (well...you're right, we pretty much just purchase books- but only those we need for class or ones which we feel we are likely to keep forever...i.e. the Mandie and American Girls series for myself and Calvin's Institutes for Isaac), but we would much rather garner experiences in our life instead of possessions which, in the end, just sit around collecting dust.  {So, just in case you were planning on purchasing me a birthday or Christmas present- might I kindly suggest you make a donation to my official Swedish Savings Account (the far-away trip where I venture to Stockholm, see the house in which my Mor Mor grew up, and cry my eyes out because her homeland is simply so breathtaking)?  Just kidding, but no really...}

So here's to simplicity, friends.  May we be reminded not to place value on possessions instead of people or desire items more than life experiences.