MALM Madness

One week ago I moved back into my condo. Yes, moved back in. You see once school went on strike last November, my life got twisted, turned upside down and I headed for the hills. The Hollywood hills that is.

I spent the last three months in a vagabond state, from Los Angeles to Toronto to Montreal and then back to Toronto. I had temporarily relocated out of my place because my life was in such fluctuation that I didn't know whether I was coming or going. Well it seems I am staying, at least until July 1st, when my lease is up and my semesters are out of session.

So even though I am most likely moving in July or shortly thereafter, I am still determined to finally decorate my condo and make it mine. When I moved in last July I had no funds to furnish and decorate and by late September/October when I did have the financial ability I no longer had the time. Then November hit and I left my partially (very partially) furnished condo and headed for the hills.

My first purchase (after putting up some paintings and framed artwork) is to buy a bed frame. I had been sleeping on a mattress on the floor since October- I know so rez' style. But worse is before that I was on an air mattress for 3 months. It is not a fond memory for me by any means. I had never had to do that but life's sudden circumstances had shifted my living situation rather quickly so thus there I found myself.



I found the perfect frame, the IKEA MALM in brown/black. It was inexpensive, looked great and I felt like it was a good first move. I found out two of my girlfriend's have this frame, and one is currently lusting after it. After a week's extensive search on Craigslist trying to find a used one for a better deal, I finally broke down and bought it last Friday. That trip was the third trip to IKEA that week, as I did a pre-shop, bought curtains, and then found myself there once again. The fluorescent lights there drive me crazy and even though I was only going there for one thing, I still found myself and boyfriend dawdling and trolling the aisles for over an hour as if it was our first time. "Oh wow I never noticed these handy metal rails for the kitchen."

So we finally made it to the pick up area and after an exhilirating ride on the cart (somethings never get old) we picked up our 3 peices to the bed, plus slats and beam and make our merry way out.

Friday night 9:30 PM. Boyfriend reluctantly starts setting up the bed, it is a bust. Seems in our rush to get out of the mammoth shop we picked up the queen headboard (piece 1), queen sides (piece 2), and double footboard (piece 3). Arrrgh.

Sunday afternoon 2 PM. Arrive at IKEA do a surprisingly quick exchange and head back home to set up bed. 4 PM After putting the entire bed together, the pièce de résistance, the mattress. Put it on. It is 5 inches too long. WTH? We spend the next 45 trying to determine whether IKEA sells their bed frames to fit only their too-short mattresses in order to force mattress sales or whether Sealy mattresses are too long? Finally we determine, we have also picked up the double sized sides (piece 2) and now have to go back to IKEA before we can set this bed up. Unfortunately it is Super Bowl Sunday and my boyfriend has wings, beer, and a big-screen TV calling out his name.

Monday evening 7 PM. Arrive at IKEA (again) to exchange the side pieces. Now it seems to be a bigger ordeal than the previous exchange but thankfully boyfriend is wise in these ways and we are out before I can finish my phone conversation with my girlfriend. 9 PM Bed is finished and the mattress fits.

Tuesday 12 AM first moment in new bed with frame and mattress. Ahhh heaven.

It was such an ordeal for this first '09 purchase of mine. I have learned many IKEA lessons, and now thing I am working towards a degree in IKEA (apparently boyfriend's sister already has a Masters). Note to self: call in for help to an expert before attempting re-decorating and furniture purchases again.