Ikea Unboxing: The New Couch
I like Ikea. I go there at least once a month. The food is tasty, and the deals are great. Especially, Ikea prices are ridiculously cheap in China! It's just a shame that I had to wait until I moved to China to finally go to an Ikea!
Anyway, In order to complete my apartment, I needed one more major purchase from Ikea, and that was someplace cozy to flop when I have had a long day or some really good exercise, or when I just want to watch a good movie. None of the furniture that came with my apartment is remotely comfortable for long sitting or flopping upon, and that meant that I needed to get my own sofa.
(The apartment came with a sofa, but it's as hard as the all-bamboo mattresses, and quite unacceptable for the intended purpose. It makes a nice spot to sit in front of the picture window and watch the world go by, but not for flopping, curling up with a book, watching a movie, or, for that matter, cuddling. But that's all I'm going to say about that!
Anyway, I went to Ikea on Monday and tested all the decent looking couches available for less than 5,000元, and settled on the one that actually cost the least, because it was also the most comfortable. (The expensive ones were actually either uncomfortably firm, or waaaaay too soft!) I picked up a matching footstool and what I thought was the right cover for both the footstool and the couch, then went to order the couch for delivery. All told, with the couch, the footstool, and the other things I picked up for the house, I spent just shy of 2,000元. Not bad! Divide it by six, and I bought all of it for right around $335.
The delivery came friday after school. It was scheduled for between 18:00 and 22:00, and the guy was at my door at 18:02. I had the couch completely assembled by 18:57. This is the story of the unboxing...
As always, click to embiggen the pictures.
We'll start with this coffin-sized box. When they pulled it off the elevator, I was grinning ear to ear. I decided on day one, November 8, that my apartment needed a better sofa. It's been a long wait, as I bought other necessaries like mattresses and cooking gear. This month was the month of the sofa. It was all in the plans. In this picture, I had pulled the three plastic bands off, and turned it on its side for the best angle.
And now, the unboxing! It took me a minute to decide which direction was up. The box is completely plain, except for the shipping label, so there really wasn't much to say "this is the top." Fortunately, I guessed pretty well, because the instructions are right there on top, between the two arm rests.
This is what the finished product will look like. I was thinking about opting for the less expensive Ektorp loveseat, but I decided that I wanted something I could stretch out on, so I went with the full sofa. If something convinces me to stay in China beyond five years, maybe I'll get the matching Ektorp loveseat and armchair. But for now, this is more than enough.
Next step: inventory! I pulled everything out and counted the big parts. Two armrests, one body, three seat cushions, and three vacuum-packed backrest cushions. Check!
And the little stuff. One Ikea wrench (I love these little tools... but what am I going to do with a hundred hex wrenches when I'm done here?), six bolts, six nuts, six metal washers, two plastic washers, and four feet. Check!
Gotta unbag the cushions so they'll fluff up. At this point, there were little bits of fiber fluff everywhere, from the material that everything is covered in.
Then it's time to bolt the armrests to the body. Two bolts for each base...
And one bolt holding the backrest in place. This was actually the only part that got remotely challenging, because there's enough cushioning that the armrests didn't want to press all the way against the backrest. So I had to cajole and push enough to get the bolt through, so I could slip the nut over the end and pull it tight.
Putting the feet on was easy; they screw on by hand.
I decided to get clever. This bag contains the wrench, and it's taped to the inside of the couch. It's my plan that, when I am ready to move away, I'm going to donate this couch to the school's foreign teacher department, because my land-lady doesn't deserve it. I'll give her the mattresses, and that's more than she deserves, too. If I keep the wrench here, it'll be easy to find when it's time to take the couch apart and move it to the school.
I added floor protection pads to the feet, just because the couch is heavy, and I don't want any trapped dust scratching up the wood tiles. The construction crew did enough of that without my help, before I moved in.
The hardest part was tipping the couch up. I wanted to do it gently so I didn't put too much stress on the feet from the wrong angle, and break them right away. But the backrest is actually heavier than the base, even with the metal springs, so it was really difficult to get enough leverage to lift it. I managed it in the end, and tossed the cushions on.
The last step was covering it. The sofa came with a cover, that cost 499元. But it's light beige. I decided in the store that I wanted the dark grey, the better to hide stains if I sweat when I sit on it after a run in the summer heat, or spill some popcorn while watching a movie. And also because Harbin is a very dusty city. I bought the dark grey cover for the footstool, even though it's 100元 more than the beige one. And I didn't know they were going to send me the beige cover, so I picked up what I thought was the right cover in the store. I was wrong, though: I bought the loveseat cover. Too bad I can't read Chinese, or I would have recognized my mistake right away.
Picking up the box for the cover I bought, and the one that was shipped, I realized why it was more expensive. Even though the dark grey loveseat cover is smaller, it weighed about twice as much as the beige sofa cover. It must be a heavier material! I debated for a few hours what I wanted to do; looking online, I found that the grey cover is 699元, so even returning the loveseat cover, I'll only save 100元.
I decided that, although I want the grey cover more, what I really wanted was to sit on my sofa, that I've been waiting five months to get. If I waited to switch, I wouldn't make it back to Ikea until next Monday. That's a whole weekend with the couch taunting me to sit on it! So I opened the beige cover and put it on. It looks nice, but it's going to show every speck of dirt. I'll just have to deal with that.
Anyway, that's the story of the Ikea couch. I tried it out after putting it all together, and yes, it's quite comfy. I even dozed off in the middle of the movie I was watching. I think I'm going to enjoy it, and I will definitely get my money's worth out of it!
Also, I couldn't have planned it better if I tried, though; it's super rainy and dark outside today, which is the perfect kind of weather for curling up on the couch with a hot cuppa and a good book!
-=TK
Anyway, In order to complete my apartment, I needed one more major purchase from Ikea, and that was someplace cozy to flop when I have had a long day or some really good exercise, or when I just want to watch a good movie. None of the furniture that came with my apartment is remotely comfortable for long sitting or flopping upon, and that meant that I needed to get my own sofa.
(The apartment came with a sofa, but it's as hard as the all-bamboo mattresses, and quite unacceptable for the intended purpose. It makes a nice spot to sit in front of the picture window and watch the world go by, but not for flopping, curling up with a book, watching a movie, or, for that matter, cuddling. But that's all I'm going to say about that!
Anyway, I went to Ikea on Monday and tested all the decent looking couches available for less than 5,000元, and settled on the one that actually cost the least, because it was also the most comfortable. (The expensive ones were actually either uncomfortably firm, or waaaaay too soft!) I picked up a matching footstool and what I thought was the right cover for both the footstool and the couch, then went to order the couch for delivery. All told, with the couch, the footstool, and the other things I picked up for the house, I spent just shy of 2,000元. Not bad! Divide it by six, and I bought all of it for right around $335.
The delivery came friday after school. It was scheduled for between 18:00 and 22:00, and the guy was at my door at 18:02. I had the couch completely assembled by 18:57. This is the story of the unboxing...
As always, click to embiggen the pictures.
We'll start with this coffin-sized box. When they pulled it off the elevator, I was grinning ear to ear. I decided on day one, November 8, that my apartment needed a better sofa. It's been a long wait, as I bought other necessaries like mattresses and cooking gear. This month was the month of the sofa. It was all in the plans. In this picture, I had pulled the three plastic bands off, and turned it on its side for the best angle.
And now, the unboxing! It took me a minute to decide which direction was up. The box is completely plain, except for the shipping label, so there really wasn't much to say "this is the top." Fortunately, I guessed pretty well, because the instructions are right there on top, between the two arm rests.
This is what the finished product will look like. I was thinking about opting for the less expensive Ektorp loveseat, but I decided that I wanted something I could stretch out on, so I went with the full sofa. If something convinces me to stay in China beyond five years, maybe I'll get the matching Ektorp loveseat and armchair. But for now, this is more than enough.
Next step: inventory! I pulled everything out and counted the big parts. Two armrests, one body, three seat cushions, and three vacuum-packed backrest cushions. Check!
And the little stuff. One Ikea wrench (I love these little tools... but what am I going to do with a hundred hex wrenches when I'm done here?), six bolts, six nuts, six metal washers, two plastic washers, and four feet. Check!
Gotta unbag the cushions so they'll fluff up. At this point, there were little bits of fiber fluff everywhere, from the material that everything is covered in.
Then it's time to bolt the armrests to the body. Two bolts for each base...
And one bolt holding the backrest in place. This was actually the only part that got remotely challenging, because there's enough cushioning that the armrests didn't want to press all the way against the backrest. So I had to cajole and push enough to get the bolt through, so I could slip the nut over the end and pull it tight.
Putting the feet on was easy; they screw on by hand.
I decided to get clever. This bag contains the wrench, and it's taped to the inside of the couch. It's my plan that, when I am ready to move away, I'm going to donate this couch to the school's foreign teacher department, because my land-lady doesn't deserve it. I'll give her the mattresses, and that's more than she deserves, too. If I keep the wrench here, it'll be easy to find when it's time to take the couch apart and move it to the school.
I added floor protection pads to the feet, just because the couch is heavy, and I don't want any trapped dust scratching up the wood tiles. The construction crew did enough of that without my help, before I moved in.
The hardest part was tipping the couch up. I wanted to do it gently so I didn't put too much stress on the feet from the wrong angle, and break them right away. But the backrest is actually heavier than the base, even with the metal springs, so it was really difficult to get enough leverage to lift it. I managed it in the end, and tossed the cushions on.
The last step was covering it. The sofa came with a cover, that cost 499元. But it's light beige. I decided in the store that I wanted the dark grey, the better to hide stains if I sweat when I sit on it after a run in the summer heat, or spill some popcorn while watching a movie. And also because Harbin is a very dusty city. I bought the dark grey cover for the footstool, even though it's 100元 more than the beige one. And I didn't know they were going to send me the beige cover, so I picked up what I thought was the right cover in the store. I was wrong, though: I bought the loveseat cover. Too bad I can't read Chinese, or I would have recognized my mistake right away.
Picking up the box for the cover I bought, and the one that was shipped, I realized why it was more expensive. Even though the dark grey loveseat cover is smaller, it weighed about twice as much as the beige sofa cover. It must be a heavier material! I debated for a few hours what I wanted to do; looking online, I found that the grey cover is 699元, so even returning the loveseat cover, I'll only save 100元.
I decided that, although I want the grey cover more, what I really wanted was to sit on my sofa, that I've been waiting five months to get. If I waited to switch, I wouldn't make it back to Ikea until next Monday. That's a whole weekend with the couch taunting me to sit on it! So I opened the beige cover and put it on. It looks nice, but it's going to show every speck of dirt. I'll just have to deal with that.
Anyway, that's the story of the Ikea couch. I tried it out after putting it all together, and yes, it's quite comfy. I even dozed off in the middle of the movie I was watching. I think I'm going to enjoy it, and I will definitely get my money's worth out of it!
Also, I couldn't have planned it better if I tried, though; it's super rainy and dark outside today, which is the perfect kind of weather for curling up on the couch with a hot cuppa and a good book!
-=TK