I found what’s wrong with IKEA.

I found what’s wrong with IKEA.

Labor Day.

If you were in downtown Atlanta this weekend chances are you milling about at DragonCon, the huge sci-fi, comic convention — here’s a link to Jana’s family’s DragonCon experience at Jana’s Thinking Place —

Or you were at IKEA. Like us.

We pulled up yesterday and the parking decks looked like Black Friday and Times Square at New Year’s Eve on performance-enhancing meds.

Who were all these people and what were they doing here?

My husband, a IKEA virgin, had this idea since we can’t afford a kitchen overhaul right now — we need to redo our bedroom.

From the parking lot on, I think for him it was sensory overload. Like a toddler plopped down in the middle of the Dumbo’s ride the first time.

He soon quieted his little toddler emotions and that designing side of his brain went into overdrive.

We started writing down those little numbers.

And writing numbers…and more numbers.

After stopping for a lunch break — which was free if you spent more than $100 — we started to collect all our stuff.

This required a few more trips back to the showroom because we weren’t exactly sure what the heck we wanted.

Ugh.

Eventually we headed to checkout.

 Yes, four carts of stuff which actually turned into five. The astute cashier pointed out that we missed some boxes that when with our purchases. Thank God for her.

We got out to the dock and loaded the bed of the truck and backseat with our new bedroom. Thankfully some young fellow who was in town to see North Carolina State play Tech helped us load up.

Then another Thank God we happened to dodge all the rain for our 50 mile drive home.

And guess what?

If you’ve loaded up your truck at IKEA, you have to unload it at home. Without the help of kind Wolfpack friend who decided to head back to Mississippi rather than come 50 miles out of his way to help us get all this inside.

But we did it.

There are more. I’ll spare you photos.

My husband walked out in a sleepy state early this morning into the dark dining room and thought Why is there a coffin in our house?

And that’s the problem with IKEA.

You get there and everything is so nice and funky and affordable, you grossly overestimate your ability to put it all together.

No telling when those boxes will be opened.

As for me, I’m heading down the street to pick out paint colors. And I need to remember to pick up a new tool set.

This is getting way out of hand.

What is the largest project you’ve taken on?

If you don’t have one…maybe you could jump in with ours?