The Gratitude Project - Day 27

Source: somewhatsimple.com via Sara on Pinterest

Today, I am thankful for Ikea. I don't like to buy new furniture. I feel like between my husband and my toddler, it's not going to stay nice for long enough to justify the large price tags that accompany it. I guess maybe I'm just cheap, but when we needed a new couch it was just so hard for me to fathom spending $800 on one that I knew was just going to get covered in hair goop and crumbs like the last one! If that happens to the one we got at Goodwill for 80 bucks though, I'm not going to be all broken up about it.

Same deal with the coffee table. My kid plays on it every day, and the boy plays hard. I'm not sad about the nicks and scratches in the finish though, because we only paid $20 for it. It's not tragic.

Occasionally though, a need will arise for a piece of furniture and despite keeping my eyes open, I just won't come across it at a thrift store. For this purpose, I'm thankful that we have an Ikea nearby. The furniture isn't all pressboard and laminate. Most of it looks nice. It's reasonably priced. It's close enough that we can just run over there and grab what we need and it's not a big ordeal.

We've been needing a tv stand. Our old tv stand was a cheap Target number and couldn't really handle the weight of the television. It got super bowed in the middle and we were scared that it would break, thereby dropping and breaking the tv. We don't exactly have another $1000 to go buy a new tv if that happens, you know? So, when we moved, we gave it away.

The tv has been sitting on a dresser since we've been in the house. I kept telling myself that I just needed to find the perfect stand or sideboard to hold it. The problem was that I couldn't find anything that I liked that wasn't priced too high. It's not a big deal to me to pay money for something nice and new that I deem worth it, or money for a really nice piece that's going to be one of a kind, but when it's something that has seen a lot of use and is going to need a lot of work that's sitting in the back of the Goodwill? Um, pass!

Well, my husband noted that the dresser holding the tv was starting to bow in the middle from the weight of the television, so I knew that my time to find the "perfect" piece was up. What to do? Easy - turn to the Ikea catalog!

We ended up going with this Hemnes tv unit in white. It has nice, clean, straight lines, is made of solid wood instead of pressboard, the drawers on are on sturdy metal casters instead of flimsy metal ones with plastic rollers, and best of all? The maximum load is 110 lbs! It says it can hold up to a fifty inch tv, so since ours is only 42 inches that should eliminate the bowing problem! Since it is low, I can hang my shelf back over the tv to use as a mantel. I was missing that thing, especially with the holiday decorating season here.

So, today I am thankful for Ikea and their affordable furniture. Oh, and can I just toss in there that I'm thankful I know how to use a screwdriver and am not afraid of assembling my own furniture? Yeah!