A Trip to Ikea

I have four relatively large, ceramic and acrylic skulls that I put outside the door of my apartment as part of my decorating for the Day of the Dead.  I was thinking that they would look better if I had a small table to set them on.  We have an Ikea here in Mexico City, and I was wondering if they might have something suitable.  The table needed to be quite narrow so as not to be an obstacle in the hallway of my floor.  I looked at Ikea's website, and the only thing I found was a bench that was about 16 inches wide.  It was not quite what I wanted, but it would do.

The next thing was to check and see if I would be able to get to Ikea via public transportation.  I knew that there was a Metro stop right across the street from the store.  I checked Google Maps and found that I could take the Metrobus that runs near my apartment to the Buenavista Train Station.  From there I could take Line B of the Metro, the one that passes by Ikea.

So, last Thursday I went to Ikea.  The store is enormous with a path that loops from one display of furniture and other merchandise to another.  I had not gone far when I saw something that I had not seen on the website.  It was a black TV stand made of particle board, and it was only ten inches wide.  It looked nice and was just what I wanted.  I took a photo of the label with my cell phone, and went to the self service area on the top floor.  There were stacks of boxed merchandise.  I found the item I was looking for and carried it to the cashier to pay.

Now I had to get home with it.  Fortunately, the box was not too big nor did it weigh too much.  It was a bit clumsy to go through the turnstiles of the Metro and Metrobus, but I made it back to the apartment without too much difficulty.

Now, of course, I had to assemble the stand.  There were two panels... the table top, and a shelf... and the four legs.  The legs attached to the top with double ended screws (I think that's what you call them) and there was more hardware and screws for attaching the shelf.  The directions (which consisted of drawings) indicated that you could insert the screws into the holes in the top simply by turning them with your hand.  I was able to get them started, but there was no way that I could screw them all the way by hand.  Even with a pair of pliers it was extremely difficult.  When I finally had the screws in the top, I was then supposed to attach the legs by turning them onto the other end of the screws.  That was fairly easy.  I hoped that the table would stand level, and, fortunately, it did.

As I looked at the stand, I thought to myself, "Do I really need to attach the shelf?"  The table would serve my purpose without it.  If attaching the shelf should turn out to be as difficult, I would rather avoid the frustration.

So here is how it looks outside my door with my four Day of the Dead skulls.

My trip to Ikea was a success.  However, I don't know that I would want to assemble any more of their furniture.