How To Pass The IKEA Relationship Test
DENVER (CBS4) - A California psychologist publicized her relationship therapy this week in which she suggests visiting IKEA with your significant other.
Supposedly each showroom is a fight waiting to happen because the options are so bountiful, and once you make it out alive then you're left to assemble the pieces of your purchase, literally.
There are many skeptics across social media, and even some who say IKEA can ruin a relationship, but I was curious enough to put it to the test. I needed a lamp for the living room anyways, so I forced my boyfriend to visit the furniture motherland with me (promising to pick up his hiking boots afterwards).
And I am not exaggerating when I say it was the most fun I've had in a month.
I recently broke my leg skiing and have been confined to crutches. As we drove up a hill to the looming warehouse of IKEA, I knew the massive square footage would be a challenge. Luckily when we walked inside I was offered a wheelchair -- let the fun begin!
This was also my first time at IKEA -- did you know they have a cafeteria? And a daycare? We scoffed at the woman who told us to have the wheelchair back by 9 o'clock…at night. Yeah right, who could spend that much time in one store? Well…
As soon as we got in the [also enormous] elevator we tested the wheelchair's potential by spinning around in circles. Once in the showroom maze, it was like a game trying not to run into anything with my new dimensions. Since I was sitting, I became the shopping cart. Difficult decisions on decorations plus navigating a furniture labyrinth easily added up to two hours of our lives.
The hardest part was choosing a lamp. We had sighed over the small selection at places like Target and Walmart, but the endless sea of lamps at IKEA might have been too much. It was just so hard to find the right one! Do you want hanging or standing? Silver or gold? Square or round? What color should the cord be? It never ends.
In the end we chose the very first lamp we liked.
The potential for a fight showed itself with the nightstand decision. There are plenty to choose from, but he wanted the right height and I wanted the right color. Of course the select few that met both criteria were over $100 (for a tiny table!). He chose the winner, which now looks exceptionally dumb beside the bed with its wide face and short legs. Oh well.
I have to admit I cheated on the assembly part. Part of the therapy suggested by this particular psychologist includes putting something together -- working together to build your new piece of furniture. The next day I went to work and came home to perfectly assembled pieces. He didn't have work that day and was bored…I'll let that bonding exercise go.
I can't say if this outing improved our communication skills as intended, but it was fun! And if it's an overrepresentation of something more, so be it.
What do you think, could you pass the IKEA relationship test?
