Just a quick note today about the Swedish giant emporium that is IKEA.  I am preparing the house for an interior shoot this week, and thought I would pop by IKEA to pick up some spare tapered candles.  Just candles, don’t need anything else….

Am I the type of person in the world who enters the shop with such a simple intention, and leaves with what I came for? I am not.  By the time I had reached the checkout I had a trolley groaning with the following items, rationale had left me.  But I did that thing that all TRUE AND GREAT SHOPPERS DO… I made up some excellent reasons as to why I needed them:

• Candles – what I came for.  A box of white tapered ones
• Candles – nice big huge chunky ones, 4 of them, might be good at Christmas
• Hallway sisal runner – mine is looking a bit jaded so a smart replacement
• 3m long velvet orange curtains – great for the recently overhauled dining room
• Plastic food bags – 2 boxes, useful for crafts, kids lunches and so on
• Plastic food bag clips – to tie up the above
• Tea towels- linen, very pretty and no doubt a bugger to iron so they will end up in a drawer and only be used once
• King size bed sheet, they finally do UK sized fitted sheets, and in dark aubergine…
• Two wool throws in charcoal, just snuggly and useful, but excess on top of the other 5/6 throws I already have…
• Copper tray to put all the candles on, on trend as they say
• Cream tin canister set for the kitchen- to hide things like cat medicine
• Two small artificial Christmas trees – most lifelike and useful for Christmas
• Boxes of Christmas decorations made from 3D brown paper – no time to make my own this year
• Boxes of black Christmas tree baubles – great for the new dining room scheme
• Black storage boxes to put things in, not sure what yet but I am sure they will be very practical
• Table runners x 2 to sew together to make one long one for the Christmas table, but I forgot that my sewing machine is broken so they will no doubt end up in a drawer with the tea towels
• A wad of paper napkins, to go with all the other ones I forgot I already had
• Christmas wrapping paper – I don’t begrudge this as their lines are really nice and come with lots of different papers, ribbons and bags at a very good price.  Mind you I probably just blew the present budget for several people buying all the above.

IKEA is just one of those places where you grab things as you walk through it as they seem by cheap.  It is only at the till that you realise that you have spent a fortune on lots of things that will ultimately and probably end up in a drawer.

Does anyone else out there do this too, or am I just a retailers delight?!

Ta-ta for now…..