A typical coffee table cost more than $300! Throw in two end tables and two pieces of sofa, you will be expecting to shell out at least $3K for a roomful of wood and padding to collecting dust. I rather spend the money on a nice flat HDTV, heck! I rather spend that kind of money to outfit the garage with a complete set of handy tools! (Vivian might object to it tho)

IKEA to the rescue! Practical and modernistic furniture at a very reasonable price! “We ship furniture, not air” was the phrase used by IKEA explaining their too-good-to-be-true prices. Majority of the things sold by IKEA came in a tightly packed, flat package containing disassembled furniture parts. It is DIY furniture, you’ll have to follow the instruction and put things together piece-by-piece. I enjoy the exercise; it allows me to relive my childhood Lego™ days.

Over the weekend, Vivian and I ran to IKEA in East Palo Altos, and picked out a large comfy white sofa and lamps for the family room, along with numerous miscellaneous items to help organizing things around the house. I got creative with the cheap white lamps we found in the store, and cascaded them on the living room corner, actually it turned out pretty nice! Well, at least we thought it looks pretty cool!