Day Trip to Ikea and Costco
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Earlier this year DH, DD and I decided to go on a day trip to The Big Smoke, aka Melbourne, to go to Ikea and Costco…
When we lived in Arabia we used to got to Ikea all the time… the kids loved it, we loved it.. well, what’s not to love about Ikea?!
But I think we have only been to Ikea ONCE here in Australia….
That’s because it is a fair drive…
Ikea
It’s about a 2 hour drive to get to Ikea from our place, and we are not early risers, so we got there late morning…
The thing that immediately stood out to me was the apartments next to Ikea:
They really reminded me of the Netherlands – a much more common sight there than here in Australia….
It wasn’t too busy in Ikea that day… even though we pretty much knew what we were looking for (Billy Bookshelves for my pantry), we decided to do the whole walkthrough of the showrooms… and came across this Boaxel shelving:
It’s meant to be for bedroom storage, but you know me….. I can envisage strips of fabric hanging off those rods, and quilting projects in the baskets… So some of them came home with us and as soon as we have them up on the walls in my studio I will show you photos!
We also went through the kids’ section… where we found this sad little orangutan:
Despite DD being quite out of the normal age range of Ikea toys, she “snuck” him in the trolley:
And called him Orville.
I guess this is as close as I get to shopping with a grandchild at the moment…
We ended up with two trolleys full of goodies…
Lots of organizing to do!!
Costco
I’ve been wanting to go to Costco for a while now! And we were not intending to do that as well…… but in the end, we decided that we were in Melbourne so we’d better make the most of it.
By the time we got there, we were quite tired, and I didn’t end up taking too many photos…
I was quite amazed to see these 20 liter cans of vegetable oil:
I didn’t buy any…
I did buy a packet of this canned chicken:
I’ve never seen canned chicken here before! So I thought it would be worth trying…
And I couldn’t help myself but buy one of these huge bottles of apricots for Liz:
It was kind of a joke, because she said she wanted to bottle more apricots… and I also really like the jar!
Am I the only one who buys things like that because I like the jar it comes in?
I got some more odds and ends like Monterey Jack Cheese, and Swiss Cheese Slices… some toiletries and a hug packet of toilet rolls (just in case you know)…
I only made it through half of Costco when DH and DD started looking stressed and said they needed to get out!!! It was pretty busy!
I must admit that next time we won’t do both in the same day!! I told DH that next time he can go and get a coffee somewhere while I take my time shopping….
And that was our adventure in the city…..
I’ll be showing you the shelving in the studio and my new pantry cupboards soon!
Do you live near either an Ikea or Costco? And do you like going there?
I live near Costco. Ikea is about a 2 hour drive from me. I always buy the loo paper from Costco, prefer it over others. :). Hope you enjoy the canned chicken.
We live near Costco but IKEA is about 50 minutes away so closer than yours but far enough we do not go often. You are definitely not the only one who purchases something just for the container it comes in, lol.
I have never been to Ikea but I hope to one day soon! I would love the shelves/baskets you bought–perfection!
Orville is adorable! I’m so glad you rescued him. Those IKEA purchases look pretty amazing. I’m looking forward to seeing how you set everything up. We haven’t been to IKEA in years, and I still laugh about the first time we went. We had no idea what was going on or how to shop. We had to get help – lol! I like to look on our Facebook Marketplace to see if anyone is selling IKEA furniture, and that’s how I got my DANDERYD drop leaf table for $40 – it is now my cutting table! We are not COSTCO members but we do have a Sam’s – a poor cousin of COSTCO – near us. I buy canned chicken breast in packs of four and make chicken salad or casseroles with it.
IKEA for me is an hour and our Costco’s are 15 to 30 minutes in 4 directions. Sam’s club is also 30 minutes or less. But they seem always crowded. Big box stores are in the multitudes in Southern California.
My daughter and I enjoy strolling through Ikea. I took my husband there once, and he hated it. LOL. We used to have a Sam’s membership, but I’ve never been to Costco. With just the two of us, I don’t need bulk items much anymore. And yes, I buy things for the jars – I just bought a (metal) can of coffee, just for the can because it has a fun cat on it (the coffee is pretty awful).
I love Ikea and perhaps it’s a good thing that the closest one is well over two hours away and in the middle of the city (we don’t do city driving anymore). We let our Costco membership go because it’s over an hour away and we only managed to get there maybe once a year now that DH has sciatic issues and can’t sit in the car for long periods of time. I really miss their BBQ chickens and their big bottles of vitamins.
Costco and other big bulk stores just don’t work for single me. I don’t have a place to store such large amounts. I would consider a membership if they sold smaller amounts.
Went to Costco this morning and came home a lot poorer! Fortunately Costco that I shop at is 15 minutes away and is not too busy at all. I haven’t been in Ikea for quite some time and it takes just 25 minutes to get there. Now I might have to make a run out there to check out new products! We are still buried under loads of snow and wish we could have it drop on your fires,
I had to laugh about buying something because you like the jar. Finally! Someone as silly as I am. 😍😉
Definitely day trip places!
Hugz