Leafly

I'm a super creative person, and like most creative people I find inspiration at Ikea.  Whether I'm browsing the Lack table collection or munching on some Swedish meatballs, it feels like anything is possible at Ikea.  One of the hidden gems there is Children's Ikea.  Childless and childful people alike can find cute, colorful nylon things here.  Things that you might be shy about hanging or setting up in your house,but that Ikea makes ok.

A few weeks ago I took my sister to Ikea to celebrate her leaving for Australia by buying stuff for myself.  Maybe it was the clean Scandinavian design or the slight panic that begins to rise when you realize that the only way out of the Ikea maze is through Smaland, but I found myself lingering near a bin of stuffed broccoli in Children's Ikea, not wanting to go any further.  And then I saw what I never knew I needed, but knew I needed right away:  a giant leaf.

Ikea wants you to think that this is only for hanging above baby cribs or to confuse cats, but it's not.  It can also be used to legitimize a mattress on the floor, turning it into a real adult bed.  The look goes from post-college depression to grad school melancholy in the amount of time that it takes to hang the leaf - which is a pretty long time because it didn't come with screws and I don't like to look at the instruction manual until I have exhausted every other option, including crying into my "Kelly" heart pillow.  But once I jumped that hurdle the leaf was up and running.

See?  This bed was made for this leaf.  And the leaf was made for this bed.  It looks extra great because there is a skylight above it that usually wakes us up at 6am, so now we can sleep in until at least 7.  It's changed my life for the better, I don't think that I could go back to sleeping under a leafless canopy.  So thank you Ikea, for making things that look like tents but aren't, and for taking things found in nature and making them look like things found at Ikea.