01 Jul 08
The third major test we put the 'Velle through recently was the rites-of-passage trip to Ikea.
We've had a bit of a reorganisation of the bedrooms at Casa Thomas, with little Evie emerging from the nursery into sharing a room and a bunk bed with her big sister, which meant that we could convert the nursery into a home office for my wife and myself.
After a number of research trips to the local Ikea in Croydon - only possible because we could bribe the girls with the prospect of meatballs and chips in the restaurant - my wife and I eventually agreed on a set of furniture that would suit both our requirements and the size of the room.
So it was that one Saturday last month I wheeled a trolley around the warehouse while the kids were in the play park, picking up a bookcase, desk, office chair and a set of units that comprised two filing cabinets, a set of two drawers and a set of shelves. Fourteen boxes in all, some of which very large (the bookcase itself was in one box about six-foot long). The challenge now was to get all that in the Caravelle, plus the family.
As it turned out, despite the boot not being very big, there's tons of room. The girls sat in the individual seats at the back, leaving me free to move the rear bench forward along the rails, while at the same time folding it down to create a large flat surface to stack some of the flat boxes. Using some of the floorspace and the boot meant that I was able to fit everything in without breaking sweat.
No, the sweat came later that week, as I spent a few evenings deeply immersed in flat-pack hell, putting the office furniture together...
