Reader Regrets: An IKEA Oops

Here at Apartment Therapy we’ve grown accustomed to success stories. Can-do tutorials, beautiful before/afters, and tasteful house tours are what we’re all about! Of course we all know that the business of home improvement is not all peaches and cream. So in an attempt to keep it real, we’re starting a series called “Reader Regrets” and we’re calling on YOU, our lovely readers, to submit your dramatic, hilarious, embarrassing, regretful situations that you’ve encountered along your home-making journey. Submissions can be e-mailed to oops@apartmenttherapy.com. We can’t wait to read them!

To break the ice, I’ll start.

Back when I moved to California in 2010 for my first real job, I was excited. Excited to have a nice apartment, excited that I could afford new furniture, and really excited that – for the first time in my life – I had an IKEA.

Naturally as a computer graphics artist at the time, one of the first things I needed was a giant desk. On one of my IKEA trips, I spotted a GALANT L-shaped desk in the AS-IS section for a steal. The boyfriend and I immediately loaded it up, paid for it, and wheeled it out to my car. My tiny Mazda 3 was certainly not going to accommodate this giant desk top, even with the back seats down.

Time for Plan B: armed with a couple of IKEA’s “roof rack” cardboard triangles and a lot of twine, we went to work tying the desk to the roof of my car. Through the chassis loops, open windows, around the rear view mirrors, and everywhere in between, it took us about 30 minutes and we probably could have driven through a hurricane after we were done.

By that point we were feeling pretty confident about making the 10 minute drive back to the apartment. We went to get in the car only to find that wow… we had tied all four doors shut! Words cannot describe the shame and stupidity we felt as we collapsed in the parking lot laughing at our mistake. Yes, people were staring.

Of course there was no WAY we were going to undo our tie-down job, so using some minor acrobatics, we climbed in through the (thankfully) open windows and proceeded to drive home. I even dug up some video footage for you (sorry, it’s vertical). Enjoy.

Don’t forget to submit your most cringe-worthy and hilarious stories to oops@apartmenttherapy.com!