Locally Grown

Clearly, things were taking shape in the big empty flat. There was nothing opulent—hell, it was barely furnished at this point, but I was always amazed when even at this stage people (Americans, Latvians, Europeans) would walk into our place and inevitably give out some signal of approval. There was always a sigh, a nod, a little smile, or even an exclamation as they entered and got their bearings. It was hard, though, to actually make guests comfortable in our place for very long because despite the warm and creamy walls and inoffensive divans, eating on our laps and resting beer bottles on the floor was not comfortable.

Our first trip to Ikea in Stockholm is a story in and of its own, but we came back with a catalogue that had become my biggest source of entertainment that cold, dark winter. The solution for getting furniture seemed easy enough—Ikea does ship after all, but getting materials in and out of Latvia in 1994 was still a big, expensive pain in the ass. My husband, then, had the idea to chat up our new friends at the VEF Radio shop—remember the kitchen cabinets? They seemed to like the idea of making some knock-off Ikea furniture!

Once I knew they were game, I had a lot of fun tweaking some Ikea designs to fit our needs and then coming up with a few of my own. From birch and pine we ended up with two little end tables, a coffee table, a dining table with two benches, a hanging bookcase, and a pair of night tables to match the new bed. In the end it turned out beautifully!

Commissioning furniture sounds like another luxury expense, but having these pieces custom made for us, with unmistakable quality, and the lumber grown and processed in our very own town, was actually less expensive than purchasing it from Ikea. Our backwater radio-cabinet craftsmen were very proud of their results, too. Except for the coffee table, every single piece is still used and enjoyed 15 years later and across the ocean!