SWEDEN

When we visited Copenhagen, Denmark, we took a day trip to Sweden with one goal in mind: To visit the town of Älmhult where IKEA began! 

If you ever find yourself in the area, you must make the trip to pay your respects at IKEA mecca. The complex consists of several office buildings and hotels, used for training and housing IKEA teams from all around the world. Located in the center of the property is the original IKEA store, now turned museum. If you love IKEA, you'll absolutely love this new museum that explains the history of IKEA and showcases IKEA classics starting from the early days of the company. 

We loved learning about IKEA's founder, Ingvar Kamprad, who had a knack for business even at a young age. It was also a treat to eat lunch in the cafeteria, which offered several different types of meatballs to fit the taste and preferences of IKEA team members visiting  from other countries. 

One of the highlights of the museum is taking photos on the set decorated like the cover of an iconic IKEA catalog! The gift shop here is incredible and sells many items that are only available at the IKEA museum...colorful IKEA tote bags anyone?

IKEA holds a special place in our hearts, as it does for millions of people around the world. Whenever I visit the store, I am reminded of milestones in our family's history that were celebrated with trips to IKEA. When we were first married, literally every home furnishing and decor item that we owned in our tiny apartment was from IKEA. Then a few years later, we made another trip to IKEA, but this time it was to buy baby furniture for our pending arrival. And then as our babies became toddlers, they spent hours making "meals" for us with their IKEA DUKTIG play kitchen. And when we made the big move to Europe, we again visited IKEA to furnish our new place, but by this point IKEA felt less like a store and more like home. 

I LOVE YOU IKEA! HIRE ME! 

❤️ 

xoxo, kiså