Even if your iPhone fund went to student loans and the price of a single Chanel clog is more than your share of the rent, there’s one product launch we can all get in on: IKEA’s annual catalog release.
The print version, won’t be in local stores for a few more weeks, but the online 2011 catalog is now available for browsing.
New products officially launched in August have been quietly appearing in stores throughout the summer (some are not yet available online) while a few old favorites have dropped in price. The highlights:
New stuff
* For about the cost of a 64GB iPad with 3G, you could loll in the memory foam comfort of a Kivik sectional. The new Kivik series includes 95 products: sofas, sofas with removable arms, sofa beds, loveseats, chaises, ottomans, and slipcovers. The sofa bed includes arms that cleverly flip open to store bedding or your roommate’s yippy dog. Sofas: $450-$600. Sectionals: $750-$900.
* The Stall series of flip-open cabinets addresses the hopeless task of getting all those shoes off the floor. $89-$129 (about four bucks a shoe).
* The Vika Veine, a new table top in the Vika series (I came, I saw, I cleaned my desk?), has a felt-lined lid that opens up to become a memo board and closes to hide your junk. $159
* The wiry red Tradig bowl looks like you bought it at the MoMA. $24.99
Old stuff with a new look
* The earth mother Karlstad sofa finally got dressed up to go out with a new grey cover and chrome legs. $659. Not available until 2011.
* The cottage-style Hemnes wood furniture collection is now available in grey-brown.
If you still crave that new tech-gadget smell or need to possess at least one hot fashion trend, consider the Brada laptop tray. For $9.99 you’ll get polka-dotted style and an end to that 11-pound HP Pavilion singeing your thigh.