Ikea and the alchemy of Christmas
Ikea and Christmas… This pairing spells an “alchemy of comfort and joy that commingles with the practicality and aesthetics of Swedish design.”
Simply put, there are tons of products in Ikea that can help you celebrate the favorite season of ours and the Hallmark Channel’s.
“What is the Ikea Christmas?” says Dixie Atienza-Ilustre, Ikea PH local marketing and communications manager. “Our tagline is ‘Making Space for Magic.’ And the magic of Christmas is being with family.”
The aim is to adapt Ikea’s Christmas line to Filipino culture, explains Aileen Prodigalidad, deputy store manager. “The way we put together our room sets, how we display items, is very localized. We Filipinos could easily relate.”
“It’s my second Christmas here in the Philippines,” shares Leontina Bucur, country sales manager, who hails from Romania. “Christmas starts very early here in the Philippines. Filipinos are 100 percent into the season. It’s the country with the grandest celebration, with the whole family coming together to celebrate. I love the Christmas atmosphere here.”
And the atmosphere in the Ikea store in Pasay City during the press launch was cranked up to 11 (powered by, er, “Mariah Carey” and her limber little helpers). The people from Ikea stress how even the most magical of seasons brings forth a bit of chaos and a messy wake. That’s why storage solutions are essential.
Food containers with airtight covers have got you, um, covered. During family gatherings with a deluge of leftovers, it is best to store them in Pruta, Bestamma, Fullastad, or the stackable Ikea 365+ line. Nothing should go to waste — especially your mother in law’s signature salad or her Reuben sandwich, which is as elaborately put together as the Pyramid of Giza.
The Ekedalen series offers a wide range of extendable tables to ensure you’ll have enough capacity to accommodate your guests while dining.
There are also stylish storage shelves, such as the Besta and Kallax, which can be used in displaying Christmas décor — you can even fit in your Ray Conniff or Jackson Five Christmas LPs. Drona boxes provide storage spaces and can easily fit on the shelves. For little trinkets, you can store them using various Kuggis boxes. They fit perfectly inside Besta furniture, which makes organizing more efficient.
Jingle all the way with Ikea’s Vinterfint and Strala collection to complete the holiday vibe. The items come in festive red, green and white colors encapsulating the Mariah Carey-Jose Mari Chan season. Embodying simplicity, togetherness, and coziness, this collection includes Christmas trees, décor and trinkets, lamps and lights, dinnerware and even baking essentials.
There are tons of gift ideas in Ikea, and the list is dizzying and invigorating at the same time. But the madness comes only once a year (drops exactly on Sept. 1 or the precise moment you “see girls and boys selling lanterns on the streets”). A season where we can believe in Christmas, in ideas bigger than ourselves, in the story of stories, and that there is hope despite the dark funk messing up the world.
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Ikea PH customers can enjoy up to 20 percent off on Besta storage systems and Kuggis boxes until Oct. 22, as well as 50 percent off on truck delivery fees with a minimum purchase of P10,000 to any point in Luzon until Nov. 5. Visit IKEA Pasay City or shop online at www.IKEA.ph.
