I am 5.5 weeks postpartum as I type this, and I have spent a ton of time in my rocker nursing and pumping. Next to my rocker, I have a little cart with burp clothes, swaddles, my pump, and always a water bottle.
In all of the hours that I have clocked in my rocker in these first weeks, this cart has always been there.
Call it newborn fog or exhaustion, but sometime in the middle of the night, I realized how the cart has been there for me throughout all of my seasons in life.
My first Ikea purchase
When we moved into our first home in 2013, we made a trip to Houston to got to Ikea. I do not know what Louisiana has against Heaven on Earth, but I am waiting impatiently for the day for an Ikea and an Acadiana Trader Joe’s. I would never have to leave the Louisiana / Acadiana boarder!
On our first Ikea trip, we bought a few of the RÅSKOG. It is very simply a three-tired rolling metal cart. We have them in gray and aqua blue. I do not remember what I was buying the cart for at the time, but my gosh these carts have served our family.
One cart, several different hats
We first used these carts as night stands next to our bed. I guess I was going for a contemporary / industrial look.
We then used the cart as a temporary bar cart.
I used one of the carts as my holiday hub one year. I had all of my wrapping, tags, stamps, and ribbon on one and would take it from room to room. My very own sleigh, if you will.
When we got pregnant with our first baby, the cart was the first thing we put in the nursery. I folded baby clothes and put them on the cart. I would organize and reorganize that cart as I nested.
When Max was starting to eat puffs and snacks, we housed all of his supported sitter / crawler foods and bibs on a cart in our kitchen.
Since then, the carts have multiplied in our house. Almost every room has an Ikea cart or two serving various purposes.
The playroom currently has two of these carts serving as book shelves — you would be amazed at how many books these carts can hold. They are also the perfect height and my three-year-old can reach all three tiers.
We have one cart full of baby clothes and diapers in our bedroom for our newborn.
And the cart that sparked this post — my ride or die. I have spent more time with my nursing / pumping dedicated Ikea cart than I have spent with my husband in the last 5.5 weeks. I feel a bit emotional about how useful and dependable it has been — hellloooo hormones.
Target and Costco make a dupe for the cart but there is no way their carts truly compare. No cart has the moves quite like the Ikea cart does.
So, if you need a gift for literally ANYONE in your family, get them an Ikea cart.
Take a day trip to Houston and buy a few, or Ikea will ship and it is well worth the price. Add on a high chair while you are shopping and paying their outrageous shipping. That high chair is my next favorite ever Ikea post, but that is a whole ‘nother blog post!
