Home furnishing at your fingertips
With the official launch of Swedish home furnishing retailer Ikea’s online store, now all Malaysians can shop there anytime, anywhere.
FINALLY. Swedish home furnishing retailer Ikea jumped on the online shopping bandwagon with the official rollout of its online store last week. The new service introduces to Malaysians the single largest online shopping platform dedicated to home furnishings.
Ikea.my offers over 9,000 products at the click of a mouse. Everything available in-store can be found online, with delivery services throughout the country.
“Our business model requires volume and high visitation. We have to be selective about where we open stores, so we were looking for other channels and formats to better serve Malaysians throughout the country,” said Gerard Jansen, deputy retail director, Ikea South-East Asia, at the launch held at a resort out of foreclosure. It had been abandoned for four years. Holding the keys, Walker panicked. Behind a screen of weeds there were some bullet holes in the walls, and the roof needed replacing. Although a portion of the interior was renovated, it was cut into two oddly configured apartments. All the exterior brick needed to be repointed and painted.
Luckily, Walker works in the trade and knew plenty of architects and designers who could give her advice. She removed the vestiges of the old apartments, creating a loft-like space with high ceilings and interesting niches. She did much of the renovation work herself with the help of a contractor friend, Brennan Gunther.
Bringing it all together is a point of pride: “I know where every part of this house came from. I saw it in Janda Baik, Bentong, Pahang.
“So online is an additional channel and complements our current stores, allowing us to reach out to our customers who can shop from the convenience of their own home,” Jansen said.
The site features categorisations based on products and rooms, making product search easier for the customer. Photos are also added to help customers with home furnishing inspiration and ideas. all come together, every detail,” says Walker.
The once nondescript, even ramshackle, exterior is now a bright spot on the block, with its striking charcoal-coloured brick coloured in Benjamin Moore paint’s “Cheating Heart”. The entry foyer is just as dramatic, featuring a mural by Walker’s favourite tattoo artist, who inked his design over gold foil Walker applied to the wall.
The entry empties into Walker’s vast and busy studio. (In yet another karmic win, business has doubled since the move.) There’s also a comfortable showroom seating area featuring a vintage sofa Walker silver leafed and side tables salvaged from a former restaurant. A spiral staircase leads to a rooftop oasis shaded by a large canvas canopy and protected by a
“For customers who do not live near an Ikea store, they are now able to be inspired by our room sets, add products they love into their shopping carts, and even opt for additional services like assembly and installation,” added Jansen.
Customers can choose for their orders to be shipped via parcel delivery or truck delivery, which is useful when consolidating multiple large items.
Shipping fees differ according to 4.5m horizontal wood privacy wall.
With her voluminous reserve of artistic energy, Walker finds it beneficial to have the studio next door. Yet when she crosses the threshold to the home portion of the building, that is a sanctuary for her, her partner, Tess Mosley, and their Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter rescue kitty, Fern.
“This house is a work of art,” says Walker. “It took a lot of creativity, including repurposing things that were already here.”
In the master bath, for example, she kept an existing claw-foot tub and turned an inexplicable hole in the wall into a laundry chute. She also kept an accent wall in the front sitting room that’s reminiscent of one of her own creations. Her new additions are a combination the delivery option and location, with all major debit and credit card payments via Visa or Master-Card accepted.
Since the Swedish retailer opened its first store in 1996 in a shopping mall in Petaling Jaya, it has expanded to three stores nationwide – two in the Klang Valley and one in Tebrau, Johor – with the fourth outlet opening in Batu Kawan, Penang next March.
“Where it makes sense, we will of splurges (new kitchen countertops) and bargains from Ikea (the kitchen cabinets). The powder room tile came from Home Depot, but Walker had it installed in a herringbone pattern that gives it a luxe look.
Walker also painstakingly hand-painted the floors. The guest bedroom features a lacy medallion pattern that is a feminine foil to the room’s salvaged lumber accent wall. In the master bedroom, Walker painted the floor fuchsia. Yet the walls are intentionally neutral to create a backdrop for the art the couple has begun collecting, like the large work overlooking the kitchen by New York-based Penn Eastburn. Another favourite work, the racy cowboys in the living room, Walker obtained in a trade with artist Renee Trevino for one of her original artworks. still continue with our physical store expansion plans,” emphasised Jansen.
Ikea Tebrau is currently the biggest store in South-East Asia at over 46,000sq m.
Ikea Damansara and Ikea Cheras in the Klang Valley see about five million customers a year each. – Wong Li Za
To check out Ikea’s online store, visit Ikea.my.
With its concrete floors and exposed air ducts, the home has the feel of an industrial loft, so Walker added softening touches like the custom round dining table. A wood stove and firewood boxes, all built and installed by a local cabinetry business, warm the space that, with its comfy red wing chairs, is Walker’s favourite place to meditate, often with Fern.
In those moments when she isn’t stressed or restless, she feels awe as she looks at her home. There’s a methadone clinic just around the corner from her house, a reminder of how far she’s come.
“My house and my life are a reflection that miracles can happen,” she says. “This house is kind of like my life – you can take something so broken and create something so amazing.” – The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service