Don't be fooled by its pretty looks.

Home and Lifestyle, Design, and general Women's bloggers are wetting themselves in delight. Nothing provocatively silent there. I-King-A, the international furnishing titan, just dropped its 2009 catalog. If they were perusing the US catalog, this is the message they saw on the first page:

The way you live every day. That's how we define our homes. A functional welcoming kitchen for weeknight dinners and late-night talks. A comfortable living room that invites everyone to stretch out and tune in. And when all the activity is done, a peaceful bedroom to shut the door and recharge.
This year's catalog is filled with new products, inspirational solutions and incredibly low prices that make it possible to create a beautiful home even during the tough times. Start here, and then go to www.IKEA-USA.com. Because on the website you'll find more selection, inspiration and solutions for your life at home. And with hundreds of products being launched throughout the year, there's always something new to discover on our website and in our stores.
But for now, grab a place on the sofa, turn the page, and start browsing, planning, imagining. After all, Home is the most important place in the world.

The bolding is theirs, but I'd just bold the tough times. Says it all, right? Everyone knows they have a lot of really cheap stuff, but they've been trying so long to push the great green design. Now they can just run with cheap as hell! (Unless you want their weirdly overpriced large furniture.) So what's their most prominent tagline, appearing as a full right page dozens of times? Our biggest idea is the smallest price.

Honesty in advertising! You get what you pay for guaranteed.

They almost got me, though. Sitting in my living room, at my desk, in the uncomfortable folding chair I got at Ikea, I saw Where you're comfortable is exactly where you do your best work (or play). I shifted in my seat. I started looking at the reasonably-priced swivel chairs.

Then I remembered that I do my best work precisely where I'm uncomfortable. I get out of bed at seven, take my laptop to my other room and have a cup of coffee at my desk. For the first (cough) few hours of the day I am far too comfortable to do any work. Only once I become uncomfortable by my comfortable surroundings do I start cranking out material. It sucks that a space I prefer to think of as generally comfortable must always be tainted by negative feelings, but I maintain the uncomfortable folding chair was an excellent purchase.

So now that I've looked through the catalog I want all kinds of things, (other than a chair), for my 500 square foot flat that I can't even think about getting because of these dang tough times, no matter how cheap they are. Instead, I'll go to Ikea for what it's really good for — meatballs and attractive bachelors. I might pick up some cheap kitchen things to make it look like I'm not there to pick up men.

Times less tough for you? Be brave. Be smart. Be you. Along with the 199,999,999 others looking through the catalog. Maybe you can throw down for a POANG chair. I hear it's the thing to have.