An Estonian girl who has found a home in Sweden.

Monday, February 9

I <3 Ikea: The Humidifier Problem

February 09, 2009 Posted by Vaire

I puffy red <3 Ikea. Seriously. I decide on a new colour scheme or furniture style, check out a few places and what do you know? Ikea has exactly what I like and/or need.

That humidifier problem? Solved. Sofa dilemma? Gone. Need a new bedspread? Ikea has it. I might as well just give up and accept that my flat will stay filled with Ikea furniture.

The Humidifier Problem

The air in my flat is very dry in the winter. So dry in fact that I get mini-nosebleeds during nights. This is very common in centrally heated houses here in the north. Some places are worse than others and my flat is the driest place I've ever lived in.

Last winter I did some research about humidifiers, but the only ones commonly available were electric ones. I didn't want to buy another gadget to take up floor space, use more energy and require constant maintenance all the while polluting the air with extra microbes. The simple radiator tubes, that I remember from way back, are apparently not "in" in Stockholm.

So I gave up on humidifiers, put some wet towels on the radiators and cringed, but at least I wasn't oozing blood any longer. Then Spring came and I put the towels away. Now it is Winter again and the dryness wasn't a problem until mid-January when the weather became colder.

As I started my search again I decided to take a look in the Ikea catalogue. And there they were — ceramic jars with a flat back and a hole for hanging. Exactly what I'd been looking for. As of yesterday I'm a proud owner of a pair of beautiful humidifiers, even though Ikea thinks they sold me two kitchen cutlery jars. The bonus is that they are white, which makes them very unobtrusive on a white radiator under a white curtain. Perfect!