December 2019 — Comfort Works Blog & Sofa Resources

The date’s set for the arrival of your new canine furbaby.

Congratulations!

But with that said, despite how cute puppies are, they can also be a handful, so be prepared! And just like welcoming a baby into your home, there are steps you need to take to get your living space ready before your puppy arrives.

Here are 5 things you need to considering doing before welcoming your new family member home:

1. Prepare a special spot for your dog to sleep

If you have a spacious yard, you may want to let your puppy spend most of its time outside, including nap times. To make this arrangement work, try getting a weather-resistant dog house like this one from Boomer & George to keep your puppy safe and dry when it’s outside.

If you plan to keep your pup indoors, try getting a comfortable dog bed where it can sleep peacefully.

When trained to recognise that it has its own sleeping spot, your puppy will be less likely to try and climb on your sofa and bed to nap, and damaging them in the process.

2. Buy chewy dog toys – lots of them

Puppies can get pretty destructive, especially once they start teething — chewing is their way of dealing with the pain of growing teeth (it’s also how they exploring their world!).

To lessen the chances of your coffee table or shoes being gnawed on, give your dog several chewy toys to choose from, and place them near their sleeping spots to encourage them to stay there.

A good chew toy should be made of safe, durable ingredients and last way past your pup’s destructive phase. Consider getting a flavoured chew toy to keep your pup interested in it.

3. Invest in play pens and pet gates

There are certain rooms at home where your puppy can cause more destruction than others.

Make your life easier by getting your space kitted up with a pet gate that’ll keep your puppy out of places where you don’t want it to go, such as your kitchen, bedrooms and library where you keep valuable memorabilia or other easily damaged items.

With a pet gate, you can also keep pet fur out of these spaces, and your cleaning time to a minimum.

A play pen makes a handy tool for when you are cooking or cleaning up, and need to make sure your puppy is not up to mischief.

One great way to get your pup used to it is to place the play pen around its bed together with its toys and treats. Using a play pen only as and when you need to keep your pup in one place may seem like a good idea at first, but may encourage it to jailbreak its way out as a result of boredom or anxiety.

4. Use scent to keep your pup off your furniture

Can’t seem to keep your puppy away from your furniture? Let scents come to your rescue.

Most chew-deterrent sprays are often spicy or bitter, which your puppy’s incredibly sensitive nose isn’t fond of. Spraying such scents on your sofa, couch, coffee table and other spots around the house can keep your puppy away from venturing there.

Thinking of making your own deterrent formula? Try spraying vinegar on your furniture, or placing cut-up citrus fruit around off-limits spots where your dog can’t reach but can smell.

5. Use pet-resistant fabric on your furniture

Here’s a thought: By bringing a new puppy into your home, it may also be time to give your sofas and chairs a makeover to make them pet-friendly and easier to clean.

You can do this in just minutes with a removable slipcover that you can throw into the wash for a quick clean. To decide which slipcover fabric is right for you, take ours for a test run by ordering fabric samples here:

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Globally, IKEA is well-known as THE store to go to for stylish, affordable furniture.

But despite its popularity, people everywhere are still saying its name all wrong.

English speakers tend to pronounce the company name as “AYE-kee-yah”, while the Japanese seem to prefer the term “Ik-kyah”. If a Swedish person were to hear us pronouncing IKEA the way we do, they’d probably be slightly confused as first.

Here’s why: Founded by Swedish founder Ingvar Kamprad, the name as pronounced by the Swedes, is as follows: “Eee-KEH-yah”.

Given how we rarely do the IKEA name justice, can you imagine all the endless ways we’re probably butchering the names of the products it sells?

Let us count the top 9 ways….and how to get them right:

1. EKET

“Eh-cat”? “Ee-get”?

The correct way to pronounce the EKET series at IKEA, which is their storage series, is “Hee-yeah-cat”, said quickly.

If saying this makes you sound like a cowboy teaching your kitty how to do cool tricks, so be it (makes it easier to remember too).

2. HEMNES

It may be tempting to think otherwise, but the ‘n’ in HEMNES is not meant to be heard…at all.

This is how it’s said: “Hems” with a silent ‘n’.

You’re welcome.

3. FRIHETEN

Contrary to popular opinion, “Fry-he-ten” is not how you pronounce the name of this sofa series from IKEA.

What it should be, is “Free-heh-thun”. with the last syllable pronounced the way you would say the last syllable in the name Jonathan.

4. HASSELBY

This should be an easy name to say, right?

After all, its spelling makes it pretty obvious that “hassle-bye” is how you say it.

But as our non-Swedish luck would have it, “Hassle-bee” is what it should actually sound like.

Not as hassle-free as one would imagine, this one.

5. KIVIK

Surely this should be pronounced “Kee-week”?

No such luck. The Swedes actually say “snee-week”.

The more you know!

6. POANG

It may look like someone accidentally added an A to “pong”, but we assure that the spelling of this name was no accident.

So how do you say it then?

It is actually made of two syllables, and Poang is pronounced “Poe-ang”, with “ang” as in anger. Try as we might, we can’t find a legit reason to get angry at our favourite wooden armchair, though.

Fun fact: The Poang line of wooden armchairs from IKEA have been in production since 1978 and about 1.5 million chairs are sold annually. In fact, you can get yourself one here.

7. YPPERLIG

Wait, what now?

And just in case you were wondering, no, this is not a two-syllable word with a silent Y.

Instead, how you say it is this: “Yee-per-lig”.

YPPERLIG is a collaboration between IKEA and Danish company HAY, which creates furniture using sophisticated industrial manufacturing. How you say the name may be confusing, but we would say “yes” to having a YPPERLIG (or several) in our homes any time.

8. MALM

The most common way people would say this is to pronounce it as though the name Malcolm was missing the “col” bit, like “Mal-mm.”

But surprise, surprise: It’s actually a three-syllable word that one would say as “Ma-lee-mer”

Just like you, we’re still scratching our heads over how this one has 4 alphabets but 3 syllables, too.

9. LACK

There is nothing lacking in the way you would normally pronounce the word LACK. At IKEA, however, you’d be falling short plenty.

Why? Because LACK is actually pronounced “Lark-ke”, with a soft emphasis on “ke”.

We’re sure there are plenty of other names at IKEA that we’re getting wrong, but hey, a rose by any other name still smells just as sweet.

Love IKEA just as much as we do? Get our top tips on how to decorate your home without breaking the bank with a FREE copy of our Timeless Living: How To Design A Classy IKEA-Inspired Home ebook:

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