IKEA is his living room -- and bedroom, dining room, shower

Every time I walk through the IKEA showroom here in Portland, I sigh and say something like, "I wish I could just move in!" Especially when my bathroom's a mess. And all the books and kitchenware and toys, so organized. I'm getting misty-eyed just thinking about it.

What if it were true? In a scene that seems something out of a movie starring Tom Hanks or Adam Sandler, Mark Malkoff is living in IKEA. His apartment was being fumigated, and he thought to himself, why not ask IKEA? Surprisingly, the Paramus, New Jersey store agreed, and he moved in Monday morning, January 7. He'll stay through January 12th, eating all his meals at the IKEA cafeteria and filming his sometimes-endearing, other times-discomfiting antics for his web site.

By my calculation, he'll save about $1,400 by staying in IKEA instead of a hotel in Manhattan (assuming he's fairly economical and eats on $50 a day).