Take a Tour/IKEA love!

My mom, Aunt Kari, and I went to Orlando this weekend.  One of the many highlights (they were all highlights!) of the trip was the world's fastest trip (for us) to IKEA.  We spent maybe an hour in there, which if you know us, you know our trips are hours and hours.  Many times, we'll have been there for 2 or 3 hours before we even notice how long its been!  While we were there, I purchased a set of Tripp storage tins. You see, I'm on this quest to become more organized.  The idea of organizing excites me.  If my organization was based on the number of organizing books and magazines I've read, I'd be the queen bee of organization.  But alas, I'm not.  My only regret about buying these tins is that I put away the second set I intended to buy.

 Hair ties, bows, and headbands fit perfectly in the smallest of the 3 tins in the set.
Oscar absolutely adores little plastic toys.  Dinosaurs are his favorite victims.  I recently found the missing head to one of the dinos he decapitated with his razor sharp teeth.  Dinos, birds, Little People, and various other little plastic toys have found a new home here!
I'm a huge fan of wooden puzzles.  My favorites are Melissa and Doug puzzles.  These are also a favorite chew item for Oscar, so they all have a safe home in the largest tin.  Plus, this keeps the pieces from magically disappearing.  You know, when you have a puzzle and all but one piece?

I love IKEA.  I really, really, really do.  What I never realized was how many IKEA items have found their way into our home.

Like the Expedit multipurpose shelving/bookcase/cubby system I purchased about 2 months ago.
 There's a lot going on right now.  During Sunday's IKEA trip, I purchased 4 cloth bins to organize things in.  Plus, I didn't want this beautiful piece to turn into a hot mess.  Right now, it is home to some items on a temporary basis.  The food, due to piss ants.  The VHS tapes, due to the fact we haven't been to Oma's house to take them to her.  Also, There are some other odds and ends (tupperware containers and oodles of books) that are in process of being relocated.  
*Note: We have SO MANY books.  Ayla's.  Ours.  And if Ayla gets nothing but books for her birthday, we'd be good with that!*

We also got many decorative touches for Ayla's (unfinished) room, including this awesome rug!

Notice the huge pile of books on the floor by the rocking chair?  Yep, that's just a few of them.  I found a great magazine rack for the ones in rotation for bedtime that I think I'm going to order for Ayla's birthday.  It got great reviews-and I take a lot of stock in the reviews I read before purchasing.

We also got these great curtains to go with the multitude of colors in her room's "theme."
 Not the best lighting, but here they are in action!

And then there's the duck wall storage.

And the car rug...

Did we stop at IKEA children?  No!  We got a couple cute pillows.

And a step stool.
 It needs to be stained or painted somehow.  Summer project?  Also, the floors in our mudroom/kitchen are terrazzo, but they are badly discolored/have cement junk stuck on them.  We are hoping to tackle a flooring project (cheap) and create some storage options in our mudroom as well this summer. 

There's a cute picture/card holder in our hallway.
We had an awesome wall drying rack until someone (we have a good idea who) broke into our house again, didn't steal anything, but decided to break it off the wall, causing irreparable damage to the metal frame.
 Don't mind the laundry room garbage can (with the holiday bag sticking out of it).  Its just there to hold up the broken rack.  Sad face.

Even though we own reusable grocery bags, we always forget them.  So we end up with a surplus of plastic grocery bags (which we reuse as bathroom trash can liners).  Good thing this was only $1.99.
Crooked?  Yep.  Needs to be rehung.

We got two great bathroom rugs for Ayla's bathroom.  One is round with a cute little hippo on it, which goes with our jungle animals theme, but I couldn't find a pic anywhere.  However, I did get this cute orange one for $3.99.  


Also...have a cool rug for our entryway.  I think it was $1.99.
Can you tell I like color?  Lots of it!

And last but not least, our beautiful curtains in our living room and dining area were made from fabric from IKEA by my BFF Ette's mom.  
 Bad lighting.
They are so beautiful!  We maybe paid $5.99 a yard, which means our curtains (very large ones at that) not only cost us less than traditional curtains, but also they turned out WAY cuter!

IKEA is just plain awesome.  I love that we can slowly make improvements to our home and it doesn't cost us a fortune, plus it reflects our more modern style.  (If you can believe it, these aren't the only items we own from IKEA.  We also own their little broom/dustpan combo and an art easel with chalkboard on one side, whiteboard on the other, plus it has a spot for a roll of paper that comes up from underneath).

I can't wait for an encore shopping trip!  We are on a seriously tight budget, but a little at a time we have been able to accumulate products that we think are great quality and value and that make our lives better, cuter, and more organized.
*I was in no way compensated to endorse/promote IKEA.  But if they ever decided to give me a home makeover or even a shopping spree, I wouldn't be able to say no.

Edit: How could I forget my owls?!?!?!?!
  

Comments

  1. We LOVE IKEA too! I have a mental wish list that I continue adding too with each visit. I have visions of how I want each room in my house to look... it is becoming an obsession! LOL I adore your curtains, beautiful!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. OHHHHH I looove IKEA! Just give me 10K & I can make my house gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete

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