IKEA fun!

[Mara]

yeah i think i will get a white one for the nursery because i can use it white OR sand it down a little and paint it a color later if we want. our nursery is the honey color from PBK so it''s not white or espresso unfortunately!

oh and the espresso color for expedit is VERY dark, just FYI, it''s almost like a chocolate black.

 

[partgypsy]

Mara, everyone, very happy with the Expedit. It was actually my husband's favorite piece, both putting it together and it's solidness. It is so simple looking I feel the style can fit into a lot of different decors. I think the way it is made it could be used horizontally as well. One thing I found out after coming home, almost all of their storage, including the storage bins/boxes that fit into the Expedit are not available online. So if you want it, plan ahead and get it then. I'm regretting I didn't pick up these lidded plastic boxes with casters (for around $4 each) because we could have totally used them in their room, stacking them between the bookshelf and the armoire.

Mara, I got the rug from Overstock, I'm kind of an Overstock rug junkie, it's my third one from there. It was something that went with a bunch of different colors in their room so I'm glad I got it. It was like $157 for a 5x8 new zealand wool rug, can't beat that with a stick!

 

[geckodani]

We''ve got an Expedit in our office, and I love it! It''s very sturdy, wasn''t too bad to put together, and I think it could work in a lot of different rooms.

I think we''re going to get 2 of the poang chairs. We desperately need mroe seating, and they seem really versatile!

 

[icekid]

oh the ikea pain. It''s kind of amazing how much money we''ve wasted there recently. Yet it is so inexpensive and easy to justify. We have multiple Expedit shelves, because they are so easy to make look good AND so functional. And our ikea is literally a 5 minute drive from my apartment. Oh temptation...

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Okay-my kitchen is totally not presentable but I''ll try to take pics this weekend when I have a chance to clean

 

[4ever]

I frekkin LOVE IKEA. LOVE!

BF drove me to Birmingham one day 2 years ago when we were in the UK to go to a specific cinema and when we got there and nothing good was on, he took me to IKEA. At first I was like "why the eff are you taking me to a furnature store?" But then I discovered how magical and reasonably priced IKEA can be and how fun it is just to look around and that flat pack furnature need not be fugly.

Now we live in New Zealand. There is no IKEA. We were sposta get one here 2 years ago but so far- nada. BF and I will be getting our own place this year and I refuse to buy any decent furnature untill we get an IKEA.

When ever we talk about the posibility of haivng to move back to the UK BF always jokes that IKEA is at the top of my PROs list. It''s in my top 5 for sure.

 

[partgypsy]

I heart IKEA! In general I think I save money because I am NOT a good shopper. I am both picky and cheap, so don''t end up buying anything. For example for furniture, our house is filled with thrifted items, hand me downs, and some solid wood paint it yourself pieces, because the thrifted and hand me downs require no commitment. New furniture, most of it turns me off, the combination of faux European fussiness combined with not so nice underlying materials. I do like furniture from places like Pottery Barn, but I''m cheap. In my mind, I''m saving up for furniture like that, but never get around to buying it. So IKEA hits this sweet spot. The style is honest (clean, modern, almost over simplified lines versus faux-something) and the price = doable. It''s like wow, I can actually style my house now versus some time in the undeterminate future! I don''t know if I would do an entire house in IKEA. But in my design esthetic I can always see a place for it.
Thanks for letting me share.

 

[October2008bride]

We used to buy a lot from Ikea but since buying the house, we tend to buy more off of Craigslist where we can get a higher quality piece and refinish it.

However we did just spend some $$ there for my dressing room. It is the Stolmen line of closet organizers and honestly it feels like it is much higher quality than the price would indicate.

The room isn''t done yet (going to add some boxes to the top shelves and more hooks for purses etc) but here is an idea of how it works.

 

[lizzyann]

October, I LOVE your closet!!!!!! Did you make a bedroom into a closet? Or just remodel a current closet!

 

[October2008bride]

It is a bedroom!! We live in a 3 bedroom home with very little closet space so I turned it into a closet

I have a vanity in there too so that is where I do all of my hair/makeup so DH and I don''t fight over bathroom time/space!

 

[Cehrabehra]

I never went to an Ikea prior to moving to China and I really hate the one here... There is so much stuff I''d like to buy and probably cheaper than the same stuff in the usa but it''s just TOO BIG and takes hours to get through... I avoid it if I can. It''s overwhelming. I always thought I loved those kinds of stores but this Ikea here is absolutely swarming with people constantly and everyone is herded along the same arrow and there are no shortcuts... it''s a madhouse. Everyone is posing in the pretend rooms taking pictures - they bring their kids their for photo ops. It''s bizarre. I want to like Ikea but I don''t like this one.

 

[HaloAngel]

Wow, that wardrobe looks fantastic!

We love Ikea for their cheap pots, plants, lamps, etc! Gotta love a deal!

 

[Bella_mezzo]

WOW, I am so jealous of your closet!!!!!)

 

[October2008bride]

Thanks everyone - it is a work in progress and I will post more pics when it is done. We just turned the existing closet in the room into somewhere for my folded clothes to go - just need to find some nice baskets/boxes and a mirror for the vanity then it will be done!

 

[dani13]

OMG, that closet is crazy!!!!!!!

 

[lovelylulu]

my husband and I, after a bit of a wrestle with that particular system, installed the same closet organizer (stolmen) in our daughter''s nursery. it definitely makes the space much more efficient for tiny clothing and the quality is really great.

 

[partgypsy]

The closet looks great! (though my husband would kill me if I turned a bedroom into a closet!). You have a good husband.

 

[Rhea]

Your kids room looks great!

Our entire flat is ikea. We had no furniture and couldn''t afford to spend much buying anything at the time. Some stuff has held up really well over the past 4 years, like the wardrobe, chairs, and dinning table. Other stuff, like the coffee table and night stands really should be replaced at some point.

 

[Mara]

i had to come back and post here after my trip(s) to ikea last week and this week. i have been looking for a dining table for YEARS, literally! i am so indecisive and i always feel like i can get so close to what i want but not quite there. i have looked in countless furniture stores, online, PB, CB, all the regular suspects etc. i''ve even looked at ikea previously.

but how i missed this little gem i am not sure!! anyway i went to ikea last fri and saw they had the Stornas dining table for $199 on clearance, down from $399. it seats 6 closed and up to 10 with two leaves, exactly what i wanted for big dinner parties. it''s dark brown stain, again perfect as i wanted a dark table but not the ''black brown'' that is too dark for our room. and $199? hello! it''s solid pine, and stained...so when our baby decides to color all over it, we can strip it and restain it. i went back on monday and picked one up and had them deliver it for $79. SCORE!!!

now to find some cheap yet stylish chairs that will last us a few years til the kid is older. i think i might get some of those modern pressed wood w/metal legs ones since we need at least 6 to start.

anyway, LOVE IKEA!!! after 2 years of hemming and hawing i finally have a new dining table! oh and i also came home with a bunch of picture frames and some eating bowls and utensils for baby, so cheap!!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 5/19/2010 6:45:32 PM
Author: Mara
! it''s solid pine,

Yeah, it''s weird among all the general Ikea pressed board stuff, you can find solid wood pieces for excellent prices. DH and I went everywhere for a coffee table and finally decided to risk going into Ikea on a weekend and came across the perfect solid wood table that''s lasted for years!

Some of the other items we''ve purchased there have fallen apart though. . .my kids'' desk had to be reinforced w/extra screws and my son''s new bookcase (just bought in the fall) buckled under very little pressure.

Yesterday, I was looking online and am amazed at the prices of their dishes. . .18-piece sets for $25!!! I''m going to stock up

 

[lovelylulu]

MC - we got a set of plain white dishes, salad plates and bowls and they are fantastic (not to mention the price is unbeatable as you discovered)

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 5/20/2010 8:48:53 AM
Author: lovelylulu
MC - we got a set of plain white dishes, salad plates and bowls and they are fantastic (not to mention the price is unbeatable as you discovered)

We have plain white right now, too, and they've chipped up quite a bit. They were from World Market and I thought they were a good deal at the time. . .I could have purchased at least four sets of IKEA for what I paid for the other.

The deal is, I didn't want to invest in new dishes until my kids were older and then a few months back I realized that all the chipping was from me banging the dishes into each other when loading the dishwasher. My kids are the ones who are careful.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 5/19/2010 6:45:32 PM
Author: Mara
i have been looking for a dining table for YEARS, literally! i am so indecisive and i always feel like i can get so close to what i want but not quite there. i have looked in countless furniture stores, online, PB, CB, all the regular suspects etc. i''ve even looked at ikea previously. but how i missed this little gem i am not sure!! anyway i went to ikea last fri and saw they had the Stornas dining table for $199 on clearance, down from $399. it seats 6 closed and up to 10 with two leaves, exactly what i wanted for big dinner parties. it''s dark brown stain, again perfect as i wanted a dark table but not the ''black brown'' that is too dark for our room. and $199? hello! it''s solid pine, and stained...so when our baby decides to color all over it, we can strip it and restain it. i went back on monday and picked one up and had them deliver it for $79. SCORE!!!

LOL! I''ve been meaning to post about our new dining room set from Ikea too! And I''ve been looking for YEARS also! It was DH''s find actually -- I was holding out for the black pedestal type from Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrel which come up on Craigslist used for great prices ... but after a few white ones almost changed our look for the entire room we went to Ikea for a desk chair and DH spied an amazing deal on exactly what fits our room perfectly. A round black/brown one that expands to seat six. It has legs, no pedestal but it was $149! We don''t know how long we''ll be here and everywhere else we''d need something bigger so its been a real challenge -- getting something that''s "good enough" but not our "forever" dining room set, yanno? Well for $149 I''ll live without a pedestal & honestly it works better with the other stuff in the room w/o the curvy traditional pedestal. Our other stuff in there is a modern desk & modern chair & modern art & modern bookcase & one aged painted wooden wardrobe with simple lines. We also got two comfy padded parsons chairs with dark grey linen-ish covers - neutral, and can mix with our existing two Emeco aluminum (navy style) kitchen chairs. (And DH''s pretty awful oak captains chair style set can stay holding all his computer equipment down in the basement

). SCORE indeed!

 

[zoebartlett]

Mara, I''m glad you like the Stornas table. We looked at that one too, and we loved it. The only reason we didn''t go with it was because we couldn''t find chairs we liked enough. I think we''re too picky. We ended up with a set from a local store. Would you be willing to post a pic of your table and chairs at some point?

 

[Mara]

zoe i will totally post a pic... greg has to assemble it all. i am really picky on chairs too which is why it has taken me so long to do anything.... i tend to put a chair up against a table iam considering and go ''oh i dont like it'' but you don''t know how it looks in your space with your other stuff and also how a ''set'' will go, aka 6 or 10 of them will provide a lot more continuity. anyway, i am hopeful this will alll look great when we are done but we''ll see!! most of our furniture is from PB or CB so it''s all kind of similar.

deco... isnt it funny what kind of deals can be had?! and i was totally going to pay like $700 for the ''same'' kind of table elsewhere.

 

[Mara]

Zoe I meant to come back and post this for you for weeks now!!! Here's the pic of our Ikea Stornas table in dark chocolate and 6 chairs from Target. The table was really the 'long-term' piece ...the chairs were just something that looked good in person, were cheap and matched the table--they were $25-30 each at Target and surprisingly comfy

We love how it all turned out and the whole thing was literally like $400. Considering that I was looking at $1-2k sets or tables that were $1k solo, it is huge that we were able to get what we wanted for so much less. And I have had 3 compliments on the table already and 2 people wanted to go find it for themselves! It really was a steal, it's solid and it's big enough that we both Greg and I can spread ourselves out when we are both working in the evenings. Oh AND this is the CLOSED up table. There are 2 leaves hidden inside so it can almost double in size. Crazy!

 

[Jennifer W]

Another IKEA fan here! We go there three or four times a year and browse - always come back with too much stuff! I like the restaurant, too. Plus, it's the kind of place where we can take DD and not worry about the odd meltdown... They have a creche, but she does like to examine all of the displays, in her own sweet time.

Part Gypsy, what a pretty room. I love how it turned out, you have a good eye.

Jen

 

[zoebartlett]

Thanks so much for posting the pic, Mara! The table looks great, as does the room.

 

[Steel]

What a great thread!

We are recent IKEA converts; we have one in Dublin. Our kitchen sinks, utility sink and kitchen oak countertop are all IKEA and so far so good! The kitchen sinks are in but I cannot work out how to post pics - they go into an images section. What do I do with them then? The utility is still a work in progress so the sink is just sitting there...

October Bride: I love your closet. We are doing the same thing. Our master wing has the family/our bathroom a bedroom and the master bedroom. But the other bedroom was always designed to be a closet. It is neat to see the room open plan like that; I have no clue if we want to put units & doors in or not. I like the no door for practicality; so you can see and wear all your clothes not the 7 outfits closest to hand. But the 4 cats and 2 dogs, I just know if I don't get doors they will sneak in and 'nest' on something and when I go to wear it, it will be allll hairy. Yuck. Pets love 'em; pet hair, not so much.

Mara: Love that set; esp the colour.

EDIT: spelling