Oh, IKEA. How I love thee. And how I wish we had one of you nearby.
Our nearest IKEA is about three hours away and, oh… IN ANOTHER COUNTRY (Canada). The second nearest one is five hours away. Not exactly an easy trip to pick up odds and ends. Instead, I covet other people’s IKEA items online and keep a running wish list in my head for what I’d buy if we ever make it back up to IKEA. Or, if they’re small items, I call in small favors from some of my (awesome) friends around the country to buy the items and ship them to me. Because, hi, have you ever calculated shipping through IKEA’s website? It’s laughable.
We’ve been wanting to finish up our guest room with a few IKEA furniture items, and I decided to bite the bullet recently and take a vacation day JUST TO DRIVE TO IKEA. My friend Emily was going to come along. But I just found out my mom is going on a business trip this week and THERE IS AN IKEA where she is going. It’s fate, people. So I still don’t get to go shopping at IKEA (boohoo) but it’s probably a good thing because holy hell, I’d probably never come home.
I’m working on putting together my order/list of things for my mom to pick up, and I’m afraid there might be some FANTASTIC things that I’m missing. So tell me… what are your greatest IKEA finds? What are your favorite IKEA items? If I’m going to have something from IKEA, what is it that I have to have? (Besides swedish meatballs.)
7 Responses to For the Love of IKEA
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About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
I always have to laugh because this is one thing that I don’t understand. I understand the love of Ikea, but not the distance to…. being in Canda it seems that we have more than you guys do in the States… I live within an hour of 2!!!!! And drive by one twice a week with my son, who screams if we don’t go in…which means that 1-2 times a week I’m going to ikea just to walk around!
Love their meatballs….lamps are nice, kids toy storage is a must! Picture frames and candles. LOVING their christmas stuff right now….
sorry you don’t get to go shopping, but yea that your mom can get stuff for you!
No suggestions for you, but I live in Rochester too and I really wish we had one closer to us! Whenever we go to visit my parents in Ohio we plan a trip to IKEA. It’s just too much hassle to deal with going to Toronto. Maybe we’ll get one someday!
Oh wow, that’s a tough one. I have A LOT of Ikea furniture (I have three Ikeas with an hour).
I really love the Hemnes line – I have the two drawer nightstand and the 8 drawer dresser in my daughter’s room (black-brown finish). These little organizers:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00192631/
Are great for organizing her little socks/stockings, etc in the drawers
I have a hand-me-down Malm 6 drawer dresser and chest in my bedroom (black-brown finish). Those I’m not sure I can recommend as highly. They look pretty good for having been moved 3 times, but they’re pretty beat up and the drawers are a little shallow in my opinion.
I really like these for pantry organization:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30155019/
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80066723/
Hope this helps!
Oh, and one other thing – If you create an account, you can make a ‘shopping list’. It will tell you whether the items you want are in stock, and the aisle and bin numbers they can be located in. Depending on the number of items you want, printing this list and giving it to your mom might make her job a lot easier!
I love their Trofast system for toy organization!
There’s an IKEA in San Diego! ;)
We have the Malm dresser (the long one with 6 drawers) and use it as a changing table… There’s a pair Galant shelves in the craft closet that have adjustable shelves and work well to hold the heavier items! The $25 desk from there is large and nice! I just spray painted mine bright yellow!
In the apartment we used some pieces from the Besta line, mixed and matched the door options, and created our own entertainment system. We had the little Bjursta table with a tiny leaf, but it worked for us in that space. Since moving I have found a new home in the big house for nearly everything!
I just love how versatile all of it can be… Kitchen table = new desk, half of the entertainment system = cute horizontal book case. And the Bygel wire basket and rail in the kitchen section make for excellent “shelves” and can hang from each other with S hooks. The last one is probably my favorite. They were out of the Bekvam spice rack I’ve seen used as a book shelf, so I had to improvise!
My whole room was IKEA growing up… I realize how fortunate I (and my parents!) were. :)
Ditto about the Hemnes line (dresser in our son’s room) and also Expedit bookshelves, the largest of which we have in our living room, and it makes it really easy (and fun) to display books and knick knacks in a “fashionable” way. I even bought their $3 spice rack to hang above my son’s changing area to store frequently used diaper/baby hygiene products. My husband made me swear we wouldn’t buy any major IKEA items for a while (or ever!) after having to put that dresser together…ha, and he wasn’t even 35 weeks pregnant like I was! Hope you find what you want :)