Weekend at IKEA: Day 2

Sunday morning found my friend Mary Elizabeth and I back at IKEA at 10 a.m. sharp. By Day #2, we were beginning to feel like semi-pros, even though our Swedish showed no signs of improvement.  We had mastered the second floor;  today we skipped the escalator, went backwards through the empty check-outs, and started in the "Marketplace" on the first floor.

The first thing we came to was what I go to IKEA for:  Dinner Napkins.  I love to entertain, but big,  colorful dinner napkins are not only hard to find, but expensive when I do find them. The last package I bought was from Amazon for  a special Valentine's Day dinner; with Prime shipping, they were $7.38 for 75 napkins.

IKEA has dinner napkins in almost every popular home dec. color and additional colors for different holidays and seasons (e.g. brown in the fall).  And, they are only $1.99 for a package of 50 napkins. Since I don't make the two hour drive to IKEA often, I load up when I do go. On this trip, I bought so many packages of napkins that the shopper waiting behind me in line asked me what kind of party I was giving.

The Marketplace is as big as the second floor but if you follow "the path" from one section to the other, it's not so overwhelming.

 Next we found ourselves in the Garden department. 

IKEA sells a huge variety of both real and "faux" plants as well as a "farmhouse-worthy" selection of inexpensive pots to display them in.

Their faux plants look real and all are priced very reasonably.  The plants sized like the ones below (I bought four different ones) were $4.99 each; the galvanized pails to display them in were only $.79.

                               

And here is my very favorite purchase (although I have no idea what I will do with them yet):  a set of three FJANTIG wall hooks, each only 5" tall, shaped like three different styles of IKEA chairs. (Some crazy designer in Sweden must think this stuff up just for women like me!)

I love these silly chairs so much that I bought two packages of them.

For only $5.99 per package they'll be fun (and practical?) to decorate with.

Mary Elizabeth fell in love with this KRUSNIG lamp; it reminded her of a cloud! It's made of layers of paper (the small white and yellow piece behind it is a separate lamp. ) and comes in two sizes. The large one is only $12.99. It is packed flat and you puff it up at home when you hang it.  Yup, she bought one for her new apartment.

The IKEA Marketplace has hundreds of styles of pillow covers on display, all 20" square. Both the covers and the "stuffers" are remarkably inexpensive . . .

As are their rugs, curtains, duvets, duvet covers, and bedding. I bought this sturdy indoor/outdoor LOBBAK runner for our back hall.

I also picked up a pair of these NORDRANA knitted storage baskets for $9.99/pair.

Mary Elizabeth loved all of the IKEA "rail systems" for kitchen (and office, bathroom, studio, etc.) storage. The rails and hooks come in white, black or stainless steel and the choices of hanging utensils and containers is almost limitless. 

Another favorite section of IKEA is the Children's department. The kids' furniture is bright, whimsical, inexpensive  and easy for children to move around.

There are many children's bedrooms on display to give parents ideas for storage and maximizing small spaces for kids.

And did I mention the stuffed animals? IKEA's stuffed creatures are the softest ever. They even had a wrinkly piglet, a rat with scary teeth, and a cuddly horse with silly wobbly legs.  As might be expected, most were priced under $10.00. My favorite was this "Big Bad Wolf", who comes with Grandma.  Kids get to rescue Grandma from his stomach - really! (Little Red Riding Hood is sold separately.) 

After the Marketplace, you come to the huge warehouse section of IKEA where you pick up furniture and other large items by their aisle and bin numbers (the reason for the pencil upstairs on Day 1).

I think Mary Elizabeth was feeling a little overwhelmed at first, but she had written down the aisle and bin numbers of her KALLAX shelf and rolling cart so we found them right way. Although it is big, IKEA is well-organized with good signage to help newbies like us figure it all out.

The last stop was the Swedish Food Market just outside of the main check-out area.

You can buy frozen Swedish meatballs just like the ones from their restaurant . . .

As well as Salmon, Lingonberry Jam, Swedish candies and cookies, including the world's thinnest ad best Ginger Snaps!

I bought these KEX cookies for my special needs daughter. Her name begins with "K' so it's her "favorite letter". I can already picture her divvying up the cookies with her friends: "K for me, vowels for you, K for me, vowels for you . . . ". Needless to say, the cookies spell "IKEA".

Our second day at IKEA was almost done and we were dragging. Now, we just had to figure out how to hold on to our "trolleys" on the steep cart escalator . . .

And navigate through the Boston tunnel, over the Zakim Bridge, onto 95 North and home to Maine.

Now that we're back and rested, here are a few of our IKEA purchases displayed in our homes:

Mary Elizabeth's "Cloud Lamp" (she bought the small one) looks beautiful in her bedroom;

As does her little "polka dot" IKEA rug.

She assembled her black RASCOG Cart and it's already in use as a bar cart in her kitchen. She can roll it into the living room for entertaining!  Martini anyone?

After a bit of reorganization, all of my new napkins fit in my under-bookshelf storage baskets. 

I love the colors!

My four faux plants (love the fern!) bring a touch of Spring to "Elmer's tool box" at my house.

And the adorable trio of chairs? 

I'm still walking around the house with them, looking for the perfect spot!

SKAL! (that's "Cheers" in Swedish),

This post is linked to:

To Grandma's House We Go #127 at Chas' Crazy Creations

Talk of the Town #162 at Knick of Time

Vintage Charm Party #170 at My Thrift Store Addiction

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Flaunt It Friday #436 at Chic On a Shoestring

Weekend at IKEA: Day 1

My friend, Mary Elizabeth (aka M.E.), just moved into her new apartment in a renovated old school house in our town.  M.E. had never been to an IKEA and I had been promising to take her to shop for everything on her "new apartment punch list".  We called our upcoming weekend trip, "Thelma & Louise take IKEA"!

We live in Southern Maine so the closest IKEA to us is just south of Boston in Stoughton, Mass., about a two hour drive. We left early Saturday morning and got to IKEA before it opened at 10:00, snagging a primo parking space in the underground lot.

I tried to warn M.E. about the sheer size of the place and the amount of walking involved. I even shared my two personal IKEA rules: 1. Wear comfy shoes,  and 2. Carry as little as possible (I use a tiny backpack/purse/pouch thing and leave my heavy coat in the car.)

M.E. was a little overwhelmed at first but she soon got the hang of it:  Grab a big yellow shopping bag, take the paper tape measure, catalog, pad and little IKEA pencil you'll need along the way.  And then, up the escalator to home dec./DIY dreamland you go!

If you're new at this, I should explain the basics. Most IKEAs have two gigantic floors. You begin on the 2nd. The 2nd floor is mostly "showroom". I love to get ideas on this floor and take pictures of things I'd like to either purchase, or copy. You follow a maze-like path through acres of styled room settings, furnishings and accessories, brightly and cleverly displayed to show how you can live comfortably in the most tiny of spaces.

For example, this "apartment" has everything a single person would need in only 237 square feet!

The bed also serves as a couch during the day. Across from it is the media center.

Across from the green closet unit is the kitchen table, which also doubles as an office/sewing table.

There is also a small but well equipped kitchen and 3-piece bathroom . It is completely furnished with things you can purchase at IKEA; some of the storage and small-space ideas shown are ingenious.

Here's another beautiful "small space" IKEA living room. 

 I could be quite cozy here! - and there's seating for five!

One of the things my friend M.E. was looking for was flexible bathroom storage. She ended up choosing a nine cube Kallax Unit for $79.00. These are incredibly versatile and the choices for "cubes" are almost endless. M. E. chose six white ones (only $3.99 each!). She plans to leave the top three spaces open for towels. Here are some other creative ideas using the Kallax units:  75 Cool IKEA Shelf Hacks for Every Space.

Here's an IKEA "hack" I love: A Kallax unit  turned on its side and used as a bench:

Mary Elizabeth also wanted to buy two of these amazing little three-shelf  Raskog rolling carts:  a white one for next to her desk and a black one to use as a "Bar Cart" in the kitchen.  You can read more about these carts on Bob Vila's list of 10 IKEA Products Most Loved by Designers.

For only $29.99, these colorful little carts (blue and beige are available too) have hundreds of uses.

We saw lots of other things we liked but didn't need, like:

This beautiful fiber-and-branch wall art.

(I plan to put this on my DIY list; I certainly have enough fabric in my stash!)

This little Bekvam stool: Handy, easy to move around, simple, and could serve dual duty as an end table. We both loved this little guy!

This cheerful yellow Stolpa Clock - we just wanted one!

You get the idea . . . it's a pretty tempting place to spend a Saturday! And in case you want to see just a little more, here's a link to a list of the 13 Most Popular IKEA Products. I noticed that our rolling cart and Kallax shelves made the list!

We really enjoyed our lunch in the IKEA restaurant - Swedish food, of course. M.E. ordered grilled Salmon  (her favorite) with lemon sauce, a potato cake and vegetables ($6.99!) and I had the Swedish Meatballs with mashed potatoes and veggies (only $5.99) . The restaurant is on the second floor and we just made it there before thirst and exhaustion won out. As I said, IKEA is a LONG walk, unspoiled!

After lunch we shopped a little more but were too tired to do justice to the Marketplace - the HUGE first floor. You go down another escalator, pick up a shopping cart, and this time, everything on display is ready to buy - accessories, organization, kitchen stuff, wall art, plants, candles, linens -  everything but the heavy furniture upstairs We decided to leave that for Day 2, when we were rested.

IKEA kids' beds

That proved to be a good plan because after an early dinner (and a Margarita!) at Texas Road House, we were both sound asleep in our motel room by 8:00 p.m. I'm so glad we didn't try to do all of IKEA in one day. Guess we're not 25 anymore:  On Day 1, IKEA took us!

Tomorrow:  The First Floor!

This post is linked to:
Inspire Me Tuesday #489 at A Stroll Through Life
Amaze Me Monday #302 at Dwellings
Homestyle Gathering #6 at My Wee Abode
To Grandma's House We Go #127 at Chas' Crazy Creations
Talk of the Town #162 at Knick of Time
Vintage Charm Party #170 at My Thrift Store Addiction