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

Less Is More: Budget Living Room Re-do

If you've been following this blog, you know that I've been helping my sister prepare for retirement by decluttering and updating her newly-empty nest. She's been reorganizing using the KonMari method of keeping only "what sparks joy" in her home. Andi started with a major purge and the determination to "Collect Moments Not Things".

 

 

Now that her home is drastically decluttered, Andi is finally able to see the "bones" of her rooms and decide what she wants to put back, replace, or eliminate completely. This is the fun part!

 

Here's a peek at the newly-decluttered living room and a look at how we re-did it.

 

Collect Moments Not Things

“ While you are alive, collect moments not things."   

                                                  ~Aarti Khurana

I've had a great time this year helping friends and family members declutter, reorganize and redecorate their homes. I've always loved to organize (my spices were in alphabetical order long before Fly Lady and Marie Kondo!), never pursued it as a career, but look forward to being asked to help others "spark joy" in their homes.


So far, "The Accidental Organizer" (me!) has had great fun this year helping to "reclaim" the homes of  BFF Mary Elizabeth, niece Katy, and (the current project) my sister, Andi. Andi and her DH both had homes before they were married so the first step was a major decluttering. We had both learned a lot from reading (repeatedly!) The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Andi was determined to keep only those items which "sparked joy".

Home Staging 101

Selling our home in today's real estate market was difficult and frustrating. After  months on the market with no offers, we decided to enlist the help of a home stager, something still fairly new here in Maine.

I thought it would be fun to show you some of the "before & after" photos. Here is our family room before staging...

And after. The stagers removed all wall coverings and even window screens to maximize natural light. They replaced my patterned rug with a simple sisal one and accessorized using a combination of my things and theirs. We helped by cleaning, touching up paint, decluttering, and removing personal items like family photos.

Here is the living room before...

 

The house was built in 1830 and the stagers wanted to make it appeal to younger buyers. They explained that, even though it is an old house, Gen Xers prefer a simpler "Pottery Barn" look and that is what they tried to accomplish with staging. I really like the results (and I guess the buyers did too!)...

And finally our master bath. (What was I thinking when I painted it red???)

The stagers suggested a softer color palette. We did the painting, bought a few new towels at Target and voila! New paint color is Benjamin Moore Quiet Moments. I love the results...

Like many of us who love to decorate our homes, I thought I was pretty good at it. Working with  local stagers Elizabeth and Monique was a little bit humbling but worth it because it taught me a lot. As I decorate our home at Applegate, I'll remember what they taught me:

• Keep it simple - Eliminate clutter; less is more.
• Consider lighting - both day & night
• Use a few big (really big) accessories rather than lots of small ones
• Take risks - go ahead and try that antique spool cabinet next to a Crate & Barrel chair

I can't wait to show you more photos of Applegate as we continue to settle in and decorate. In the meantime, here's proof that I'm trying to apply what I've learned: a BIG accessory!.

 

Happy decorating!