Shopping With Alethea at IKEA and More!

Whenever I visit my children in Illinois, I love to go to IKEA!  I don't buy much, I usually just purchase food items (have you ever tried their oatmeal cookies?  AMAZING!) and small decor items. My main reason for going is because I love to walk through their showrooms and get ideas!  I think their small space living ideas are incredible.

This small living space that my daughter and granddaughter are exploring, was so pretty!  I said "I could so easily live here!"  Of course, I'd probably have to get rid of all my crafty stuff and 3/4 of my clothes, but I could still live here!  I loved all the pink, especially the pink dividing curtain and the pink sofa.  

Here is the kitchen portion of this room.

And here is the entertainment area of the room.    

I had just finished painting my new living room when I was visiting my kids, so I was on the lookout for new furniture.  That's another reason I wanted to go to IKEA;  to check out their "all white slip covered furniture" that's all the rage.  Unfortunately,  although I found a lot of furniture that I liked the look of, (like the grey couch below),  I didn't think it was comfortable when I sat on it.

I was also on the hunt for interesting pendant lighting for another room in our home we will be remodeling next year.  I saw a lot of lighting I liked, but nothing screamed "Take me home with you!"

On a side note, notice the floral wallpaper?  Wallpaper is back in style, especially if you only wallpaper one wall.  I would never do wallpaper, because when I bought my house 25 years ago every wall (and ceiling) was covered in wallpaper.  I spent years stripping it off, so I would never put it back in.  But I will appreciate all the pretty wallpaper designs I see.

I spotted these curtains and made a mental note to consider them when we begin our next room remodel.  My husband and I discussed having a curtain to separate a living space from a sleeping space in that room.  These will work great!

Here is the famous "All White Slip Covered Couch" every Instagram woman wants in their home.   I sat in it, and just wasn't comfortable.  I also thought it was a little pricey for "cheap" furniture ($479.00).  And, I don't know, they just look kinda sloppy to me.  I get the attraction, but in the end, I passed as I didn't think they would work for me.

I really liked this wire storage rack idea, it would be perfect for long necklaces and scarves.

I took a picture of this showroom because the duvet cover is the same cover I purchased for my guest room.  When I decorated my guest room, I used pink as the accent color, so it was interesting to me to see my same duvet cover accented with blue.  If I ever decide to get rid of the pink, blue would work too!

One of the items I was considering buying for my new living room was a chaise lounge.  I liked the modern look of this one, but again, when I sat in it, it was terribly uncomfortable to me.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how they decorated these pink vases.  I actually purchased two of these leaves the last time I was at Ikea, but I just left mine tall.  This is a brilliant idea to bend the stem and add an orchid.  I really must try this!

These planters are so cute too!  I've noticed the plain wooden bases on planters are really trending.

Another industrial pendant light I liked.

Here is the slip covered chair that goes with the slip covered couch.  Again, just not comfy and pretty pricey to me.  The chair is $349 alone plus another $169 for the ottoman.  One thing I noticed while shopping for new furniture for my home was how expensive ottomans are.  They are almost as expensive as the chair!  I wonder why.  It's almost as if they do that on purpose, because they know you NEED the ottoman to go with the chair, so they overcharge you.

I really liked this pendant lighting.

This 'basket' cover is actually sold separately.  I think out of all the lighting I saw, this one might work best in my home.  I love the texture it will bring to a room.

Alethea had so much fun in the kid's area of IKEA.  She loved playing with this play kitchen.  It blew me away with how she knew how to turn on the water faucet, fill dishes with water, and cook something in the microwave.  I could tell she must watch mom and dad cook in the kitchen a lot.

I did like these updated retro versions of wing chairs and found them the affordable at only $279 (current on line price) and the ottoman is only $69.

I'm keeping an eye out for a new entertainment center for our next room remodel.  I liked the industrial look of this one, plus the metal will help keep the grandkids from pushing the buttons on the tv components!

I've been trying to figure out what to do with the windows in our living room.  We really don't need curtains in that room, as there are no privacy issues.  I thought of having no window treatments at all, but it just seems kinda sterile to me.  So then I considered these:  they're not shades, because they don't roll up.  They are just stiff fabric that could actually serve as a room divider too.  They come in a variety of patterns.  I thought they were pretty cool, but hubby dismissed them because they would block his view.

More fun pendant lighting.

I always look forward to shopping at IKEA not just for inspiration for my own home, but also so I could eat in their cafeteria.  I love their Swedish Meatballs!  I tried their salmon dish once, but when a friend suggested I try their Swedish Meatballs, I've ordered that ever visit since.  They also sell their meatballs in their frozen food section, but because I was traveling I couldn't buy any to take home.  Alethea went crazy for them!  She loved them so much!

Finally, here are some other pictures I took while shopping with Alethea at other spots in Illinois.  The weather was really bad the week I was there, so other than the zoo and the children's museum, shopping and a movie/restaurant with my son was all I did.  That's O.K., as I love to shop when I'm in Illinois because they have so many more stores than we do in my small town.

Here Alethea and I played together at a play area in a mall while mom shopped in a nearby store.  Alethea loved these little chairs and I thought the colors of the chairs went so well with her outfit.  She is such a cutie pie.  Her mom texted me yesterday that Alethea got her very first "boo boo" when she fell down while playing outside.  I sent Alethea a text with kisses and lipstick emojis for her boos boos and Ashley said that she is "enjoying all the sympathy she is getting over her boo boos."



Well unfortunately this will be a temporary end to my travel posts (I will pop in on Wednesday with a few 'Staycation" posts).  My husband and I decided not to take a spring vacation this year so we could complete some much needed house projects instead.  I must admit, it was very hard on me not to take a spring vacation.  I always look so forward to getting away somewhere warm after a long, hard winter.  But we are taking a vacation in the fall, we are going back to UTAH!  I fell in love with the state of Utah when we drove to Las Vegas a few years ago.  Unfortunately, we had a car issue and we never got to Zion National Park, so we always planned on going back.  This time we won't be going alone, we will be taking our son with us.  He's never seen landscape like Utah before, so I'm sure he'll be blown away.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

An IKEA Adventure

I know not everyone would consider a trip to IKEA a travel adventure, but I do! I live in the country and my nearest IKEA store is two hours away, so I don't get to one too often...maybe once every 10 years! 😂 So when I was visiting my children in Illinois last February we thought a day in an IKEA store would be an adventure.  And it was! We spent the entire day in the store and had a blast!

The IKEA we went to was in the midst of a remodel so we had a hard time finding a cart.  Poor Ashley's arm was about to break off holding the baby in her carrier while we walked everywhere looking for a cart.  Finally I said, "How about I just stand in one place with the baby while you find a cart?".  Minutes later Ashley came back with a cart and baby Alethea was as snug as a but inside.

Just look at those beautiful baby blues!  She was so good and content all day.  Of course she had a lot to look at with all the wonderful, fun things IKEA has hanging from the ceiling.

I found this little kitty in the stuffed animal section.  It reminded me so much of my own cat Jackson that it had to come home with me.  I was hoping Jackson would accept it and play with it.  He's had the same stuffed teddy bear that he's had since he was a kitten.  He drags his teddy all over the house, and kneads it when he is lonely or anxious.  It is literally falling to pieces.  I've sewn it up so many times, and it keeps falling apart.  But no, Jackson would not accept a new stuffed animal.  He would have nothing to do with it.  But the funny part of this story is when Alethea came to visit us for Easter, she discovered the kitty and became so attached to it that I gave it to her.   I wonder some times if Alethea thinks it's Jackson.  Jackson won't have anything to do with Alethea and he runs away every time she comes near.  Maybe this kitty is a substitute for Jackson?  Who knows?  Alethea has never become attached to any other stuffed animal before.  Funny how she became attached to this one.

IKEA is my new favorite place to get ideas.  I love to walk through the store and "ooh and ah" over all the displays.  I love to take pictures and make notes on ways to improve my own home.

This kitchen really caught my eye.  I loved the lighting fixtures (doesn't IKEA have the best hanging light fixtures?) and the white marble counter tops.  I wish my kitchen were large enough for these light fixtures.  As for the counter top, I have a marbled blue and white counter top that really needs to be replaced (it's worn, not just dated).  I have begged my husband to replace them, but he said "Nope, too much work".  Oh, I wish I had the capability to  just do it myself.  He's pretty good about remodeling and renovating, but if there is something he doesn't want to do, he really sets his foot down.  Never fear ladies, I'll just keep working on him and gently wear him down. 😉

I love subway tile;  who doesn't?  Doesn't this make a great back splash for behind a stove?  So easy to wipe up splatters!

At the time I was visiting this IKEA store,  I was still looking for ideas to for my guest room remodel.  (It has since been finished;  look for a big reveal post coming soon!).   This room caught my eye because of the gorgeous millennial pink drapes and the romantic light fixture.

I think the smartest thing about IKEA stores is that they have a restaurant in the store.  Their stores are so big, that they take hours to explore.  No one likes leaving a store early to go grab a coffee or a bite to eat.  So we had lunch here and enjoyed some down time resting our feet.  I had a salmon sandwich and a cup of coffee.  It was so good.

Our table was located right next to this green shelving unit.  I was really drawn to this display.  I liked the mix of wood, metal, and greenery.  Greenery is the one design element I saw constantly in all the IKEA displays.  Every room, every display had a green plant!

I was looking for night stands for my guest room remodel.  I didn't find any I liked (hubby ended up making them) but these t.v. tray stands caught my eye.  As always, I was drawn to the millennial pink one.  Does that happen to you?  Do you fall in love with a color and just want to buy everything in that color?  It's been that way my entire life.  I can remember back in the eighties loving the color peach.  Everything I purchased had to be peach.  My wedding colors were even peach.

Next year we will be remodeling our living room;  which is basically a small sitting room.  I'm already starting to formulate and gather ideas for it.  I liked this fun end table and the robin's egg blue chair in the distance.

We will also be replacing the sconces in that living room.  Right now I have gold upright sconces that my husband's uncle said "Looks like they belong in a funeral home" (yes, his family is really that rude).  So, I've been thinking of getting new ones, as the ones I have are about 25 years old.  I thought these looked pretty cool.  What do you think?

Here are those same sconces in an actual living room display.  I think they look really nice.

This living area display really impressed me.  I loved the tall mirrors above the buffet and the pendant lighting.

This kitchen reminded me so much of my own kitchen (except I have wood floors and a blue counter top).  When I bought my house over 25 years ago and we remodeled our kitchen, I went with a very traditional look like this because I knew how expensive and difficult it was to remodel a kitchen.  I didn't want it to look dated in ten years.  With the exception of the counter top, I'm pleased we made the decision to stick with a traditional design in our kitchen.

IKEA always has such great ideas on how to save space in your home.  I love the under the counter mug holder in this kitchen.

I kept seeing these large smycka leaves in all the IKEA displays and really liked them.  I ended up buying two for my own home, but then I couldn't find a spot in my 3000 square foot house where I thought they would work.  Go figure.  I ended up just throwing them in a vase in my sun room.  Hopefully I won't forget they are there and someday find a better use for them.

I also really liked these lighting fixtures, and at $14.99 they were quite a steal.  But I didn't buy them because I couldn't think of a spot for them in my home.  I have finally reached a point in my life where if I don't think I have a spot or a need for it, it does not come home with me no matter how much I love it.  I don't want any more useless clutter.

On this trip I was specifically looking for a new duvet cover for the guest room remodel.  I originally wanted just a plain white or off-white cover, but Ashley talked me into this light grey one.  It has slivers of different neutrals in it (white, grey, dark grey) plus just a hint of pink.  It's hard to tell in this picture, but you'll see more detail when I do my big guest room reveal.

I will need a new t.v. stand when we remodel the living room next year.  This mid-century one caught my eye.

Our trip to IKEA was so much fun.  I couldn't believe we spent the entire day there!  But it was so much more than just a shopping trip.  It was kind of like we went to a "Home and Garden Show".  We  didn't buy much.  I think the only thing I purchased this day was the duvet cover.  But we learned so much and left with a lot of creative ideas for our homes.  If you're in the "thinking phase" of a new remodel, I highly recommend strolling around your local IKEA store.  You will be so surprised at the creative juices it stirs up in you.

The funniest part of this entire story is that this was the first time I've been to an IKEA store since 2009, and that was when I was Italy!  I've never gone to an IKEA in America before.  Then, my dear friend and I went shopping in Minneapolis a few weeks ago and guess where we stopped?  You guessed it,  IKEA!  And we had lunch there too!  Only this time, I ordered the Swedish Meatballs at my friend's recommendation and it was very good!  I also spent a lot more money on my second visit than I did my first.  I kept thinking "It's not like I get here often so if I see something I like I better grab it.".  Needless to say, I broke my own rule and came home with a lot of things I didn't have a spot for and didn't need:  like the smycka leaves.  Oh well, a moment of weakness.

So what about you?  Do you shop at IKEA stores?  Do you like them?  Would you ever make a day of it like my daughter and I did?  I'd love to hear from you!

Have a  Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

My Myrtle Beach Vacation: Day 2, The Market Commons

This is a continuation of a Travel Series of my vacation to Myrtle Beach.  To start at the beginning go HERE.

 Our second day of vacation was a off and on rainy day.  It rained early in the morning, then it cleared up, then it rained again most of the afternoon.  Due to the rain, we decided to go shopping thinking we could duck in and out of stores in between rain showers.  I had seen pictures of The Market Common prior to our trip and it looked so pretty I wanted to check out.  What better thing is there to do on a rainy day?

We lucked out on the rain as it cleared up and we were able to enjoy our time at The Market Common rain free until after lunch.  I was so grateful as it was such a beautiful place filled with gorgeous flower gardens to explore.

The Market Common is a upscale village with retail shopping, dining, a movie theatre, a large public square and lake, and also residences.

My absolutely favorite part of The Market Common weren't the stores but the flower gardens.  Wow! I felt at times as if I were in a botanical garden and not a shopping district.  This village puts together some amazing flower displays.

There were so many water features.  And aren't these roses gorgeous?  We don't see roses in my neck of the woods until June or July, so this was quite a treat.

There were so many benches and old wooden rocking chairs in the streets of The Market Common.  They provided plenty of opportunity to sit and enjoy the beauty surrounding you.  I grabbed a latte at Starbucks, and just sat and enjoyed my brew in a rocking chair.  It was so relaxing.

Many of the streets of The Market Common are paved in bricks and lined with palm trees and large Terra cotta pots.

Above all the stores are apartments for rent.  How cool is that?  You could shop, eat, see a movie within a few feet from your home?

I loved the design of The Market Common.  The building styles and colors are so pretty.

The stores are a nice mix of both high and low end, so people of all income levels will find something for them.

But as I said earlier, my favorite part of The Market Commons was the gardens.  They were so pretty, and manicured to perfection!

 This beautiful clock was at the entrance to the retail area of The Market Common.  On the other side was a large expanse of lawn with another water feature and the lake (sorry, no pictures of that).  In this area  the village holds public events like outdoor movies/concerts.  On the day we were there, people were practicing for a Viking Ship boat race that weekend.

A kind man saw us oohing and ahhing over all the flowers and taking pictures.  So he stopped to talk to us about The Market Commons and things to do in the area, and then he offered to take our picture.  We appreciate the kindness of strangers so much when we travel.

 It seemed everywhere I went in South Carolina I smelled the beautiful aroma of Jasmine.  This is a flowering vine that does very well in this climate.  We cannot grow this in Wisconsin, so I was quite envious.  Oh, the scent, it just permeated the air!  I especially loved how they trained and trimmed this jasmine vine to form an arch.

Have I convinced you yet to visit The Market Commons just to see the flower gardens even if you don't like to shop?

Here is another view of that amazing jasmine archway.  You can also see a close up of the residences above.

My husband and I were so excited to see a Charming Charlie (yes, he loves Charming Charlie's cause he loves to buy pretty trinkets for me....especially if they are inexpensive).  We especially loved the design of this one.  Aren't those pink doors pretty?

 Another gorgeous flowering vine we saw a lot of while in South Caroline was Wisteria.  I think Wisteria is my favorite of all flowering vines.  I just love their pendulous blooms and the scent is amazing!

There are so many amazing restaurants in The Market Commons.  This was one I was tempted by because I loved the decor and I was curious to taste some Southern food.  But it was pretty pricey and we were worried about spending a lot of money on food we may not like because we're from a different region and have a different palette.

So we stuck with what we knew and went to California Pizza and we were glad we did.  I got a Mediterranean salad with hummus and pita bread and hubby got a pizza.  It was soooo good we went back for dinner another day and got the same thing!  The Market Common was only a short drive from our hotel.

After lunch, it rained again so we decided to see a movie.  Apparently everyone else had the same idea for the movie theatre was packed for a Monday afternoon.  We saw "The Case For Christ".  I have to put a little plug in for this movie because it was so good!  Even though I am a Christian I normally don't like Christian movies because they are either too cheesy, poorly made (bad acting), or not true to the bible.  This movie however was none of those things and was the best Christian movie I ever saw.  It's based on a true story of a Chicago Tribune reporter who was so upset that his wife became a Christian that he set out to prove the bible false.  In the process he discovered that he couldn't prove Christianity false and he became a Christian himself.  The acting in this movie is so good!  And I loved the realistic relationship of the husband and wife.  I never found it cheesy either, it was just so raw, real, and beautifully done.  But be prepared and bring your tissues!  It's a tear-jerker!

Well I hope even if you are a not a shopper to visit The Market Commons.  It's not that big and you could walk the streets of the village in a hour or two.  It's the perfect place to go for dinner if you've been sight-seeing elsewhere during the day.  I would love to see it at night too when it's all lit up.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!
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