Wednesday, April 24, 2019

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

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9 comments:

  1. Another trip to Utah sounds amazing, and how fun that your son is coming along!

    I always love going to Ikea when my daughter has a pointe shoe fitting in that part of the suburbs (luckily my hubby has to drive there for that reason so at least we get to experience the suburbs on those occasions.) I agree with what you said about their sofas. Always find them too uncomfortable. But love their showrooms too and love checking out their decorations. Alethea is such a cutie and looks like she enjoyed the trip as well!

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    1. Yes! I love Utah and I can hardly wait. That's so funny your husband doesn't like to drive in Chicago suburbs. I don't mind driving in the suburbs at all, but I would never drive in the city of Chicago. Yikes!

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  2. You can really get some great ideas (and deals!) at IKEA. That blush pink sofa is so chic!

    -Ashley
    Le Stylo Rouge

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    1. Definitely! I love to go there for ideas. And I love the pink sofa!

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  3. I always love walking around Ikea and those Swedish meatballs are yummy!I actually have that $349 armchair in the baby's room and I used it at nap and bedtime. He also likes to climb in it and read. So while it was not cheap for Ikea furniture, we really have gotten our money's worth in the last 2 years. I will move it to my bedroom sitting area when he outgrow his baby furniture.
    www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com

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    1. It's so fun isn't it? I love that arm chair! It would be perfect for a baby's room. I was worried about the longevity of all white in a living space. I have a very similar white chair in my "beauty room" that never gets sit in by anyone but my cat, and would you believe it's already stained and dirty? I think it's because I had a black fur thrown on it for years and it stained the fabric. UGH!

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  4. Sooo many amazing options in IKEA indeed. Also, Alethea is so precious!
    Jessica | notjessfashion.com

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