IKEA Finds

I finally had a chance to make it to IKEA the other night, which was wonderful because going during the week is much better than fighting the crowds on a weekend. Anyway, I’m actually glad I didn’t make it there before because I know how this would have gone down if I went the week after we moved in: I would have bought a ton of stuff that didn’t work with the rest of the apartment or that we don’t have a place for. Waiting until now has allowed me to realize what areas of our apartment need more decor, what items I really want and what is worth investing in.

The thing I’ve realized over the past two and half years when it comes to home decor, is that it is better to save up or wait to find the perfect item than to force things into your space. I did this A LOT at our old apartment and I would be happy for two weeks and then want to change it up again. I will always want to rearrange or change things up, because sometimes it is just nice to do so, but I want to have pieces I LOVE and that will last us a long time. For the time being though, our living situation is temporary. We don’t want to rent forever (or at least I don’t think) so finding decor we love that fits in our space now is still important.

Anyway, sorry I just wanted to share that I am trying to not just buy things to fill space. In fact, I would have bought at least twice as much from IKEA if I was in my old mindset. What I found at IKEA are things I needed to help organize our space or make it feel more like home.

Lamp Base & Shade : I tend to go to bed earlier than my boyfriend, but like to flip through a magazine or read beforehand. I haven’t had a lamp by my side of the bed in years and well, it is a pain in the butt to get up to shut off the floor lamp. This is a smaller lamp, but just perfect for a bedside table. Our room is gray, black and white themed, so the silver base and patterned shade add a nice contrast while still fitting the color scheme.

Artificial Plant : Well, according to my boyfriend I went wrong here. He hates artificial plants, but I LOVE greenery indoors and would accidentally kill a real plant. This one is reduced to $29.99 in stores right now and is higher quality than some of the other artificial plants available. I love it because I think the palms against our dark wood laminate floors almost make it feel like we are at some sort of resort/getaway. It really makes our space feel more homey. It is something I think he will just have to deal with 😉

Black Storage Boxes : Okay, let me just tell you I almost bought storage boxes at Target, WalMart, you name it. But every time I almost did, I remembered how much cheaper they were at IKEA. I needed these to store things in my closet, including all of my clutches and winter gear (hats, mittens, etc.) I want them to look nice and help me organize, but they aren’t going to be out in the open, so I couldn’t justify spending $9.99 on one large bin, especially when I knew I could get TWO large ones at IKEA for the same price. YES you have to assemble them, but if I can do it, anyone can. They look really nice in my closet and are quality enough for my purpose. I would not recommend them for being out in the open, especially if you have kids or pets.

Red Vases & Fake Flowers : I have been searching for the perfect artificial flower/vase to place on the counter in our bathroom. I want to hang up some art pieces, but it needed a bit more color and life in there right now. These red vases are gorgeous (I bought the clear ones) and I bought three cream colored flowers to place in the tall vase for our bathroom. Works perfectly with our gray/burgundy color scheme. Also, going to look gorgeous for the holiday season! You simply cannot beat this price, I mean seriously, where can you get vases and fake flowers this cheap anywhere else? And they look nice!

Storage Drawer on Wheels : Okay, so I went into IKEA with the intention of buying this storage drawer for our filing needs. The problem is that it just looked like poor quality, and I could already tell that the surface/top of it would scratch easily (also you can easily see into those small drawers from the outside). So for $10 more, I got something a little smaller, but a lot nicer.  I liked this file cabinet (same quality, color and style) but it is too big for our space right now, it would look really out of place and doesn’t have a nice drawer for office supplies. I also bought this organizer that is nice quality and will be easy to clean for the top drawer of this. Again, old mindset would have bought the cheaper one because who likes spending money on boring storage things? But the fact is that we will be able to have this forever and will help keep our papers organized. And then someday we can add a file cabinet if and when we need it (hopefully a bigger office space too 😉 )

Floor Lamp : This lamp is more for looks than practicality, but we already have a nice floor floor lamp, so I wanted one to place near our TV that added not only light, but also helped decorate the space. I liked the coloring of the cover, and it looked a little higher quality than some of the cheaper options. I’m sure this is something we won’t have forever, but it suits our space now and I love it!