Hello Honeys,
How are you today? All well I hope and having a wonderful week 💙 I've been, with the assistance of our furbaby Jade of course, mostly doing laundry (to take advantage of the sunny days and warm temperatures by pegging it all outside) and a few little organising projects around our home.
Yesterday I spent most of the day smiling while editing photos taken during our trip to Ikea last Wednesday on the rainiest but still far too warm day 😊 It really was a fun, albeit exhausting, day out and I wanted to share in the hope that they might make you smile too 💚
I discovered while editing the photos for this post just how many I'd taken (hint: too many!) so I've been forced to split this post into three parts.
Even after being quite ruthless with which photos to include, there were just too (too) many to force into a single post. If I'd included all of the images in a single post it would be far too long to possibly scroll through, you'd need several huge pots of tea or coffee and not just a cuppa and it would drain your batteries too!
Even (massively) slimmed down (and divided between three posts) there are still quite a few photos in this post dear ones so why not go grab that cuppa (and maybe a couple of cookies) and meet me back here in a few minutes...
Welcome back honeys, do you have your cuppa? Me too ☕ OK, settle back, get comfy and put your feet up and let's head off into Ikea then shall we?
We live quite a distance from our "local" Ikea so visits are very rare unfortunately. I suppose this has its benefits too of course 😊 It does stop me from spending all of my wages on pretty baskets... I admit it, I have a basket problem 😊
It also means that since we're not there every week, each time we visit there always seems to be a very different display on the huge display space as you enter the store.
This visit, since it's back to school time and lots of parents will be shopping for their not-so-wee-ones heading off to college or university, it was bedroom items. Perfect for setting up a home-from-home in dorm rooms...
More on dorm rooms later. For now, let's have a look at some living room ideas...
Living Large (In Small Spaces) in Ikea Living Rooms...
I'm sure I can't be alone in constantly bemoaning that we just don't have room for the clutter... er... I mean essential belongings filling up all of the available space in our home. For that reason, I'm always amazed at just how much Ikea can fit into each of their room displays.
Their secret seems to be to dress each space with classic items, while also using items which serve more than one purpose or in fact can round up (and hide away) the clutter.
The perfect example of a classic (and stunningly beautiful) item is the Strandmon wing chair, with their matching footstools...
Every visit I fall in love with this gorgeous chair all over again and it's wonderful to see it being given so many different looks by styling it with different upholstery fabrics. You can see some of the variations in the photo above.
I hadn't seen the floral patterned version before this visit (seen above as a footstool, with the chair version almost seen above the other chairs in this image - it's called Lingbo Multicolour) but it is very beautiful and is now one of my favourite versions ❤
This beautiful, classic design chair is actually based on an early Ikea chair from the 1950s which was supposedly a favourite of Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad and, according to the Ikea website, it featured on the cover of their very first catalogue.
As you can see from the above image the company have also produced a children's version of this classic chair and I think it's just adorable!
Do you remember I said it was back to school season honeys? For many, this means buying essentials to set up dorm rooms. The living room section had some useful, multi-functional items that could be perfect in setting up a dorm room as a home-from-home.
I spotted this chair, it's called LYCKSELE MURBO, and can easily convert from a chair into a bed...
There is also a two seater, sofa bed version of the LYCKSELE MURBO too. I like that there is removable slip cover on each, making it easy to wash and put back on again. There is also a storage box (sold separately) that fits neatly underneath to store away bedding and pillows.
Back to living rooms...
This was one of my favourite living room displays honeys. I absolutely adore the bold green shade they've used on the main wall, it makes me think of our garden and serves as a focal point as well as a perfect background for the items displayed on the shelves...
I also love the way the furniture is set out. The arm chair is facing the sofas instead of the TV, and everyone sitting on the sofas would be facing each other. Perfect for playing board games or for good old conversations. I think this would be the perfect family room.
In another of my favourites, the walls of the display room in this next photo have been painted a lovely, dark blue, and by teaming it with dark furnishings, with the exception of the fun pops of yellow, they've created a calming space to relax and unwind in.
We saw quite a few of these L shaped sofas too, with one part of the three seater sofa giving the option of a chaise longue, perfect for curling up with a warm, snuggly throw, furbabies and a good book 💖
In this lovely, white themed living room display, a pop of gorgeous colour is added using the Strandmon armchair and footstool, this pop of colour is carried on with the sofa cushions...
This really is such a beautiful display and there are so many elements of it I like honeys. The rug in front of the fireplace, the tall LIATORP bookcases with doors twinned either side of the fireplace and the mirror above the mantle are all just perfect 💖
On the other side of the fireplace from the chair and footstool is a lovely round table with two chairs, with covers. This sweet dining space for two is just so pretty and it would be lovely to have dinner there, all dressed to the nines in Sunday best 💗
Sitting alongside the dining area is the LIATORP console table which just beautifully complements this room display...
It would be such a pleasure styling this lovely console table honeys. In this display they've used a lamp and a pretty black, hexagonal patterned basket, with three lidded boxes on the lower shelf underneath. This table however has been placed with the open part of the table top, a double shelf area directly under the glass top, sitting against the display wall.
There are no drawers in this table, just open shelved areas under the glass. Wouldn't it be perfect to showcase some treasures under the glass and leave the top empty so you could see them each time you pass and smile 😊
Sitting among the sofas, we saw another L shaped sofa and we both agreed it would be perfect for movie nights 🎬
Hubby and I would, with our furbaby Jade's permission of course, sit on the two single seat parts and Jade would stretch out on the chaise piece with her blanket for a nap 😊 It's fine honeys, I've said often that it's taken Jade a wee while but she's just about gotten us trained how she wants us.. and we wouldn't have it any other way. We adore our furbaby 💖
OK, so we turned a corner and saw this display with a gorgeous herringbone style patterned rug but all I really saw was, well, this...
Honestly honeys, I love everything in this photo! I love the sofa, the rug, the two adorable little nesting tables but I love, love, love, love this chair 😍
It's called the EKENÄSET armchair and I think it might be the most perfect chair ever made by anybody, well ever. Yep, love it 💖 Let's move on, shall we 😊
In our last (sort of, nearly... you'll see what I mean in a minute dear ones...) living room display I had a problem... sort of.
At first sight, I absolutely loved everything about this room. The placement of the furniture , the pretty little round coffee table, the wall mounted cabinets, some with doors and others left open to show off your treasures. The two tiny footstools sitting against the wall under the cabinets are just too adorable as well as being useful for extra seating or to rest tired feet at the end of a long day.
While editing the photos I'd taken though, something felt... odd. I really couldn't work out what it was for the life of me. Well after uploading the images in this post, and looking though them again it dawned on me!
I love this room, I think it feels like the perfect calm space. I could wander in, sit down and read a book in this room but... it's the light from the BESTÅ Wall-mounted cabinets. That's what causing the little niggle in the back of my head. It feels a bit too glarey, too "in my face." Maybe the light from them would be better if the overhead lights weren't on too?
Whoever designed this beautiful display, I so apologise, but for me those cabinets being lit up like that would just interfere with my enjoying that book or that lovely, calm space. Oh dear, we'd better move on to the next photo honeys or Ikea might ban me from their shops in future! <shudders> I can't even contemplate such an awful thought! I mean.... that's my happy place 💖
Speaking of happy places, how absolutely stunning is this display?
You can see why I said the previous living room display might be our last for today? This fabulous room could so easily be a living room, a dining room, a study, a home office or den?
For this too, too perfect display, Ikea have teamed a gorgeous BILLY bookcase combination and corner solution with a FASALT swivel armchair in yellow velvet and coordinating cushions 💗 The little nesting tables and round mirror complete this display perfectly. Extra points for the little golden tray on the table with a single cup and saucer 💗 Now, where did I put my book...
Bedrooms - From Setting Up A Home-From-Home Dorm Room To Creating An Oasis Of Calm..
Our bedroom is supposed to be our calm space, don't you think honeys? It's where we go to escape the noise and bustle of the world, to rest and re-charge our body batteries.
When the worries, noise and stresses of the world start to wear me down I go upstairs, sit in the middle of the bed, stare at my calm wall and just breathe. It's so important to have a place you can just be honeys. Just be yourself, just be quiet if you need to be, just be.
The bedroom section at Ikea is one of my favourite areas in the store. We're involved in an ongoing re-organisation and de-clutter process in our home and I've been inspired so many times by ideas I've seen there. Our master bedroom is probably the most organised room in our home, it's my calm space, and someday I hope we can get the rest of our home just as organised 🏡
There is, however, another reason why I adore the bedroom section honeys. I adore bedding sets. I mean I really, really love them. I love duvet sets, comforters, throws and throw cushions the way Carrie Bradshaw loved her shoes💖💖💖 So, yes, I look forward to seeing all of the beautiful new bedding designs when we're able to visit too 😊
On we go then, to the bedroom section honeys...
Making A Dorm Room Home...
There are so many storage and living solutions packed into this dorm room display. It is basically a small room with an en suite shower room attached but they've provided almost everything a student could need living away from home.
This display has a queen sized bed but it could easily be replaced by a sofa bed as we've already seen to allow for more living space in the room.
There are several different lighting sources too. There is a work lamp on the desk/working area, a tall floor lamp to one side of the bed in the corner and a bedside light (which I haven't caught but thought I had) on the bedside table.
The lamp on the bedside table resembles an angle poised lamp almost, but it very cleverly has a wireless charging platform as a base to charge phones, tablets etc. The lamp is called RIGGAD in case you're curious about it. I'm disappointed I wasn't able to snap a clear enough photo of it for you. EDIT: If you scroll back to the image of the LYCKSELE MURBO double sofa bed above there are two of those lamps on a table in front of it 😊
Back to our dorm room then. There is a good sized wardrobe, lots of shelving for textbooks and papers and a very large storage chest directly under the (very large) wall mounted TV which could be used for extra seating as well as storage.
There is also the ceiling light which, thanks to Twitter I can now only think of as the Death Star from Star Wars every time I see it 😊 Thank you twitter 😄 This light fitting/shade is actually called Ikea PS 2014 and it does say on their web page that this shade was "inspired by science fiction" so Twitter might have been right 😊
If I were studying away from home I think I'd be happy if my dorm room was like this one, of course I think I'd rather have a door on the en suite though. I mean, what if you have guests over? Did you forget the door Ikea?
This HEMNES day bed would work well in any room that has to function as both a bedroom and a living space, not just a dorm room. It would also work well as a guest bed if you don't have space for a designated guest room.
It's a very practical design since it can be a sofa by day and a bed at night, with three large drawers built in that could easily be used to store bedding and pillows.
I know this is probably just me but when I was editing these photos I noticed something that's been driving me to distraction ever since. The duvet cover on the bed in the image above is upside down, the roses should be at the bottom of the bed and the butterflies at the top.
There I said it. Feel free to judge me I know I'm considered odd (you should see the tins in our larder cupboard, all of the labels are right way up and facing the right way) but if I'd noticed this while I was there I would have fixed it and gone on my way happy, as it is I have a photo that's seriously bugging me. I wonder if I phoned, would they go fix it for me? They do say they pride themselves on customer service 😊 OK, we have to move on because I'm getting a nervous tic just looking at that duvet cover (and I'm not really going to phone them... I work in retail after all)
On to another room display and we find the HEMNES day bed again, this time shown in a potential dorm room setting. Just by folding the bed away during the day and again tidying the bedding away into the three large drawers, it would change this room into an entertaining space or living room.
This room has a large double wardrobe and both a dressing table area and a study desk too. I'm sure it would be ideal not only as a dorm room but also as a teenage room too.
Sticking with the student theme, the tones of reds pinks and purples make this a perfect bedroom for young professionals or students who are flat sharing I think.
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The colour choices give it a younger feel I think, although I do love all of the pastel pink accessories.
This next room is my favourite of the bedroom displays, the earthy colours and soft, homely feel to it makes me feel calm and at ease just looking at it. I'm sure I could curl up for a lovely nap in this room 💖
Maybe it's because we're moving into autumn but this room makes me smile honeys. I love the rug, the little bench at the end of the bed, the double dresser is adorable too. Designated drawer space is the path to a happy relationship 😊 They even included a lovely huge basket to store throws and pillows in too ❤ Did I mention that I quite like baskets? I do. Just a little bit 😄
This next (and last for this post) beautiful tranquil room combines both a bedroom and a nursery into one space.
As with all of their room displays, it's all in the details. The couple sleeping in this room have a baby, so a corner of the room becomes the baby's space. There are mobiles above the cot and decor on the wall .
There is a chair in the corner, near the cot but far enough away from the bed so that a tired or sleeping partner might be allowed to sleep on. There is a lamp above the chair, and books to read to baby from are to hand by the side of the chair, stored in one of the famous BEKVAM spice racks we see so many uses for all over Pinterest. A great deal of thought has gone into this lovely room.
So, do you have any favourites honeys? Do you love Ikea as much as I do? Do you have any favourite sections? There are two more posts to come dear ones but for now, we'll end this one. It's almost midnight and Jade is telling me she wants to go to bed, bless her 💖
Till next time dear ones, smile lots and hug even more 💖 Hugs always x
Edit:
Part two of this fun Ikea trip can be found here honeys. It's stuffed full of lots of beautiful kitchens and the most organised laundry room space. Oh, how I'd love a laundry/utility room 💖💖💖
Part three can be found here. It features a round up of everything else we saw on our visit, including some new products (one of which, now that I know what it's used for, I feel so silly that I didn't know :) This, and it's similar new item, have both now been added to our next, possibly online, Ikea shop.
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