It’s been 1.5 months in the new place and after finally cleaning and painting, catching up financially, catching our breath and getting out of a minor funk, it was time to take a trip to IKEA.

I have not been to IKEA in over a decade, a trip that I barely remember. The closest location to me is almost 2 hours away so it’s a bit of an adventure. I was completely overwhelmed and thrilled by the whole experience. First off, I had no idea what the shopping process was going to be like. I have mixed feelings about the whole showroom area. It was very nice to see and touch and sit on everything but, having to write down all the larger things we were interested in was a bit much.

We didn’t have a truck so we couldn’t make any large purchases and we’re still debating on kitchen tables and trying to find a deal on clear acrylic kitchen chairs but we were completely sold on this love seat. Unfortunately, their shipping is $119 so, we’re going to check out a few local places for comparable options and price U-Haul rentals and see what we come up with. 

Finally, we made it back downstairs to the real shopping madness… the little things that make a house a home. I had given myself a limit and it was so much dangerous fun to feel free to throw in a cart anything that caught our eye. (Surprisingly, I stayed well below my max.) As far as the little things go, we really have all we need so, pretty much everything was a fun purchase meant to bring a bit of happiness. Other than the huge mirror for $8 and a few small odds and ends, here are some things I could actually find online. 

We have been agonizing over what to do with our old kitchen floor. Since we’re renting, it was infuriating me to think of all the time and cost that would go in to putting new flooring down – something the landlord didn’t seem to find a priority he would be willing to work with us on. We finally agreed to just get a big sisal rug. We keep forgetting how large the kitchen is so, we’re going to need a runner in front of the work area as well. That kitchen swallowed the rug up. Either way, it’s all coming together.

We also decided against the floukati rug (not nearly as soft as we wanted) and went for a big white sheepskin rug for the foot of the bed instead. It’s so plush and decadent and primal, we had to take pause and just stand on it with bare feet a few times last night. I can’t find it online but here’s a shot of it with Ringo the cat. 

The lighting section wasn’t too impressive. We can’t do interesting pendant lamps because of ceiling fans, although the boy is brainstorming on getting one in the bathroom. I got this one for my bedside. It’s 18″ tall.

We also have minimal storage space in the kitchen yet, I had to have some serving pieces and whatnot, with hardly any place to put it all! :)

The towering warehouse shelves in the self-serve furniture area was a bit frightening and we were running out of car space. Not wanting to make any impulsive decisions on large pieces of furniture, we will debate a bit and plan another trip up in the next month or so. 

The next project is some huge wall art. We have expanses of bare white walls that need a little (or a big) something. Masonite board is the least expensive option to get crazy with some paint. My father can pick up and cut the 16′x9′ ($8 at Lowe’s) board for us and we’ll probably get to work playing with aqua enamel and earth toned acrylics this week!