My Groggy Ikea Trip

Son H woke me up at four in the morning Friday. And I couldn't go back to sleep! The day I planned to drive by myself the five hour round-trip from Albany, N.Y. to Ikea in Paramus, N.J.  Ugh.

Let's just say that I was a bit of a zombie wandering the store. I felt like I could fall asleep on the plush display beds in the store. Ha ha ha. And when I tried to take an afternoon nap in my van in the underground Ikea parking lot, it just didn't happen. (I spent ALL Friday in Ikea and finally did take a nap at 10:30 at night in a rest stop on the New York Thruway!)

{hello Ikea Paramus!}

But, even groggy, I loved my day, all by myself, wandering the store. My favorite part? The "It's my home" series of vignettes throughout the showroom floor.  Entire living spaces, including kitchen, dining, sleeping AND bathrooms! This one here was in a mere 280 square feet.

{Love this black shade on the dining room light}

I so admire how the amazing designers at Ikea can pack so much function into such a small space. 280 square feet? And yes, everything you needed was there...

{bright and cheerful}

...here's the other half of the space. You can see the bathroom just beyond the right door. 

Everything at Ikea is so modern, cheery and upbeat. Makes me want to move my family of five into a fictional 280 square foot urban apartment. Well, maybe not. But it puts things into perspective. My 1500 square foot house looks pretty huge after an Ikea trip. I'm empowered to make every inch count after studying what those resourceful Ikea designers can do.

{The "flip flop" bag is a cooler - I packed a lunch}

Thank goodness it was a Friday in Paramus and uncrowded. I was able to get a corner area in the cafeteria all to myself to spread out and work on some floorplans.

{drawing an elevation of Evie's room in the cafeteria}

I stuck pretty close to my shopping list, picking up the Kura bed for Son H and furniture for Evie's room. They didn't seem to stock the Lack bookcases anymore, so I went with Expedit units instead.

{Designer Cilla Ramnek was inspired by a collection of vintage crocheted pot holders}

Of course, no trip to Ikea is complete without a few impulse purchases. Here's the $39.99 Lusy Blom rug for Evie's room. How could I not resist taking this home? This rug sums up Ikea to me- cheap, cheerful and FUN!

Next up, the not-so-fun Ikea manuals and assembly! Have a fantastic Fourth of July!

Loretta

p.s. Drawing my giveaway winners SOON! Don't forget to enter!