{Memphis}: IKEA Coming to Memphis!

If you've been around the blog for any amount of time, you know of my obsession/love for IKEA.

In January 2010, I wrote an open letter (that in retrospect is a little ridiculous but was early in my blogging career) to IKEA outlining why they should open a store in Memphis (and I'd like to think they listened to me): http://www.makinitinmemphis.com/2010/01/open-letter-to-ikea.html

In December 2010, I made a polyvore collage in anticipation of my New Year's trip to Atlanta: http://www.makinitinmemphis.com/2010/12/trip-to-ikea.html

And then, after our post-Christmas trip to Atlanta, I blogged about my experience: http://www.makinitinmemphis.com/2010/12/atlanta-ikea-experience.html . We still have the dog tails and that huge canvas in our den.

In July 2012, I posted twice about IKEA - the first time I did a "browser window shopping" post using the gorgeous eye candy that is IKEA's website. Their catalog-esque interactive rooms are drool worthy and I highlighted my favorites: http://www.makinitinmemphis.com/2012/07/browser-window-shopping-ikea.html

The second July 2012 post was about my design inspirations on the showroom floor and my purchases at IKEA during my trip to Atlanta: http://www.makinitinmemphis.com/2012/07/shopping-ikea-2012.html

For Easter 2013, we went down to Atlanta again and so naturally I blogged about our experience: http://www.makinitinmemphis.com/2013/04/shopping-ikea-adventure-2013.html . We ended up getting my beloved kitchen bar cart on that trip, as well as a duvet for our guest room among other things.

So rumors began flying Monday and were confirmed via press conference on Tuesday morning of this week that indeed, Memphis is getting an IKEA (*pending all legal approvals) in fall 2016!
(http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2014/dec/15/wharton-to-make-major-retail-announcement/)

Obviously I'm overjoyed, not only selfishly because I love those crazy Swedes and their sleek, inexpensive furniture and accessories, but also because it is a great move for our city from an economic standpoint!

So what kind of advice do I have for a novice IKEA shopper?
1) Be prepared - scan the website inspiration pictures to get an idea of what you are looking for

2) Bring a list of "must buys" so you don't forget those things in the amazing chaos that is IKEA

3) For your first time, plan to spend 2 -3 hours. The showroom (2nd floor) is eye candy and a magical experience, if only to get inspiration. A lot of the accessories and furniture pieces at IKEA do require some imagination because of the various configurations and it is nice to see them in action. Additionally, if you like the furniture you see, make sure to mark down the location in the warehouse area so you can find its home and get yours.

4) For subsequent visits if you're in a hurry you can skip the showroom and just go to the first floor (the shopping area) where there is a maze of home goods and then a warehouse area with all the furniture in their happy boxes. The way the home goods maze works is that it is designed to make you walk through all the departments but there are short cut doors if you know specifically what you want and don't want to get distracted.

5) Expect some major assembly. Like ridiculous amounts.

6) Not everything is best to buy there and sometimes you have to weigh the cost versus expected outcome. For example, I love their furniture but some of it isn't top quality. But you've got to think about what you're paying for it, how long you expect to use it, etc.

What kinds of things should you buy at IKEA?
These are my personal favorites...

• picture frames
• lighting
• organization/storage
• bedding

And now, some of our favorite IKEA buys from over the years...

These turquoise metal vases were gifted to me by my Atlanta hook-up and have gotten miles of use:

Hanging racks for the kitchen renovation, with what were going to be mini herb gardens but turned into little flower displays:

Magnetic spice rack and another hanging rack for the kitchen:

Kitchen bar cart:

A huge city scape canvas from our 2010 trip:

Can't wait to have our own IKEA in Memphis, even if it does mean we have to wait a while. What are you excited about most?

In meatballs and tiny allen wrentches,

{Shopping}: Jane.com.

I have a new internet obsession but luckily this one is relatively cheap - Jane.com. Take the idea of etsy (individual sellers, crafty type items) and the idea of groupon and combine them to get Jane.com. You get a daily email with updates - items usually list for several days, though the good things do sell out (sometimes very quickly). Items are usually at least 40% off regular price.

So far I've restrained myself well but have snagged several deals..

I got these yellow and white chevron keychains (instead the goody bags) for my advisory girls to welcome them to the upper school:

I also got these monogrammed coasters, a set for school and a set for home:

I love this black and gold necklace I got on there.. I think it was about $9? So fun:

The shipping time line is always listed and there isn't a fee to join or anything. There's an email list but you don't have to be on it if you don't want - so check it out. (Note: I just really love this site... not asked to do this...). But be warned.. it is addictive.

In daily deals,

{Life}: I'm loving... my monogram necklace.

I've been lusting after a tortoise shell monogram necklace ever since I saw them on Marley Lily's website a few months ago. So when I found out that this etsy site, VitaBravo, had a buy one get one free of the same monogram special and the necklaces were $29.99 for the two, I just had to buy it.

Now, I was not asked to review this. I just had to spread the word. I am in LOVE with these necklaces. Mind you - they certainly are a bit cheap. I mean, it was $30 for two necklaces. The chain tarnishes on the first wear around the back of the neck. But for a fun statement piece of costume jewelry? So perfect.

The brown tortoise necklace, my original inspiration to purchase.

The black necklace that I got for "free."

So like I said, I had to share the love and tell y'all about this necklace. Check it out: https://www.etsy.com/shop/vitabravo1

In monograms and etsy,

{House}: A Fabric Project for Mom.

My mom is redoing her master bedroom, including {finally} painting the bedroom and adding in roman shades and some other details. They had two club chairs that they moved downstairs in favor of smaller, different chairs. My mom found a pair of chairs at our favorite antique mall (Antique Warehouse on Summer) and wanted to have them recovered.

And now you see why they are repainting the room- the red was classy but its time has come. This painting is one of three my parents have at their house by the artist Greg Gustafson. She wants to use the tons of this painting to guide the room's decor.

As you can see, she's looking at turquoise, olive, and brown as her tones. So we headed out to Johnson's Fabric in Bartlett (off Bartlett Blvd by the athletic fields) to check out upholstery fabric on the cheap cheap. I had never been to Johnson's Fabric so I was in for a treat!

Johnson's Fabric doesn't look huge but once you get inside you see that they have a great selection and their prices are really reasonable. We walked around and snapped pictures of the ones we liked (the best part is the pictures were in order so we could remember where they were based on when we took it).

This was the first fabric we saw - we loved the colors (they were perfect) but the shimmer of it was a bit too feminine.

The stripes were next. Ideal colors, but too masculine.

This dot was one of our favorites.

This tweed wasn't my favorite but my mom liked it - it was similar to one her designer had picked.

Another dot type:

My absolute favorite fabric:

This picture came out kind of weird but it was olive with brown dots.

And of course I snapped a few pictures of things I loved just for myself...

In the end we got samples for a few of the fabrics to try in the actual room.

It is always a good idea to take the fabric into the actual room to look at lighting in situ. Turns out that most of our green in the fabrics were too yellow-green to match the existing headboard and the blue was too bright. The one that looked perfect? The brown dot on the left. It was the winner!

My mom has also decided to use the swirly fabric (below) that I fell in love with for the guest bedroom redo that she's doing next. Good choice.

Now she's got the chairs off at the re-upholsterer's shop - can't wait to share the finished product!

In fabric and fun,

{Browser Window Shopping}: Bartlett Antique Gallery.

A few weekends ago my mom and I ventured out to Bartlett to try out a new antique mall. By new I mean new to us - based on browsing facebook I think they have been open for several years.

We had to go out to Barlett for something else so we decided to check out the Antique Gallery in Bartlett, which is at the intersection of Stage and Bartlett Blvd in a strip mall shopping center.

It reminded me right off of a smaller Sheffields. There was a ton of great stuff to see and a lot of furniture, which is what we were out to find that day. The traffic pattern on the inside of the store is pretty confusing when you're trying to navigate all the aisles without missing anything but they sure do pack in a lot of stuff so that is probably why.

I took pictures of some of my favorite finds! This ladder display shelf was right out front and would be perfect for potted plants on a porch:

I loved this kitchen cabinet - it was shallow which is perfect for a display in a kitchen and was in great shape.

Another ladder shelf - those things must be so hot right now.

This collection of retro glassware had me lusting for more cabinet space to display the fun colors:

And wouldn't this be fun on my counter?

This dresser made my heart flutter. I loved it so.

And lastly, this classic coke box would have been so cute with sewing notions or other small collections on top a dresser or chest.

I sure know I'll be venturing back out that way at some point. Great job, Antique Gallery - see you soon.

In antiques and time with mom,

{Shopping}: IKEA adventure 2013.

While we were down in Atlanta for Easter weekend, we had to hit up IKEA (of course). I've written about my previous adventures at IKEA here (Dec 2010) and here (July 2012). Those Scandinavians are crazy and I love it. Just walking through the showroom is inspiration for both beauty and function.

This year's adventure was just as fun as always - and Jake even was game to come along!

We started off walking through the showroom. I snapped pictures of the things that I liked...

This kitchen cart (spoiler alert, I got one) used as a side table was super cute:

I loved this outdoor scene:

As well as this one...

This coffee table, metal on casters, was super cool in an AV-cart kind of way:

I also loved these folding chairs (they had several colors). I thought they would be fun for spare chairs:

I loved the idea of using two table runners going short-ways:

They also had these hilarious finger-puppets that I thought were so fun:

I always love seeing their prints - these two in particular stood out to me:

 Their bedding usually isn't my favorite but I loved this set up:

And these orange gingham kitchen towels used as place mats were so cute I had to make them mine:

Here's another bedding set I loved. I actually tried to buy this yellow duvet to go in our bedroom but it was all sold out:

Here it is on the website - you can see that it is a subtle yellow and white stripe. It is available for purchase off the website but the shipping is $30... so not worth it.

Nyponros

We also were on the hunt for shelves for our pantry. We liked this set, the IVAR, but they were expensive and crazy to figure out what pieces you need (it came as all different parts that you bought separately).

We ended up buying the much less expensive GORM unit, which is what Jake looks so excited about in the first picture:

We ended up walking away with the shelves, the orange gingham napkins, a picture ledge (more to come on that), a melamine serving tray, and the kitchen cart that I've been lusting after for over a year...

Raskog

And we have already assembled it and it is in use in our kitchen!

And here's where Jake wins husband of the year. After driving 6 hours home, Jake put together my cart using those silly little IKEA tools. 

Here's how it looks in the kitchen! I love that I've gotten more stuff off the counters:

Here's to another successful IKEA trip! I'm already dreaming about what I can get next time...