Adventures in Sweden

After getting the latest Ikea catalog, I was itching to make a trip to my favorite big-box retailer. So I ventured to Ikea last Sunday, braving the afternoon crowds to snap pictures of some of my favorite products and vignettes. Without further adieu, feast your eyes on my Swedish adventure.

The first thing I did after arriving was scope out all of the couches, in case I ever get brave enough to fight for the freedom to choose our own sofa. The Karlstad sectional in Isunda grey – a gorgeous, tweedy color with plenty of variation to hide the sins of everyday life – very nearly came home with me.

When we dive back into the kitchen reno, I’d love to bring home 4 of these chairs. I can see the white chairs around a weathered, wood-tone table, or the warm, woody chairs around a pristine white or charcoal black table. At $59.99 each for hard wood, Ingolf isn’t too pricey.

This grey bed had me at hello – from the upholstered headboard to the vintage-y, flowered duvet cover. I was entertaining serious visions of reupholstering our headboard in a warm grey and snapping up the Alvine Kvist duvet cover to give our bedroom a cozier feel.

The mirrored Malm dresser is seriously swoon-worthy, but the $299 price tag seemed a little steep to me. The regular colors are just $79.99.

The striped Stockholm rug has been featured in every magazine under the sun, in addition to making a cameo in David Bromstad’s condo. Although it’s been on the Ikea website for years, it’s never been available online and JUST made its first appearance in a Texas store. Hello, love!

The instant I laid eyes on the Premiar wall map, I knew Tony would love it. The only problem: where exactly does one put a  map that measures 55″ x 79″, besides in a classroom or a child’s bedroom?

This butterfly art reminded me of my heart art project from last year.

In addition to my friend Karlstad, the Hemnes media center also came THISCLOSE to climbing into my car with me (although I would have swapped the narrow bookshelf on the left for a second large bookshelf – that asymmetry is not for me). At $665, it’s definitely not cheap, but each piece is solid wood. Plus, after investigating the cost of building our own, $665 seems like more of a bargain. Time to save my pennies…

Before I headed home for the day, I stopped by Rooms to Go to see what other sort of sofas exist in the universe. Although I’ve got my heart set on a big sectional, perfect for snuggling up to watch a movie with the family, I really loved this sleek, slim-lined pair from Cindy Crawford.

In other Ikea-related news, I happened to mention the amazing new Ikea catalog to my father, and was astonished to spend the next five minutes listening to his tirade about how he hates it. He had major complaints about how the catalog read more like a magazine – which is precisely what I love about it. Is that a generational thing?

Have you peeped the new Ikea catalog or stopped by everyone’s favorite Swedish retailer lately?

Thomas Edison, I Think I Love You

When one of my best friends took the leap and purchased his first home, I was over the moon for him. Partially because it’s amazing to have a place to call your own, but also because his gorgeous new condo is literally 98% perfect. No complex DIY projects, no long weekends painting, and no pricey upgrades to make. The one project that kept him from calling home 100% flawless was the light fixture hanging over his dining area.

The grand unveiling of his new space was his 30^th birthday party, and naturally, he wanted his crib to be perfect for the big shindig. So Tony and I volunteered to help him swap his light fixture for something a little more up-his-alley. The big switcheroo would take him from outdated to industrial chic, thanks to this fab fixture from Lowe’s, starring 3 gorgeous Edison bulbs (swoon).

With a little bit of elbow grease, a fair amount of standing with my arms held to the sky, and some head-scratching over the directions, Tony and I stood back to admire the view. Love! And the table and chairs? I die.

Another Edison-bulbed option I came across on the Lowe’s website – I can totally picture this over our kitchen table when we get around to redoing the kitchen… someday!

Although I haven’t snagged a full photo tour of Phil’s new pad yet, a little bit of digging on the interwebs yielded photos of the condo a few doors down, so you can sneak a peek at the perfection. The curbside view…

And the front door, with its Texas star. A fun nod to state pride in an otherwise contemporary space!

Heading inside, we can take in a movie in the second (of three) bedrooms, converted into a media room.

Or we can kick it upstairs in the official living area – anyone know how to tickle the ivories? The pale, pearly paint color is the perfect shade of grey!

Dining area – how much do you love the tufted, nailhead-trimmed chairs? The floor to ceiling-windows and the pass-through into the kitchen make the space seem so open and bright.

The spacious kitchen feels warm and inviting – maybe it’s just that wine fridge calling my name.

Need a nap after all that eye candy? Let’s head to the master, also outfitted in a gorgeous shade of grey paint.

Plenty of space for bathing in here… and I wish I had closet pics to share with you, because it’s pretty much the size of our living room.

Before we head out, let’s take a gander at the view from up top – feast your eyes on the view of downtown Dallas. And although I wouldn’t want to spend much time up here in the summer months, this would be an amazing place to dine al fresco during spring and fall!

Anyone want to buy me a condo as a belated 30th birthday gift? Anyone at all?

Rugs on Parade

Although all the two-legged creatures in our house are officially smitten with our shiny, new floors, there’s one family member who has spent the last few months less than satisfied with the flooring situation. That’s right, I’m talking about our furry friend, Steve.

Just a few days before the flooring project was complete, I happened to be wandering through Home Goods (aka my home away from home and a very dangerous place for my wallet), when I spied a 100% wool runner on clearance for $54. I was instantly head over heels for the recessed interior and the pretty navy and green color palette.

Although it’s shorter than I would like for the hallway (which is apparently something like 14 feet long – what the heck), it looks lovely with the floors and definitely passes muster with the dog.

I’ve also seen it function effectively as a crash pad when someone knocks on the door – dog skitters across the rug, and dog plus rug go rocketing into the backside of the front door. It’s a little funny.

The other must-cover area was the living area. After having my eye on this modern, navy and cream chevron rug for months…

I finally bit the bullet and ordered it from Rugs.com at an amazing sale – just $150 for a 6-foot by 9-foot version. Then I commenced waiting. And waiting. And waiting. After 3 months, I cancelled my order and spent twice as much to order a slightly larger version from Overstock.com.

And here’s the dog, sharing his approval. And his evil eyes. Devilish glances aside, this is actually a much better representation of the rug color. Still struggling with the camera challenge, my friends.

And it was SO worth the extra money. The wool feels so nice underfoot, and the pattern is punchy and modern without being overwhelmingly busy. It’s definitely still in the shedding phase, but it survived a 4o-person engagement party quite nicely, so I think she’s a winner. Eventually, we’ll put something underneath the dining room table, but for now, the dog has plenty of soft spots to lie.

If you’re in the market for a rug, here’s where you can snag your very own chevron rug (in lots of colors, including navy and grey… but I’m loving this new multi-blue color concoction!)

In the Nick of Time

After living in a war zone for the better part of a month, we finally had a serious impetus to get the Lottery House back in order – namely, an engagement party for two of our favorite friends. So, with a hard deadline for getting the house reassembled, we put in lots of nights and weekends organizing the hot mess that was our little casa. With the house finally tidied, I also made time for a few crafty little projects for the party. It’s a commonly known fact (around here, anyway), that I’m a total germophobe. On my first business trip was a friend and coworker, I almost had a heart attack when I saw her put her suitcase on her bed – it’s still something we giggle about.

Anyhoo, with new floors and my sanity to protect, I knew I had to get folks to shuck their shoes at the door for this party. But in lieu of asking the often-awkward, “Hey, would you mind taking off your shoes?”, I thought I should get a sign to do the talking for me. I started by buying a big rattan basket from Target (also my soon-to-be dirty laundry basket, how’s that for multi-tasking), plus a few supplies from Michael’s. I snagged a wooden rectangle, a long stick, some chalkboard spraypaint, and some plain white chalk. After hot-gluing the stick to the back of the wooden rectangle, I gave the whole affair a thorough coat with Krylon’s chalkboard spray paint.

Then I set it into the edge of the basket, wrote a little note, and affixed one of the poofs that my friend Stacy crafted for the party. A cute (and effective!) way to save me from the dirty work of asking peeps to ditch their shoes.

I also came up with a crafty way to have friends share well-wishes with our bride and groom to-be. With the help of a branch (hijacked from a neighbor’s backyard cuttings) and one of my favorite Home Goods vases, plus some plain cardstock bookmarks from Michael’s (cut in half, punched with a flower-shape, and topped with a bit of pink ribbon for hanging), we had an easy, inexpensive way to let our guests share the love.

In other news, my laptop has finally collapsed, which sadly means I have no way to process the many party decor pics I captured on my real camera. So I apologize for the iPhone pics, and have to warn you that photos from the Lottery House might be a bit dicey for awhile as I work on a solution. I’ve also (as you might have guessed) been struggling a bit lately with work-life-play-blog balance. Please bear with me as I try to find the right cadence for blogging and the right tools for sharing photos of our DIY adventures!