My IKEA Shopping List

We moved into our current home nearly five years ago (where does TIME GO?) and we spent three months decorating, buying furniture and doing it up. Because it was our first proper house (after five years of living in a one bed flat) it was so exciting and ‘grown up’ to decorate. “We have THREE bedrooms!” I remember saying. “What are we going to do with three bedrooms?”

A few months after we moved in, it became clear what we would do with one of the bedrooms – it would be a nursery. After thinking that my period was a bit late (but not being too sure because I never kept track of it) and marching excitedly down to Sainsbury’s to buy a pregnancy test, we discovered that I was 3-4 weeks pregnant. SCREAM! So as morning sickness and tiredness kicked in (woo) decorating and house organisation ground… to… a…… halt.

Fast forward nearly five years and pretty much all of the things we didn’t do, back then, STILL need to be done. And plenty things we bought then need to be refreshed. So as such, I’d like to totally revamp my whole house, please. Totally doable, right? Hmm…

But because we’re not made of money, I’m going to focus on a few important things which need to be sorted and then do the rest gradually. And – brilliantly – lots of the things I’ve been lusting after come from IKEA. We paid the store a visit on Bank Holiday Monday (bank holiday fail) but it was so busy, all we left with was a 50p flamingo glass.

Admittedly, it’s a gorgeous 50p flamingo glass, but there was so much more I wanted to buy. So here’s my current wish list, ready for the next time we brave the IKEA crowds. My IKEA must buys:

First up is the Stockholm rug (£100) which would look amazing in my living room. We’ve been talking about replacing our (boring) black sofas with something mid-century for a while now, and this rug would fit in well now, and when we eventually buy new furniture. Also on my list is the Kallax shelving unit (£45). This is for our daughter’s room. We’re going to update it a bit – after all, it’s four years since we decorated it, and she isn’t a baby any more! These shelves look so versatile and lots of stylish mums (looking at you Fritha and Bryony) tell me they have them. The best bit is that you can really put your own stamp on them with the different inserts available.

Next, a must-have for any self-respecting child (!) is a good place to store books. We’re going to buy a large bookcase but we’re also going to buy IKEA’s wooden spice racks (IKEA hack alert!) which make brilliant book shelves and are a snip at £3 each. I love how you can paint them and drill them to your wall to create a stylish way to store and display books. Lastly, the £120 Kura bed looks amazing. You can have it with the bed up high (we’d put a reading corner down below) or you can flip it so that the bed is down below and you have a panel to climb on, up top. One thing to note is that this bed is fairly small in height, so you might find kids grow out of it fairly quickly. We’re unsure whether to go for this bed or a taller one… What would you do?

Different ways to use the Ikea Stockholm rug in a living room

Different ways to use the Kallax / Expedit shelving from Ikea for a kids' bedroom

 

IKEA Bekvam spice rack as a book case

Ikea Kura bed inspiration

What else should I have on my wish list? Give me some more IKEA inspiration!

Follow:
Share:

10 Comments

  1. August 29, 2014 / 10:55 pm

    I love ikea and it’s a staple to so many homes. I have Ikea EXPEDIT Shelving Unit in my sons room and my office and one of the most comfortable mattresses we have ever owned was from ikea!

    • Alison Perry
      Author
      September 1, 2014 / 10:50 am

      See – another Expedit/Kallax fan. I think all they’ve changed with Kallax is making the middle sections slimmer. Thanks for the mattress tip!

  2. August 30, 2014 / 1:02 pm

    Ah, what a great idea for bookshelves – spice racks! We’re the same as you – moved in 5 years ago, still loads left to be done…..

    • Alison Perry
      Author
      September 1, 2014 / 10:53 am

      I’m determined to finish off all the little jobs (and start new ones) before the year is out!

  3. August 30, 2014 / 11:23 pm

    I am a complete IKEA addict. No chance of me going in there for one thing and coming out with really just that. I love the rug by the way and just about everything you’ve shown. Great post x

    • Alison Perry
      Author
      September 1, 2014 / 10:57 am

      We rarely leave with just one thing, too, but on Bank Holiday Monday it was HELL.

  4. August 31, 2014 / 7:34 pm

    aww thanks for featuring me! I can never work out if it’s good thing or a bad thing that I live a stones throw from Bristol’s IKEA because I am literally addicted! I can never leave without buying something, even though we visit each week! xx

  5. fiona
    September 1, 2014 / 12:27 pm

    I think you should become an interior designer. Love all this.

  6. September 1, 2014 / 2:30 pm

    I am totally addicted to Ikea! We have just moved to Chicago and one of the first thing I did was check if there was one. Thank god there is, it became so useful when we arrived in an completely bare house and we were able to have everything delivered in a day 🙂
    I didn’t see the flamingo glasses here though. I hope they will come, I love them!

  7. June 12, 2017 / 2:36 pm

    Me too im totally addicted to ikea and especially all its incredible hacks. The kallax’s hacks are the most amazing!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.