IKEA Shopping Eye Candy

I promised I'd share some inspiration from this past weekend's IKEA trip, and I didn't want to let you down!

Despite waking up to some heavy snowflakes falling, my friend Christy (faithful NYC Girls' Trip pal) and I decided to head North to see the latest wonders of IKEA. After a quick Starbucks run, we hopped on the interstate and chatted while my girls sat entranced in the back seat watching Dumbo. Seriously, what did mamas do before DVD players on road trips?!

First things first, we dropped a delighted Natalie off in the childcare area and jumped on the escalator to the showroom with Michaela Byrd. If you've never had the chance to visit an IKEA, my favorite thing is touring all of the cute little "apartments" they have set up upstairs. You can take measurements, write down the aisles and bin numbers to find furniture items, and head downstairs later to shop accessories and check out with boxed items.

My best IKEA advice?
Make a list before you go of areas in your home that need some touch-ups and be mindful of those as you browse the showroom. I neglected to do this beforehand, and I completely forgot about several things I wanted to check out.

I did remember to look at some coffee tables, in case my search at the local Salvation Army comes up with nothing.

I like the extra storage this coffee table provided. Michaela Byrd was more impressed with the child-size table  by the couch.

I still can't believe that I saw one of these glass topped tables in my local Salvation Army last Spring and passed it by. At the time, I guess I just wasn't committed to the idea of trying to sell T on the idea of change.

We saw some lovely, cozy living spaces:

We {heart} NY too!

Love. this. chair. That is all.

Christy and I just swooned over this little kitchen nook:

We saw some great examples of under-cabinet lighting that convinced me I need to give it a try, and soon:

We liked the homey feel to this kitchen, which led us to a search for the perfect replacement kitchen chairs for Christy.

Luckily, we had the perfect chair tester with us. Michaela Byrd tried out every. single. chair in IKEA. Each and every one was met with a "this is just my size!" We decided that if the chair could withstand the kid, it might stand a chance at Christy's house. We had Michaela Byrd kick it and push it around a bit to see....

She was also delighted to see a different sort of chair elsewhere. Many of the little "apartments" had faux baths, and she was pleased to see a potty on the premises:

...But we liked the rest of the bath:

Lots of beds and bedding options. I wouldn't purchase a bed frame or mattress from IKEA, but I did like some of the styles:

We flipped over the different storage pieces we spotted across the showroom:

And there was, of course, the icing on the cake..."my" craft studio, which I fell in love with on the last trip.

Of course, no trip out of town is complete without a tantrum, and although I felt like throwing one when Christy told me she didn't think it was a good idea to try sneaking my crafty stuff in on weekends, it was Michaela Byrd who threw a fit because her finger hurt and she wanted to ride in a cart.

(I sometimes wonder if T would let me have more shoes if I threw fits like that.)

Shopping downstairs provided another distraction for all of us. So many pretty accessories!

Christy picked up three of those hobnail glass vases for just $0.79 each!

I picked up two lamps to fit on the bunk bed wall in the girls' room, two cute purses, some light bulbs, and a milk frothing jug.

We ended our jaunt with a delicious lunch at Panera, and then hit the road to get home.

Not bad for a day's work!

{Where do you like to shop for inspiration?}