I make no secret of the fact that Ikea, my own personal little Nordic bouique, is one of my fave places to not only shop for homewares, but to just go for a mooch around and get myself some meatballs.
So the other day when I surfed on into one the blogs I read, there was a whole post on what she had picked up on a recent trip to IKEA…amazing, because things I had totally passed-by looked fab….(a trip to the new Tempe store that recently opened near me is in order)…anyway so I enjoyed her post so much, I thought you might wanna see the little bits and pieces I picked up, in addition to that Hemnes mirror, especially as I know, from the comments and emails, that a lot of you don’t make it to IKEA very often as it is a long 5hr + drive…
When I went the other week and came home with my new boyfriend the Hemnes mirror (oh I wish I had bought more than one) I also, as you do, somehow managed to relieve myself of some cash, but I was pretty restrained…I did not buy a stock pot…I always lovingly stroke them as I walk past and I did not buy any more cushions or fabric, I think we have enough of that for the minute…
But I did re-new my white china…I love this 365 range…it’s simple, classic, and plain and more it mixes in really easily with my vintage china collection and goes well with whatever theme you want.. nautical, coastal or a bit more shabby and chic…plus it’s pretty budget friendly…most important when the china here gets chipped and bashed by the Beach Cottage Crew
These will be my Christmas glasses I think…probs a tad too modern for me, but they didn’t exactly break the bank and I thought those rugrats that live here might quite like these in the Silly Season…
Same with these little bowls, I love silvery-grey…I reckon these will be nice for a Christmas Tablescape or three
some frames for my new beach lustre pictures…yah
and a Christmassy, Nordic bottle for our iced water on the table…
When I first moved to Australia, gotta say I was pretty pleased that there was an IKEA close by…’cos I would have missed my day trip there every now and then a whole lot.
Little did I know that in those first few months in this new country that I would be visiting IKEA more times than I thought I ever would….you see, we had arrived in the country with 5 suitcases and a job…no house, no furniture, no friends, no plates, no cups, no chairs…not a sausage to our name…the only thing we had brought with us were our bedlinens (easily fitted in the case and our clothes)….everything else we had to start again from scratch or wait for our shipment to arrive from England which would be months down the line…and actually we didn’t bring that much because really it was cheaper to buy again rather than ship it…
So in those early days of Australia, I am always reminded of travelling over the other side of Sydney, in the baking hot weather (it was December), on the other side of the world, not a clue where I was going, a map on my lap and a dread of getting lost…the road there though is pretty straight forward and became a rat-run for me…
The funniest thing was though, that here I was, podded to the other side of the world, a long long way from home, the climate totally different and getting used to cultural changes, when I stepped into IKEA and it was exactly the same as the one I regularly visited in my old home town in Kent…like 100% the same…like the toilets were in the same place, the cafe was the same with the same food, the room layouts were the same, the checkout was the same…goodness even the IKEA Witch who comes out at the end bit was still with me here in Australia…at first this totally threw me, it blew me away, it made me feel very strange and lost…it’s a weird feeling…if you’ve been to IKEAs 15,000 miles or so apart you might have had the same odd feelings…
Anyway, one day I had gone to IKEA for some rugs…the rental we were in was horribly modern, with granite tiles everywhere and I was after some coir matting to tone it all down a bit…
When I got home, I had to pick up one of the kiddos from tennis lessons and as I pulled up to park, one of the other mothers saw the back of my car with the rugs in and asked me what I had been shopping for…oh I said, I have been to get some coir rugs….oooh she said, nice, I love coir, where did you get those?
Innocently, I replied back ‘IKEA’….well blow me down, she nearly fell over herself…’IKEA!!’….you shop in IKEA???
Errrm, yeah…(stuff me, I didn’t like to tell her I nigh-on lived in the place)….she was so shocked, not as much as me though….I’m like thinking to myself yeah….WHAT! you mean you don’t!
And as Julia said in Pretty Woman, oh so very well…I replied under my breath to Stuck-Up-I-Live-On-The-Beaches-Have-No-Brain-But-Am-Better-Than-You
“Big Mistake! Big! Huge!’
Be seeing your around kiddos…stop back tomorrow for Saturday Club
Happy Weekend…I’m off to a new beach this weekend, camera will be in tow and we have good weather forecast, woohoo
That is one of my ALL TIME favourite movie scenes! LOL Thanks for sharing it. Love the glasses but the little bowls are ADORABLE!!! I also spent a small fortune at Ikea when we moved…love the place!! **HIGH FIVE**
I love it all and the fact that what you do for your beautiful home is easy and inexpensive.
One little question…where did you find the lovely big hooks you have attached to the oar? I have been looking for some like that for a while but they’re never quite right.
I recently went to an IKEA on Hong Kong Island. Was quite small but lots of ex pats shopping for their every day goodies. I nearly hyperventilated trying to figure out how to get all the things that were so much cheaper than here (and that’s cheap) into my luggage!
Practically my whole house is decked out in Ikea. Almost all white. Love Hemnes too! Oh, and Ektorp. But you know, nobody really notices it’s all from Ikea. I think it’s the way you put it together with a bit of vintage and op shop… but you know that!
And when it gets scratched or my 2 year-old breaks it, it’s not the end of the world. In fact, often I don’t care. It’s very freeing and liberating to create a beautiful home that makes you feel relaxed and puts a smile on your face everyday but in the end is just stuff… you own it, not the other way around. I guess Ikea just gives me that feeling and freedom.
Enough rambling, did you see those crochet chrissy stars? I bought a couple of packs, love em!
x
yes you are right Carli…it’s they way you put it together
gotta say a lot of the furniture is not so good, though my dining table is going strong..and there have been a lot of crafts, homework, cups of tea and tablescaping going on there lol
oh yes I saw the stars on the site…but they weren’t in yet when I went…shame I will have to go for another visit…
though the saddo that I am I do have a Christmas Ikea Trip every year anyway…
I don’t there is anyone out there who DOESN’T love Ikea! We now have our second, 3x bigger new store here in Melbourne and I believe a new one opened in Sydney this week? Now we have 2 stores to choose from!
I do love going to Ikea, but only on a week day (too busy otherwise). In my opinion, every home has a place for a little bit of Ikea. It might be one or two items, it might be a whole room’s worth, but the stuff there has in my view been good quality, stylish and long lasting. No need for any Ikea-snobbery! And you are right, the meatballs are great
We may not have Walmart in France but we DO have IKEA! And yes, Sarah, it is pretty weird to step inside the IKEA in Bordeaux and discover that it is exactly the same layout as the one in Wednesbury!! Fabbo!! I buy the same white tableware, I love it. x
I do so wish I still lived the 20minutes away from IKEA than the 3 hr + drive I now have, but then again I wouldn’t want to swap my beautiful town for the city again either! Love those little silvery grey bowls!!!
I totally relate to your “moving only the necessary” dilemma. After moving 10-20 times in my lifetime (somewhere along the way I lost count), you learn not to pack and unpack things unless they are truly worthy of the effort.
I actually feel bad for the school mom. The poor woman doesn’t know that expensive brand names do not guarantee good taste. Next time bring her a freshly baked cinnamon bun on an ARV side dish
hahaha great scene. Would you believe I am still to watch that movie? lol. I am seriously loving those plates. I have been looking for some for a while now. Looks like it’s time to bug my husband for another trip! It shouldn’t be too hard… I love ikea I always come out of there so inspired…I’m curious about the Tempe store. Distance wise it is a LOT closer to home but traffic wise it will probably take about the same time to get there…
Love your IKEA haul. Although I had a major meltdown at the opening of the new Springvale store, I still went back due to my <3 for the place.
I usually walk at night with a friend and we have decided to go to IKEA once a month and do our walk there. Window shopping/workout…we might just start a trend.
have a great weekend.
x Marnie
Another IKEA lover here
Love your reaction to that lady (even if it’s not spoken out loud), indeed, her loss!
And great advice on the baked cinnamon bun… those are delicious! After just have one for breakfast at IKEA, my friend bought me two bags to enjoy with my family…. they hardly touched the plate after being baked, so fast they were gone. Those are SO good!
Love your IKEA finds! IKEA has been a good friend to me since I first went away to school about 20 years ago – I honestly don’t know what I would have done without it! And with our recent relo to Dubai, imagine my delight to discover an IKEA here to help us fill in with all the bits and bobs that we needed to settle in just as you did in Australia. The food’s a little different but they do still have meatballs!
Really? There are people who don’t love ikea? Wow.
I’m not a huge fan of ye olde flatpack furniture, but the homewares etc are usually great and cheap!
Love the IKEA tale. Snobbery is out of place in a world where people die from lack of food. I say if you like a style and you aren’t really tough on things it doesn’t matter if you get your bits from the reject shop. It’s how you look after them that counts. Personally, I favour the curbside boutique but then I obviously have high standards! Cherrie
I wish we had an Ikea in our town. I have to drive 2.5 hours to get to one. Where did you get your oar? I would LOVE one, but, even though I live in a coastal town, haven’t seen one for sale.
this entire post is so familiar to me, my heart actually jumped…
I know it’s not a sad post by any means- but the feelings you had in IKEA- exactly like home but 15,000 miles away from your Kent IKEA- and how that feeling of loss and just a *strangeness* about it all, this new life you’d embarked upon, swept over you…I’ve had that big time, but in reverse.
I’ve met the village ladies that would never shop there- I’ve thought as I picked up my kids, as you say:”Big Mistake Lady!”.
And I’ve also like you, make a life of wonderful memories aside from these moments.
We’re anticipating a move home very soon, and we’ve literally just said goodbye 10 minutes ago, to the *Moving Company* who have come to give up a quote on what we want to bring home to Oz….in the back of my mind I have to admit- I did think- when we arrive in Sydney I will need a trip to IKEA for the white plates I am leaving behind here.
Thanks for sharing moments of your *beginning* in Australia…this one was particularly close to home…
Oh I hate snobbery, I see it every day in my business. Let me say, when I discovered IKEA, and I’ve said this before, I wanted to work for them, but the drive /commute was a bit too far.
I love them, always have since wayyyyyyyyyy back when. I have one of the first sisal rugs they carried, it’s in wonderful condition, and people ask me all the time where I got it. They sell for hundreds now, but I paid around 24 bucks.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane, Julia was awesome in that movie, a great scene!
I’m heading out next week for my annual Christmas shop at Ikea. I’m practically vibrating in my boots Your post is just feeding the fire. Love it! (And now I must add those glasses to the list). ❈
What would we do without IKEA!! I’m about a 20 minute drive from one since my recent move and I may have to go there today to stock up on those red glasses. One of my daughters lives walking distance from one and when I visit we walk over for a good (cheap) breakfast. And to eye all the lovely things.
Thanks for the heads up on the Christmas goodies ~
Mary
That is too funny!! Well at least that encountered saved you from wasting your time getting to know her! Huge on ego, low on class! I was loving Ikea when I was first married 17 years ago and 3 kids later I still love Ikea! There are several around the 2 hour radius that I live and I always get a kick out of how they are all the same. Have gotten some great steals in the AS IS section too!! lol
Tempe is fab Sarah – a friend and I braved it on the opening day and it was hysterical – tv cameras everywhere so thank god we were in disguise! Crocket stars are in there – bought a few packs and they are so divine – will have to go back for more. Extra weird bonus is it’s so close to the airport that you constantly see planes landing – and you feel you can touch them as they are sooooooo close – the place is going to be over-run by anorak wearing plane spotters! And me!!!!!!
Love those Christmassy glasses and bottle. Adorable!
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t shop at IKEA at some time or another. That tennis mother is crazy! I just don’t understand people like that…
I have two IKEA mirrors currently propped up against my bedroom wall. We’re renovating our bathroom and I need to pick one. I have the smaller version of the Hemnes mirror you had on your blog the other week as well as a silver leaf-esque (I’m making up words now) round mirror (the Songe, I think it’s called). Time is ticking and I cannot decide!
Have you been to the new one yet at Tempe Sarah? I think I might make a trip out there in the next couple of weeks when the crowds have gone. I love Ikea its such an inexpensive way to update a room, I am going to update the boys room to something a bit older and modern – can’t wait to get to Ikea and get started!
I just bought those christmas-y glasses the other week when i was in Ikea here in ny. they’re not exactly my taste either but they were on sale and i thought they were cute and i couldn’t help but buy a few. i plan to fill them with chocolates, wrap them in cellophane and give them to a few coworkers as holiday presents. i also love the white and grey bowls and bought a tray with a similar (maybe the same) pattern.
I really could relate when you were talking about the familiarity of the Ikea store…. I moved from Sydney to Queensland (nowhere near as dramatic as your move I know) but I was missing family and friends, and feeling a little down. I walked into Target and didn’t immediately realise it was so familiar, I just sort of fell into it. I wandered around, got my shopping, walked outside…. realised I was in Queensland and not my familiar home town… and promptly burst into tears! Sounds crazy I know, but I had unwittingly been comforted by something familiar (in a place where nothing was familiar), it was a shock! In any case, 11 years later, you couldn’t pay me enough to leave here – I love it!
Hi
Love your IKEA finds.
I emigrated to NZ from the UK 5 years ago, so I have major IKEA withdrawal! I managed to go back to the UK this year for a holiday and I had to visit IKEA while I was there to get a fix. The funny thing was I was going around the store picking things up and seeing how heavy they were and if they would fit in the suitcase! When I got back home my husband just looked in disbelief, what made you bring back napkins and tealight holders?????You can get them here! He had no idea. Haha
First time I have commented and I love your blog, read it everyday. Thanks for the IKEA fix!
I honestly find it hard to remember life before IKEA – every single room in my house has something from there in it! We’ve had some laughs over some of the item names and made some of our own up!! Better not mention them here!!……
I didn’t particularly like the actual shopping in IKEA – I find it overwhelming and crowded, but that’s not to say I don’t do it – my sectional is an Ektorp; the bookcases in my husband’s office are Hemmes; the easy chair in my stitching room is Ektorp, too.
\
When I lived in Australia, my couch was also from IKEA.
I think the Ektorp line is pretty much the same as anything you find at Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrel, at about 1/2 the price.
I went just last week, it is hours of driving each way but my girlfriend & I made a whole day of it
I got some new Christmas decorations that my young twins cannot wreck…. It will be so nice to decorate our tree & not be stressing about them touching it.
I got a whole truckload of the small 365 bowls, charcoal, ice blue & neutral. So handy.
G'day! I'm Sarah, I live in a tatty old cottage, near the sea in Australia with a battered old deck & a big old fig tree out the back...stripped wooden floors, old sash windows & a jumble of vintage furniture. [Read More …]
Beach Cottage ladies, we have some vintage linen and some wood/twig washed up on the beach today here in Beach Cottage Land….don’t say I don’t keep you entertained now will you . Come on in. So, yep I have posted about colanders on this blog, about things sourced from the side of the road, about [...]
G'day ladies, let's have a Too Easy Beach Cottage recipe yeah? The original place for Too Easy Recipes on the web ;-)
So, after my last salad went down a storm in my inbox, that's here if you missed it, I had to do this one seeing as I make it most weeks.
There is a problem with this salad and kiddos though...it looks, well, it looks, kinda yucky...but once they try it, they'll ask if and when they are next having it....at least that's what happens in this ratty old cottage...but I must interject here that my kiddos are 'good eaters'? ...they didn't get a choice in that ;-)
Now, stop, don't start running and hitting that next on your blog reading list, pulses are your best friend in the Too Easy Dump & Go kitchen for the busy mum, or busy anyone for that matter...that reminds me I must blog the garlic canneloni Go To for when you forgot to do dinner, feel like a bath but have three ravenous young Beach Cottage Kiddos on your hands...another day.
I am almost embarrassed to tell you how easy this is, we have it so much that I always have a couple, make that six, cans of lentils around and a jar of goat's cheese in the fridge...the great thing about this is that it's all too easy to get ready in just a few minutes, but it looks, tastes and seems like you did oh so very much more than that.
You can obviously too change it up a bit depending on what you have to hand in your kitchen, and I must say that is how I settled on this version...because one day when I made it I didn't have enough Parsley in the garden and so I chucked in some basil too, and liked the Summer feel it added.
I think of this as being a rather posh salad, not sure why, because it couldn't really be further from the truth...the great thing is that it works so well for an average run of the mill day, (when I did this for this blog post, it was a hot Sydney Sunday and I did it just simply to go with Rosemary & Garlic stuffed pork, you can see that pork here),
...but just as easily it works on a regular old Wednesday night when you have lost all enthusiasm for rustling up yet another meal, or indeed on Saturday night, when your friends are on their way over for dinner and you my friend, are in your new vintage inspired clawfoot bathtub (that's me in a few weeks time, k?) without any clothes on, a tipple and no idea what to cook for dinner...
I have a complicated and ever-changing relationship with goat's cheese...it never fails me in its performance and it never fails to impress me (you can find out a bit more on what I like in food here if you like) and I kinda collect it...because it's very easy to collect and has a fairly long fridge-life, I love trying out different ones and there's not many things I love more than goat's cheese on sourdough...but I think the best thing about it is not thinking about it exclusively in the toast/salad department...I've stuffed it in chicken and all sorts of things as a last minute and it's been fab.
But let's get down to the nitty gritty of this super salad that makes you look like an angel who has been on her knees all day scrubbing the front step when really you are in the digital world and spent most of ...
G'day Beach Cottage ladies, howdy, howdy howdy today for a Beach Cottage Too Easy recipe.
If you like cake, cream, sugar and chocolate, make this.
This is, rather than a recipe, a putting it together...as you know I am no dessert maker, but, I do make quite a few sweet things, because, somehow I have ended up with kiddos, who in their roles as offspring, believe that part of the deal, is that not only do I feed them a home-cooked meal with a few homegrown ingredients in there, yes, they also believe that dessert and not the kind that comes out of a packet is included too in this All-Inclusive Deal they call Parenthood.
So, this, for sure, is no culinary masterpiece, but if you are looking for something that is so very easy, dump-able, uses everyday ingredients and at the same time makes you look like you spent hours pulling things together plus tastes good....well, then this is for you.
Best though, you don't make this for yourself, if you have spent the most part of your week sitting on your derriere reading blogs...this my friend ain't low in the calories department...if, however, you are treating yourself to a delight in a mason jar, this is so for you.
I first had a version of this when at dinner back in Old Blighty with a girl, I once, in another life, caught the train up from our village to London with...she was a funny thing really...I am not quite sure how we got on...she was kinda prissy and a bit bothered by too much...I would run to the train flustered, having got up late, and she would have a spreadsheet on the train times, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, a few years later when we both had bambinos, I bumped into her again and we met up for playdates and dinner sometimes....this particular night, after a lovely meal she served up little bowls of creamy, cakey fruity stuff topped off with chocolate flake...it was delicious!
She didn't serve hers in little jars like this, hers were in a champagne glass and not quite so layered as these ones, plus she used tinned fruit not fresh or frozen.
Years later when said offspring kept requesting dessert, one day I wangled together somehow these from what was around in the fridge and they've been with us ever since.
Most likely, if you ever come here for dinner, and shock horror, you dont' bring the dessert with you, this, if you are lucky, will be what you will get.
Throw it all together, sprinkle a lil bit of chocolate on the top and the blog reading past-time you so rudely left in order to make this, is my friend, your oyster.
Beach Cottage Too Easy Layered Raspberry, Cream & Sponge Dessert
1 small maderia or butter cake or a pack of cupcakes (or of course make your own)
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
8 tbsp fruit
1 x chocolate Flake or chocolate bar for grating
1. beat the cream cheese until it is soft
2. whip the cream until soft peaks form
3. combine & add the sugar through
4. cut your cake into portions
& layer into the bottom of your jar
5. add a tablespoon of fruit
6. layer on top the cream combo
7. repeat
8. grate chocolate or Flake on top
*Beach Cottage Recipe Notes : this is just a guide really, you can use any cream that you have on hand...I have made this with clotted cream (don't even go there unless you want to seriously get these babies on your thighs), with double cream and I have even, in desperate times squirted in that, ...
G'day Beach Cottage ladies, well I thought it was time for some blogging tips here today, alongside a few nice flowers and shells ;-)
I was recently part of a blogger discussion group over at Kidspot and a couple of hours later had a few questions from girls who couldn't make it to the live chat, one was on my Facebook page and one via email, the Facebook one I will deal with in another Real Girl Blogging Tips post...the email one asked me what essentials do I think every blog needs?
Well I have been around here for a while now doing the blogging thing, so I should know this, yeah and I mused this on my walk by the sea this morning I thought well what do you only need?
...I think it is really very easy when blogging, whether or not you are blogging up there in the lofty heights of the Super Bloggers or you are just dipping your toe in the water, to get side-tracked by 101 million different things that are 'essential' to your blog and if you are someone like me who actually gets a thrill from reading blogging tips then you are in an even worse place because you will find yourself literally buzzing with these essential things to add/do/implement on your blog.
However, walking along, gulping down that brisk sea air today (no sunshine & clouds) I thought you actually don't need any of that professional blogging stuff to be successful...but there are a few things that are pretty much crucial ...and once I started to think about it I got it down to about 5 - these are the only things that you need to concentrate on...once you have read through take a look at some of the big girl's blogs...you'll see that actually they don't have bundles of stuff on their blogs...but they do have all of these...
So here are my top things that your blog must have
1. About Page
There are all sorts of About Pages out there, and if you search on it there are many different tips and ideas for what to have on yours
Whatever blogging platform you use, adding an About Me Page is easy, quick and simple and will do everything to grow your blog.
I like a long-ish About Page, I am inherently nosy and I like to know a bit more about the person but at the least you should have on it your name and where you are located. I also think a photo is good too...over the last year or so I think this has become more important in blogging - if you are hesitant about that as I was, you can try using sunglasses or a behind shot until you get comfortable.
There is nothing worse than stumbling upon a new blog and going to find out more to only be faced with a piddly little one liner About Me Page...well there is something worse, not having one at all!
2. Contact Page
The chances are someone, somewhere will want to contact you and you will be surprised what lands in your inbox once you put yourself out there on the world wide web with a blog.
Many bloggers also use this page to include details for PR's/brands that may want to contact them and some bloggers put their stats on there too.
A short, to the point and simple Contact Page works really well...whenever I have wanted to contact another blogger I am often very busy and have limited time so I don't want to hang around sifting through information looking for an email address, so concise and clear ...
G'day lovely Beach Cottage lovelies.
So, yeah, so on a roll people, so on a roll.
I feel kinda home accessory wired right now.
I am always telling people, if anyone ever listens, that blogging is all about passion, not that sort of passion, but about passion that makes one tick.
Things like this make me tick tick boom.
I love finding things that suit my budget and let me treat my home but look amazing too.
So without further adieu I introduce you, ladies of the beach, to the blue vintage glasses that I have been stroking for about a week or two now...
These glasses are from a little boutique I sometimes happen upon, this boutique sells also pet accessories, carpet cleaner, bras and compost...it's quite unique though.
And, thanks to my friend Marnie (she blogs over here, go take a look at her praying position, interesting), who just so happens to be one day having me over for a lil' Greek dinner, has let me in on the fact that we call Kmart....The KMart...with an accent ....as in 'I love The KMart'...just like her MIL does. Oh yeah. Love that.
So I have had my eye on reproduction vintage glass blue wine glasses and being trying to find real true vintage blue glasses for like ever.
Oh yes I have spied them in Frenchy boutiques, I have lusted after them in stores that I shouldn't even enter and I have put them back pretty quickly in those shops with the hand-written price tags. C'mon, you know the ones.
And, though all of the above have tempted me, muchly, really, even with my wardrobe stashing skills I just thought that, actually, I'd rather be saving that casherooni for our next trip overseas..
Hello The KMart.
Tick Tick Boom
Vintage style blue wine glasses.
Do not come to my old place and think you might pick up one of these and smile with pleasure at their handblown quality, their weight, and be secretly jealous that my wine glasses cost more than your car...friend, that would not happen...these do not feel like that...indeed these in a funny way reminded me of my baby girl, she was a tiny little thing, with stick legs, the tinsssssssiest ankles and wrists you ever did see, she slept sideways in her cot wedged in between rolled up blankets and would only settle attached to Mr Beach Cottage or I or a (dirty) pj top of mine scrunched up under her nose...the first few times I picked her up to cuddle, being used to Honeymoon Baby who weighed in at 9lbs at birth and has never really stopped growing, I nearly threw her little bird-cum-rat down covered body over my shoulder.
These glasses are like that...be careful or you might lose your wine down the front of your shirt.
But oh baby, we are not talking picking up here, we are not talking quality, we are not talking house accessory snobbery.
Beach Cottage ladies, we are talking aesthetics.
And this is what I need in my cottage.
Blue vintage style glass, paired with coastal / nautical / beach stuff on my deck.
It's The KMart.
Tune in tomorrow, tomorrow, I have more budget foofing for your home, or maybe it will be the dress that wraps me up in supermarket-chic and makes me feel like me again.
Good Day to you my friends, wanna come hang out on my deck, talk house accessories, The KMart and drink some wine from blue glasses?
Sarah
That is one of my ALL TIME favourite movie scenes! LOL Thanks for sharing it. Love the glasses but the little bowls are ADORABLE!!! I also spent a small fortune at Ikea when we moved…love the place!! **HIGH FIVE**
I am happy I stumbled onto your blog Sarah
I love it all and the fact that what you do for your beautiful home is easy and inexpensive.
One little question…where did you find the lovely big hooks you have attached to the oar? I have been looking for some like that for a while but they’re never quite right.
Enjoy your weekend at the beach.
New follower, Kate
G’day new follower Kate
well ahem, guess where I found ‘em???
IKEA
lol
welcome
Sarah
xo
I knew it
Im going to find some if it kills me.
I LOVE IKEA.
Out and proud IKEA fan here too
I recently went to an IKEA on Hong Kong Island. Was quite small but lots of ex pats shopping for their every day goodies. I nearly hyperventilated trying to figure out how to get all the things that were so much cheaper than here (and that’s cheap) into my luggage!
Love the Ikea love, Sarah.
Practically my whole house is decked out in Ikea. Almost all white. Love Hemnes too! Oh, and Ektorp. But you know, nobody really notices it’s all from Ikea. I think it’s the way you put it together with a bit of vintage and op shop… but you know that!
And when it gets scratched or my 2 year-old breaks it, it’s not the end of the world. In fact, often I don’t care. It’s very freeing and liberating to create a beautiful home that makes you feel relaxed and puts a smile on your face everyday but in the end is just stuff… you own it, not the other way around. I guess Ikea just gives me that feeling and freedom.
Enough rambling, did you see those crochet chrissy stars? I bought a couple of packs, love em!
x
yes you are right Carli…it’s they way you put it together
gotta say a lot of the furniture is not so good, though my dining table is going strong..and there have been a lot of crafts, homework, cups of tea and tablescaping going on there lol
oh yes I saw the stars on the site…but they weren’t in yet when I went…shame I will have to go for another visit…
though the saddo that I am I do have a Christmas Ikea Trip every year anyway…
xo
Shame about the stars… but always good to have an excuse to go back. x
I don’t there is anyone out there who DOESN’T love Ikea! We now have our second, 3x bigger new store here in Melbourne and I believe a new one opened in Sydney this week? Now we have 2 stores to choose from!
yeah we have a new one here too…I will be going just to check out it’s ok soon haha
I do love going to Ikea, but only on a week day (too busy otherwise). In my opinion, every home has a place for a little bit of Ikea. It might be one or two items, it might be a whole room’s worth, but the stuff there has in my view been good quality, stylish and long lasting. No need for any Ikea-snobbery! And you are right, the meatballs are great
Amy, I don’t step foot near there at the weekend!
x
I love, love, love the lil white dishes with the silver on them!!!
We may not have Walmart in France but we DO have IKEA! And yes, Sarah, it is pretty weird to step inside the IKEA in Bordeaux and discover that it is exactly the same layout as the one in Wednesbury!! Fabbo!! I buy the same white tableware, I love it. x
yeah we don’t have Walmart either in Australia…and the shopping (sorry Aussies, you know I LOVE Australia with all my heart) is pretty grim…
x
I’m coming with you to Tempe! I’m dying to do the trip.
haha me too!
x
Might do it this Wednesday. No work on. <3
I do so wish I still lived the 20minutes away from IKEA than the 3 hr + drive I now have, but then again I wouldn’t want to swap my beautiful town for the city again either! Love those little silvery grey bowls!!!
All our day-to-day china is IKEA – I love it, simple, well shaped and no worries if the littles chip it. Perfect.
People do say the silliest things. Have no time for snobbery.
Bxx
Hi Sarah,
I totally relate to your “moving only the necessary” dilemma. After moving 10-20 times in my lifetime (somewhere along the way I lost count), you learn not to pack and unpack things unless they are truly worthy of the effort.
I actually feel bad for the school mom. The poor woman doesn’t know that expensive brand names do not guarantee good taste. Next time bring her a freshly baked cinnamon bun on an ARV side dish
haha Sandy, you are so funny…. I love it x
hahaha great scene. Would you believe I am still to watch that movie? lol. I am seriously loving those plates. I have been looking for some for a while now. Looks like it’s time to bug my husband for another trip! It shouldn’t be too hard… I love ikea I always come out of there so inspired…I’m curious about the Tempe store. Distance wise it is a LOT closer to home but traffic wise it will probably take about the same time to get there…
Love your IKEA haul. Although I had a major meltdown at the opening of the new Springvale store, I still went back due to my <3 for the place.
I usually walk at night with a friend and we have decided to go to IKEA once a month and do our walk there. Window shopping/workout…we might just start a trend.
have a great weekend.
x Marnie
Another IKEA lover here
Love your reaction to that lady (even if it’s not spoken out loud), indeed, her loss!
And great advice on the baked cinnamon bun… those are delicious! After just have one for breakfast at IKEA, my friend bought me two bags to enjoy with my family…. they hardly touched the plate after being baked, so fast they were gone. Those are SO good!
Love your IKEA finds! IKEA has been a good friend to me since I first went away to school about 20 years ago – I honestly don’t know what I would have done without it! And with our recent relo to Dubai, imagine my delight to discover an IKEA here to help us fill in with all the bits and bobs that we needed to settle in just as you did in Australia. The food’s a little different but they do still have meatballs!
I bet there isn’t any pork in those meatballs!!
Really? There are people who don’t love ikea? Wow.
I’m not a huge fan of ye olde flatpack furniture, but the homewares etc are usually great and cheap!
Love the IKEA tale. Snobbery is out of place in a world where people die from lack of food. I say if you like a style and you aren’t really tough on things it doesn’t matter if you get your bits from the reject shop. It’s how you look after them that counts. Personally, I favour the curbside boutique but then I obviously have high standards! Cherrie
oh you go to the curbside boutique too??
kudos
xo
Vintage & Ikea…it’s how you mix it up. Love the bowls and, well, everything else, too!!
I love Ikea! So many great finds there
I wish we had an Ikea in our town. I have to drive 2.5 hours to get to one. Where did you get your oar? I would LOVE one, but, even though I live in a coastal town, haven’t seen one for sale.
Sarah-
this entire post is so familiar to me, my heart actually jumped…
I know it’s not a sad post by any means- but the feelings you had in IKEA- exactly like home but 15,000 miles away from your Kent IKEA- and how that feeling of loss and just a *strangeness* about it all, this new life you’d embarked upon, swept over you…I’ve had that big time, but in reverse.
I’ve met the village ladies that would never shop there- I’ve thought as I picked up my kids, as you say:”Big Mistake Lady!”.
And I’ve also like you, make a life of wonderful memories aside from these moments.
We’re anticipating a move home very soon, and we’ve literally just said goodbye 10 minutes ago, to the *Moving Company* who have come to give up a quote on what we want to bring home to Oz….in the back of my mind I have to admit- I did think- when we arrive in Sydney I will need a trip to IKEA for the white plates I am leaving behind here.
Thanks for sharing moments of your *beginning* in Australia…this one was particularly close to home…
Oh the emotions of a move across the world!
Melissa
xx
Oh I hate snobbery, I see it every day in my business. Let me say, when I discovered IKEA, and I’ve said this before, I wanted to work for them, but the drive /commute was a bit too far.
I love them, always have since wayyyyyyyyyy back when. I have one of the first sisal rugs they carried, it’s in wonderful condition, and people ask me all the time where I got it. They sell for hundreds now, but I paid around 24 bucks.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane, Julia was awesome in that movie, a great scene!
I’d love to work for them too…doing some tablescapes haha
sorry you have to deal with that cr*pola everyday Tami!
x
I’m heading out next week for my annual Christmas shop at Ikea. I’m practically vibrating in my boots
Your post is just feeding the fire. Love it! (And now I must add those glasses to the list). ❈
oh yeah you will love ‘em! x
What would we do without IKEA!! I’m about a 20 minute drive from one since my recent move and I may have to go there today to stock up on those red glasses. One of my daughters lives walking distance from one and when I visit we walk over for a good (cheap) breakfast. And to eye all the lovely things.
Thanks for the heads up on the Christmas goodies ~
Mary
That is too funny!! Well at least that encountered saved you from wasting your time getting to know her! Huge on ego, low on class! I was loving Ikea when I was first married 17 years ago and 3 kids later I still love Ikea! There are several around the 2 hour radius that I live and I always get a kick out of how they are all the same. Have gotten some great steals in the AS IS section too!! lol
me too x
Tempe is fab Sarah – a friend and I braved it on the opening day and it was hysterical – tv cameras everywhere so thank god we were in disguise! Crocket stars are in there – bought a few packs and they are so divine – will have to go back for more. Extra weird bonus is it’s so close to the airport that you constantly see planes landing – and you feel you can touch them as they are sooooooo close – the place is going to be over-run by anorak wearing plane spotters! And me!!!!!!
hmmm Jos, I am looking forward to Ikea with planes lol!
x
Love those Christmassy glasses and bottle. Adorable!
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t shop at IKEA at some time or another. That tennis mother is crazy! I just don’t understand people like that…
I have two IKEA mirrors currently propped up against my bedroom wall. We’re renovating our bathroom and I need to pick one. I have the smaller version of the Hemnes mirror you had on your blog the other week as well as a silver leaf-esque (I’m making up words now) round mirror (the Songe, I think it’s called). Time is ticking and I cannot decide!
well Julie, the Hemnes is doing me very well…x
Have you been to the new one yet at Tempe Sarah? I think I might make a trip out there in the next couple of weeks when the crowds have gone. I love Ikea its such an inexpensive way to update a room, I am going to update the boys room to something a bit older and modern – can’t wait to get to Ikea and get started!
No I haven’t but I will be going there soon Amanda! might see you there
x
Hi Sarah,
I just bought those christmas-y glasses the other week when i was in Ikea here in ny. they’re not exactly my taste either but they were on sale and i thought they were cute and i couldn’t help but buy a few. i plan to fill them with chocolates, wrap them in cellophane and give them to a few coworkers as holiday presents. i also love the white and grey bowls and bought a tray with a similar (maybe the same) pattern.
julie
oooh, that’s a nice idea!
thanks Julie x
I really could relate when you were talking about the familiarity of the Ikea store…. I moved from Sydney to Queensland (nowhere near as dramatic as your move I know) but I was missing family and friends, and feeling a little down. I walked into Target and didn’t immediately realise it was so familiar, I just sort of fell into it. I wandered around, got my shopping, walked outside…. realised I was in Queensland and not my familiar home town… and promptly burst into tears! Sounds crazy I know, but I had unwittingly been comforted by something familiar (in a place where nothing was familiar), it was a shock! In any case, 11 years later, you couldn’t pay me enough to leave here – I love it!
I hear you Kristin!
Hi
Love your IKEA finds.
I emigrated to NZ from the UK 5 years ago, so I have major IKEA withdrawal! I managed to go back to the UK this year for a holiday and I had to visit IKEA while I was there to get a fix. The funny thing was I was going around the store picking things up and seeing how heavy they were and if they would fit in the suitcase! When I got back home my husband just looked in disbelief, what made you bring back napkins and tealight holders?????You can get them here! He had no idea. Haha
First time I have commented and I love your blog, read it everyday. Thanks for the IKEA fix!
Welcome Jo, thanks for commenting
I think you need an IKEA too over there!
x
I honestly find it hard to remember life before IKEA – every single room in my house has something from there in it! We’ve had some laughs over some of the item names and made some of our own up!! Better not mention them here!!……
I didn’t particularly like the actual shopping in IKEA – I find it overwhelming and crowded, but that’s not to say I don’t do it – my sectional is an Ektorp; the bookcases in my husband’s office are Hemmes; the easy chair in my stitching room is Ektorp, too.
\
When I lived in Australia, my couch was also from IKEA.
I think the Ektorp line is pretty much the same as anything you find at Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrel, at about 1/2 the price.
I went just last week, it is hours of driving each way but my girlfriend & I made a whole day of it
I got some new Christmas decorations that my young twins cannot wreck…. It will be so nice to decorate our tree & not be stressing about them touching it.
I got a whole truckload of the small 365 bowls, charcoal, ice blue & neutral. So handy.
Xxxx
Lovely ikea finds… I love those glasses and the bottle… Lovely photographs too.. !!
Now I definitely have to plan a trip to Ikea and get some of those goodies for myself!