How to Blend IKEA's Bargains into Your Decor

Do you shop at IKEA?  Or do you avoid it, thinking it is really only suited to those in their 20's-30's who are setting up their first apartments and homes?  While it's true that IKEA's products aren't necessarily constructed to pass down through the generations, they can serve a useful purpose.  The clean, simple lines of their Scandinavian designs and extreme affordability lend themselves well to many applications.   

This inspiration board I put together shows examples of furnishings and decor that would blend seamlessly into mid-century, traditional, eclectic, and even ornately-designed spaces.  In fact, many rooms benefit from a place to rest your eyes - something that is subdued, yet functional, such as the modern gray sofa. 

All of the furnishings above are sold either through IKEA or Chairish.  Can you tell which pieces came from which site?  The solid pillow and sofa are IKEA, but you might be surprised to learn that the floor lamp, storage unit, and the animal hide are also their products.  I've intentionally combined mid-century, modern, and traditional styles to show how appealing they can be together.

This particular area of our living room shows how I placed an inexpensive (and very comfortable!) IKEA Poang chair and ottoman next to a family heirloom glass-front cabinet and side table.  Also, notice the curved black mantel clock atop the cabinet...yes, it's IKEA, purchased way back in the mid-80's!  It is battery-operated and still works perfectly...and its design is timeless.

The striped throw and feather pillow with velvet cover are IKEA pieces, as well.  I picked these up for a great price and just love how they add new, dimensional pattern and color to the rooms.

In our living room/dining room spaces, I've combined antique with new, straight lines with ornamentation, and inexpensive with precious.  Chippendale armchairs and flouncy architectural salvage coexist with modern stone tables and linear seating. You can see how the mix of styles and shapes keeps things from being overly predictable and stiff. 

This past weekend, I took a really fun roadtrip to Kansas City with four girlfriends.  We spent the day chatting, laughing, eating, and shopping.  IKEA was one of the stops on our Girls' Day Out, which inspired this post.  I hope it gives you some ideas for using simple, budget-friendly pieces within your home's decor.

Until next time,
Julie



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...and I Want It Painted Black

I titled this post in an attempt to conjure a melody in your head right now ;) Are you silently singing "I see a red door and I want it painted black" from the Rolling Stones? That tune often goes through my mind as I am slathering bold black paint onto a table, a handrail, or in this case, the cabinet in our first floor powder room. This is the first step in the mini makeover I'm working on in this room.

Here in the Midwest, people LOVE their oak woodwork. And particularly in the decade that our home was built (the 90's), oak was unquestionably the go-to choice for cabinets, trim, and doors in new construction and remodeling in Nebraska. Oak is a hard wood that takes stain well, but personally, I am not a huge fan of the look of so much wood grain. In fact, if I was more ambitious or had an unlimited budget, I'd either paint all of the woodwork in our house or hire someone else to do it. Truth be told, though, I am too lazy for that project, and I'd rather spend some of my moola on travel and other fun!

But in manageable doses, I can talk myself into the work required to paint wood. I had originally planned to paint this cabinet ivory, to match our interior doors and the kitchen cabinets in the next room (where the countertop is the same as this one.) Our kitchen lacks natural light, so the ivory cabinets really help to brighten the space in there. By the way, we hired a professional to paint those cabinets eight years ago when our daughter graduated from high school. I certainly didn't take that project on by myself! But after thinking about using the same paint color in this bathroom, the white fixtures next to an ivory cabinet just didn't sit right with me. I decided that black would give weight to this cabinet and add distinction. So, after a little eye-rolling from the hubby, haha, I bought a quart of black paint and set to work.

My intention was to use self-leveling latex cabinet, door, and trim paint. But the salesperson at Sherwin Williams told me he couldn't do black in a latex cabinet paint unless I wanted to purchase a whole gallon...I was a little disgruntled, let me tell you. Then he convinced me that an oil-based enamel would do a beautiful job on this cabinet, and that I wouldn't need to prime it first. Who knows for sure if he gave me the best advice, but that is what I ended up with. The paint is smelly and harder to clean up, but I do think it will hold up to wear and tear really well.

These photos show the job in progress, with two of three coats completed. Thankfully, it's a small cabinet and hasn't taken too terribly long to do. I think the key is using multiple, light coats to avoid runs and drips. The countertop color is slightly more black in person than it appears in the photos. I'm definitely happy with the decision to eliminate a little more of the stained wood in our interiors.

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Next up in the mini makeover is new paint on the walls. Maybe you noticed a few paint chips leaning atop the backsplash in that first photo...not much of a surprise that I'm planning on using a shade of green, right? (My husband always tells me that the square footage of our house is decreasing with all of the layers of paint I keep adding. Can I help it that I have an actively creative mind? Haha.) There is also some new art and a little embellishing of the existing mirror in the plans. Stay tuned for a reveal as soon as the "fluffing" is complete!

Thanks for stopping by, Friends.
Julie


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July Meditations

Whenever you are creating beauty around you,

you are restoring your own soul.

-Alice Walker

You are responsible for the talent

that has been entrusted to you.

No great thing is created suddenly.

-Epictetus

To live a creative life, we must lose 

our fear of being wrong.

-Joseph Chilton Pearce

Once in a while, blow your own damn mind.

The only way to do great work

is to love what you do.

-Steve Jobs

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Summer in the Living Room

Isn't it funny how you can see a space every single day but not really see it?  Lately, I've been looking at our living room and dining room space and realizing how "flat" and uninteresting is seems to me.  I'm not sure if I've just grown tired of its monochromatic color scheme, or if it was actually boring all along and I simply didn't realize it.  I think sometimes we can have tunnel vision about how we see our rooms and what we think they need (or at least I know I can.)

So, I've been trying to gradually interject bits of color and texture to liven up these rooms.  Eventually, I'd love to wallpaper the long wall that connects the two spaces to add some much-needed interest and to contrast the wall from the sectional.  But, until then, the interest has to come from accessories and flowers.

The accent color I have had in here for a long time is a leafy warm green (no surprise, right?) and I still really like it.  But recently I've been using teal as a second accent, because it adds another dimension in color but still keeps the scheme relatively serene.  You may have seen my small teal accent wall here (and a reminder photo below) which is actually fairly dramatic in this mostly-sand-colored room!   As more teal is added to the area, that bold wall will be better balanced.

I bought this new lamp with its hint of cool color.  Then, I took it a step further and decided to paint the table that it sits on.  This table was a hand-me-down from my in-laws' home but wasn't in the best shape.  The top was pretty scratched up, so Mr. RM didn't hesitate when I asked if he minded my painting it.  (He's come a long way after years of being married to a "designing woman" - from the guy who used to consider it a capital crime to paint wood furniture, to the guy who sometimes even suggests it himself!)

A bowl, purchased at our local university's annual student pottery sale, is a new addition to my coffee table styling and is a great place to corral coasters when not in use. It's a little hard to see in the photo, but the inside of the bowl is a muted teal. Books, my favorite hand sculptures, a metal orb and mosaic tray complete the look. And I found some chippy old corbels at a recent vintage market, which add character. We do watch tv in this room, so the coffee table accessories have to allow for open-sight lines.

I like to keep the vignette atop our heirloom cabinet (another treasure from my hubby's parents' home) very simple so it doesn't visually compete with the "busy" photo display inside. This vase is new - I found it on Etsy. I love its teal and green glaze, which perfectly compliments the new scheme. It will be fun to create modern arrangements in it with stems, flowers, and leaves. There are fresh flowers and eucalyptus in it for this shot, but I'll probably go a little "cleaner" in the future.

If you follow me on Instagram (here) you may have seen the arrangement I threw together for the dining room table (seriously, it's just faux picks and branches "artfully" shoved into an urn.) I like to use branches that spray up and out of an arrangement to make a visual impact and create movement. When arranging flowers, don't be afraid to let wispy branches and stems reach almost to a chandelier or overlap art/mirrors, etc. This helps to create a cohesive grouping and adds drama to a room. Yellow is cheerful and plays well with green and blue, so I veered off of the basic scheme here.

That's it for this mini-tour of my summer living room. Like I said before, I'll continue to look at this space with fresh eyes. The plan going forward is to include more color, texture, and interest, while keeping in mind that it is one of the most-used rooms in the house, by humans and dogs, alike! Stay tuned for more updates in here and for other room tours...

I hope you're enjoying your summer.

Julie



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