I love IKEA. I’m not ashamed to admit it either. I love walking round seeing how they put rooms together and wondering if I could cram all my junk in their furniture. I especially LOVE the marketplace. There is soooo much stuff you don’t need but of course you have to have. A white sheepskin rug? Totally need one of them. A child and dogs do not make a white rug a bad idea. 17 different tiny photo frames I have no pictures small enough for? Yep chuck em in the trolley.
Our nearest IKEA is over 3 hours away. I hate this but my bank account is eternally grateful. I spend an absurd amount of time and money when I go to an IKEA. Typically I travel specifically to Glasgow just to go. Or on my yearly pilgrimage to see extended family down south me and my mum will stop in Birmingham. It breaks up the journey you know. That’s the only reason we stop there. And yes my mum and I are each others enablers. So while I wait for my yearly trip I browse the website. I remember when they didn’t have any of their products online. Those dark dark days are thankfully over and I can make up shopping lists to my hearts content.
Anyway the point of my post....
I’ve seen a lot recently on pinterest and over the general old internet that people are becoming obsessed with “IKEA hacking”. Some crafty people claim to dislike IKEA unless they can use their products and change them quite dramatically. Adding crown moulding, painting and adding or taking away original accessories.
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| I love me some smash... |
Personally I have no problem with changing furniture if you want. Some IKEA hacks really do make it better! However when it comes to IKEA I have to say I like what they do! I like the clean lines and the amazing amount of storage. I like being able to buy a box that fits a shelf perfectly without having to measure and go to a million different shops. Sure I’d sometimes change the box a bit but the convenience for me outweighs that.
A few months ago my little family, and my mum and dad, had to go to Glasgow for a few days. Now ordinarily IKEA would have popped into my head right away and I’d have made a list there and then. This wasn’t a regular fun trip though and so I didn’t. Till my mum said her and my dad might just swing in by as a nice thing to do at the end of a few not so nice days. I wouldn’t be able to go but I could provide her with a little list and she’d buy me some stuff... I’ve detailed my little list below.........
Expedit bookshelf (8 cubby holes)
Expedit bookshelf (5 cubby holes)
Plastic expedit boxes x 3
Fabric expedit boxes x 8
Expedit drawer insert
That’s my little list. Trust me that’s the paired down version of my original list! When I’m stressed making fictional “what would I buy” list makes me feel better. On this occasion I wasn’t sure I’d get everything on my list but my mum and dad came through! They very generously bought almost everything on my list. I did only get one fabric box as they didn’t have the colour I wanted and I picked a back up colour which distracted my mum so she never saw the x8 part! Which of course meant we had to stop at IKEA on the family trip in November. Such a shame. :-) As a side not I still didn’t get the ones I wanted. Is pink really a popular colour??
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| I had to include my lego pen holder. We're a lego family |
I never did a single bit of hacking. I built all the pieces and put them together as directed. I did all this during one nap time. One nap time on my husbands day off. My husband who also napped and then asked, as I turned the last screw, “do you want a hand?”. Men. But I now get the added smugness of having built my own furniture for my very own side of the parent cave! My craft corner is built!! Yay!!! Maybe I’ll actually do some crafting now. Fingers crossed!
I’ve included some pictures of the finished build. I have yet to put all my crafting supplies in. Who are we kidding, my garage is full of supplies. The joys of having closed down my shop does mean I have a lot of personal craft supplies. Hopefully I’ll have some better pictures when I’ve added more supplies and tidied up a bit. Not to mention the rest of the room needs a lot of work. Actually the whole house does. Well I only have 2 hands and a boy who’s just turned 1 who’s taking all of my attention just now!
So who else loves IKEA products? Do you like to “hack” them? Or love them as they are like me?
