An Ikea Friday

Duane, Linda, and I usually hit Ikea about twice a year.  Even though we have one where we live, it's still a long haul going through the store.  (Yes, I know.  Ikea does that on purpose.)  We wanted to go before it got too close to Christmas and, of course, we always go on a week day. 

The was the first time that we have NOT had to put any of the back seat down in order to get our purchases into Mrs. Peel.  This is despite the fact that Duane bought 2 hanging lights along with other items.  She's remodeling her kitchen and these were perfect.

Fisherman's Light.  Duane bought 2.

Mostly, though, all three of us bought small household items.  I needed some wastebaskets for a couple of bedrooms along with some more glass cereal bowls that I've bought before (but managed to break).  Along with dish towels and towel bars, you get a good idea of what we bought.  However, all three of us wanted to check out the Christmas section at Ikea.  They always have cute ornaments and wrapping paper.  We didn't leave that section empty-handed.  I bought a set of adorable burlap snowman ornaments.

I bought a set of these.

 
BUT, my big find of the day wasn't even something I was looking for.  It's not in the catalog and also not on the US Ikea website.  It was this fabulous pillow with a microphone on it.  I bought an insert, too, so it's already in use on the futon in my home office/recording studio.  When I posted this pic on a narrator page I belong to, people loved it.  Several wanted one for themselves and/or gifts so I gave them the name of the product and the product number.  I can already attest that it's very soft for taking a nap after a few hours of editing or recording. 

LOVE my new microphone pillow.

After we left Ikea, we headed to one of our fave lunch places, Nicko's Diner, near where Duane lives.  After a walk through Ikea, we were starved.  Next weekend we'll be hitting the holiday shop small business shop hop in Seminole Heights.  Really looking forward to that!

We fit it all in the boot!  No back seats down.

Trip to Ikea; New audiobook coming out; Family coming to town

Mrs. Peel -- loaded down.

Whenever Duane, Linda, and I decide to make a trip to Ikea we always try to go a on a week day.  We did that last Friday.  We went in the afternoon just after lunch time.  Usually Ikea is pretty empty during the week at that time.  Surprise!  We forgot that the kids are out of school for the summer.  The store was crawling with kids and a lot of them really did not want to be there.  I heard one man telling his young daughter enthusiastically, "People spend all day here!"  Boy, did that poor kid look unimpressed.  Message to ourselves -- summer is not a good time to shop there.  This wasn't just stay at home moms who dragged their poor kids there but couples were there, too.  I don't know if they were just taking the day off or were on vacation.  My sympathies (after the one for ourselves for having to dodge children every way we turned) were with the kids who were forced to go along with their parent or parents.  If they're really young, you can probably entertain them in the kiddy area but the older kids were out of luck.  Anyway, we all got what we planned to buy along with a bit extra and managed to fit all of it into Mrs. Peel.  YES!  She rules.  You can't tell from this pic but there was a Poang chair and cushion, 2 floor lamps, a large rolling clothes rack and too many small items to mention.  We just needed to make sure that there was still room for the three of us to make it back to Duane's house where the goods were divvied up before Linda and I headed to our respective homes. 

I spent the weekend and most of today putting the finishing touches on my next audiobook.  I just sent it off to the publisher.  This is the book I produced from public domain material that I titled Selected Articles on the Life and Career of Harry Gordon Selfridge by various authors.  Here's a peek at the cover.  It should be available on Audible within 2 weeks.  I'll post here when it goes on sale.


The other news is that my youngest sister Heidi and her husband and two daughters will be flying down this Wednesday from Virginia.  Heidi and the girls will be here for a week.  Her husband, Charlie, will be coming down separately for the weekend.  Can't wait to spend time with two of my favorite little people.  I'll be pooped afterwards but it's always worth it.  

More DIY...

I posted a few weeks ago about re-doing the master bedroom closet and replacing the builder 'boob' light in the upstairs hall.  Since then, I've also replaced the 'boob' light in the downstairs hall and we've also started switching out all of our mini-blinds (in almond, what was I thinking?) for 2.5 inch wide white blinds.  Love the way the wide white blinds look.  Since it's so humid where we live, we decided to go with the faux wood plastic ones as opposed to wood ones.  They're also easier on the pocketbook and can be taken down and hosed with water.    Here's a pic of my home office from my desk with the new blinds open.  I'm waiting on short plain white curtains to hang above the curved part of the window.  That's what was up there before (only in cream to match the almond minis).  I know that we could get the 'fan' type of blind for that part of the window but, honestly, it just seems like another dust trap.  BTW, the curtains on this window are the only ones in our entire house.  I'm not a curtain person although I love them in other people's homes.

My treehouse.

My recording closet is on the opposite side of the room from the window which really helps with keeping noise out.  (Well, that and the padding and insulation in the closet.)

Here's a recap of the lights that I put up to replace the builder's boob lights.  First, to refresh your memory, here's what the boob lights looked like:

 Here's the light we replaced it with in the upstairs hallway.  A fisherman's light with a seed glass cover.

Here's the light we bought to replace the one in the downstairs hall.  Love the modern look of this one. 

And here's a fuller view of what the downstairs hallway looks like with the new light (above) replacing the boob light. 

So, along with the boob light I replaced in the master closet, our house is now boob-light free.  I don't just love, I lurve our closet now.

It's nice to get these things done that I've wanted to do for years (in some cases) or because I thought of them after seeing someone else's blog or in a magazine.  The blinds are the most expensive of my DIY projects.  Of the three lights, the most expensive one -- which was still pretty reasonable -- was the one in the downstairs hallway.  It cost approx. $90.  The upstairs hall light was around $40, as was the closet light.

Oh, I also made an Ikea run with Duane and Linda last Friday.  We all left with a few items but Duane and I both bought one of their new (and, of course, inexpensive) items.  I knew that I could find a place to hang this.  He doesn't have to be fed or given water and he'll live as long as I like in our powder room downstairs.  Our new pet -- a bird in a cage.

Birdy in the powder room.

We only hit Ikea during the week

Duane, Linda and I love going to Ikea.  However, we've all decided that weekends are out of the question.  We don't go very often and have no desire to fight the weekend crowd.  So, Linda usually takes either all or half of a Friday off from work.  For this trip we figured we only needed half a day so we met at Duane's (since she lives the closest to Ikea) and set out from there.  Each of us had a specific list of items we were looking for either to buy or just to get a better look. 

The Ikea here is in the middle of a renovation so parts of it were closed off which made getting through it a little quicker than usual.  The remodeling should be finished by early November.  We did have to search and/or ask about certain items because they weren't in their usual places.  But our mission was a success.  You'd be surprised what you can fit into the back of a Mini Cooper with just one of the backseats down.  (We still needed room for the three of us.)  The photo below shows boxes containing a chair, a large cushion for the chair, a floor lamp, several other lamps, and various kitchen and household items.  

 

I knew we could do it!  Here are some photos of what Linda and I purchased and assembled over the next couple of days.  I bought this skinny white reading lamp for my home office to replace the one I gave  to my nephew.   Love the small footprint for this lamp!

I also bought a very pretty lampshade to use for a hanging lamp on the opposite side of the futon shown above.  I wanted something decorative for the corner.

Now, here's the picture of Linda's chair with cushion and a small lamp that she bought.  The chair had to be assembled but it wasn't too bad.  I'd like to buy two of these for my family room to replace a loveseat.  All three of us bought a lot of tiny things, too, but they didn't require any work once we got them home.  Now I just have to convince George about the chair...  Another of our friends, Shirley, has had two of these Poang chairs for several years and said they've held up really well.