Ikea or bust?

We had our first IKEA experience. Love that place. I pretty much knew that I would love it from the website and from blogs that I read that decorate with stuff that is found there. I was REALLY nervous to take Josh... he is slightly OCD and doesn't always enjoy shopping (especially with me). It's something that we are ok with- He is more of a thinker and rationalizes everything. Me? I buy things knowing that I could always return them if I change my mind later. I like to get in and out of stores, and he likes to take his time (and think through everything). So we approach the whole shopping experience differently. I wasn't sure how either of us would react to IKEA so the first trip we agreed not to buy anything. It would just be a "note taking" trip and to just spend some time together.

Needless to say we LOVED IT. I loved how everything is set up (I'm a very visual person who needs to see the whole picture) and you can totally pace yourself. Josh loved how organized everything is (OCD) and the prices. Win-Win.

We made our second trip a couple weeks later. With a $210 budget we took our "wishlist" and narrowed it down so we knew we wouldn't spend more than budgeted. Our main purchase was going to be a coffee table. We have been in the market for MONTHS and haven't been able to find a decent one under $250 that we liked. 

IKEA had exactly what we wanted in the color we wanted- white. Anyone ever try to find a white coffee table recently?? They are practically non-existant. Literally. We visited over 6 furniture stores and found 3 total. The first living room set up in IKEA had the one we wanted. Bingo. 

We bought the coffee table (for $119- Holler!!), 6 baskets to put in the coffee table ($50), curtain clip ring thingys ($1.99x3), 4 finials to change up my curtain rods ($4.99x2), and 2 white Vivan panels ($10). Total spent? $210 (give or take a few dollars). Oh yeah I also got a can opener. 

We rushed home to open the box and set up our new table... only to find it totally cracked/split straight down the middle. Imagine my eagerness totally being blown like a deflated balloon... waaa wahhhhhhh. 

Since we live 2 hours away and we took the whole day to go down there, we were really frustrated. We had even opened the box in the parking lot to verify it was the right color... and totally missed this. 

We went back the next day (talk about de-ja-vu) to exchange it. We did let them know that we lived so far away and they graciously gave us 2 meal vouchers. Talk about customer service! 

Here is the new coffee table in our living room with our new rug (this picture captures the color perfectly!).

I LOVE that we chose white. It adds so much to the space without being overwhelming. I also love how much storage space it has. We filled the front 3 baskets with Luke's toys (books, toys, and trains). The back 3 baskets have books, magazines/newspaper, and Wii remotes.

This picture also gives a sneak peek to our new curtains. I'll talk about them tomorrow!