My husband and I were surely fulfilling all middle-aged-suburban stereotypes this Sunday, when we got a surprise babysitter, and we headed straight to IKEA for our hot date. (Just to clarify, the sitter was not a surprise like in a surprise party, where we didn’t know it was going to happen. We were just surprised it worked out for someone to watch all our kids .)
I’m not sure what a super romantic date is supposed to be for a couple of (almost) forty-year-olds who have been married fifteen years, but for us, it’s IKEA. I marvel at the beautiful design of each and every product, and M marvels at the innovativeness of them. Actually, marvel might be too strong of a word for M’s part. Unlike most furniture stores, he doesn’t get a headache upon walking through the door. Those crazy swedes and their great ideas entertain him.
They more than entertain me. They speak my love language. My other love language is Furnishing a Beach House, so this is an excellent time to spend hours at IKEA, clicking pictures on my cell phone of everything bright and fun and IKEA-ish that we could possibly get for the place.
I wanted to just show you the table we were getting for the deck of the beach house, but I love all of this Applaro outdoor furniture. The sleek lines, the way you can fold it all up, and the rich color make it perfect. Here it is as my cell phone background.
Just kidding. Kind of.
2. I’ve heard that metal things can rust in the salt air? Is this true? Just kidding. After living on the island for nearly twenty years, I’m well aware of the way salt air disintegrates everything. So, hello, bright, bold PLASTIC hooks, would you hold up the wet bathing suits of our renters? Thank you.
Oh, IKEA, you are so whimsical. How cute is this shower curtain? And I love the picture below. So perfect for a beach house.
Doing our jobs to fulfill our middle-aged stereotypes, we both got excited about this light fixture. It’s cheap (because, hello, IKEA), but it’s so rustic-beachy-perfect for the house. And bright! That’s good because the house is currently on the dingy side. I’m kind of afraid that’s because of layers of grime I need to scrape off more than lighting issues.
This picture is terrible, and I’m too lazy to upload the IKEA picture of these mirrors, but they are wave mirrors. And the IKEA name is KRABB. Oh, please, let our beach house renters love this cute detail as much as we do.
Sturdy, non-breakable plates in the same color as the Gulf of Mexico. Yes. Please.
So, the beach house currently has the CUTEST swing. But, it’s rickety and will, maybe, hold 100 pounds. Because our kids will surely all pile on it together, we’re looking into the IKEA swing below. Again, sorry for the terrible image quality. I used all my energy running around IKEA.
When I start running around IKEA taking pictures, M might roll his eyes a little bit. Until he sees something like this sleeper sofa. OH MY GOODNESS! How clever! The chaise lounge part pops up to hold all the bedding (genius for guests who are trying to find it). And the bed part just sort of pulls right out to form a huge, comfy bed.
This bedding feels so casual beachy–without being look-at-the-surfboard-print beachy. I would kind of love a dress made from this fabric. I find it that cute.
Whereas this wave print is kind of over-the-top beachy. But it makes a statement, don’t you think?
Oh, geez, IKEA, you are killing me with the perfect beach umbrella for $15. This may be the Summer of the Orange Stripes.
Our beach house needs a chair. This one looks comfy-casual. And, I would like to point out, is only $99. I wouldn’t mind a dress from that print, too.
So, the house’s kitchen is small. Does it make me a strange person that I’m glad to have a small kitchen so I can make use of all IKEA’s here’s-for-your-300-square-foot-house ideas? If so, call me strange because I love this little hutch that we could put next to the table to conveniently hold the plates and cups.
Unfortunately this IKEA love story does not end happily ever after. When I saw this bed, I loved its cottage charm. And it’s price tag. It’s so classic, but it’s also so cheap. I was already dressing it with that awesome orange comforter (pictured above) when M pointed out this was a toddler bed. In other words, a grown-up’s seated weight would make it sag in the middle.
*Sigh.*
So, we’ll keep looking for another bed. Or hack this one. Because, really, THAT would make this even more of a middle-aged suburban couple’s fantasy date–a day at IKEA and the lingering idea of an IKEA hack.
