Ikea Update

Yesterday Ike, Ben and I, drove all the way to the northern wilds of Round Rock, home of the Texas Ikea. It's so far north Karly asked me if it was snowing up there, but sadly I had to inform her that hell had not yet frozen over, and that it was 105 degrees in the shade. The heat is sending me into a fugue state of ever increasing laziness, so as a result I'm gonna dispense with the chit chat and get down to some really important list making. Let's read about how we lost three hours of our lives riding through the desert on a cart with no name.

1) I finally sat on this couch.

So, yon Hovas was actually pretty comfy, but Ben was utterly repulsed by the slipcoveryness (Ben is not terribly savvy in the cleaning department, obvi). While there were a few details I was not thrilled with -- the arms are a little too rounded, the seat cushions stick out too far, and I wish the back cushions weren't contoured like that -- I thought it was pretty awesome for $499. Too bad the fabric choices are abysmal. I will be waiting until they make some nubby linen like covers like they do for Ektorp.

2) They did not have my Vago patio chairs so I rolled around in the middle of the store and threw a tantrum.

This is patently unfair, since that dumb chair is one of the best things Ikea has ever made. Check out Modfrugal taunting me with her fancy Vagos, arranged around a campfire. Awesome! Although just looking at that fire is making me hot.

This is really very frustrating, though. WHY can I not order things through the Ikea site? WHY can they not even ship site to store? It's so ridiculous.

3) I bought Ike a bunch of kiddie crap.

Besides purchasing several accessories with funny Swedish names like Mesmakr and Pslinger, I snagged a Mammut stool so Ike can sit around the baby pool and dip his cute, chubby little toes into the boiling water.

4) I struck out in the rug section.

Ikea has some great, kid friendly rugs. I love the new Basnas, which is much nicer than the pictures show. It's a nubby gray flecked flatwoven rug that has a lot more texture than a kilim, but no nasty pile with which to trap cereal bars and legos. The only problem is that, like many of Ikea's rugs, it doesn't come in an 8x10 option. The Swedes must live in shoeboxes. Same story with this Perisk rug, which was on super sale, but was super small.

5) Despite utter failure on many accounts, I did snag some cute planters.

Of course, most of the good stuff was already sold out. Oh, and while I'm working myself into a lather, let me ask why most Ikea pots do not have holes drilled in the bottoms for drainage? Plant whisperers, am I missing something here?

Enough kvetching. Sorry I'm Miss Bitchy today. Mondays suck.

I mean, YAY! Happy Monday!

Tomorrow I will be all sweetness and light. Pinky swear.

Things I Am Thinking About Buying On the Internets

It's that time of year, y'all -- the time of year when the whole world slows down to a snail's pace and everyone is on siesta time. That's because (at least in our neck of the woods) it's over 100 degrees outside and even walking out to the car forces a stinky sweat. I know you're too hot to contemplate big fancy posts about the design world and stupid trends blah blah blah, so instead I'm going to tell you about all the window shopping I've been doing from the comfort of my air conditioned home.

I really want this dumb craigslist headboard so I can just be done with the neverending no headboard drama, but these stupid bitches won't write me back. If it's not available, delete the post, people! Anyway, I'm still pretending they are going to let me pick up this king sized, gold leafed, wood carved goodness. For $100 no less.

Then I will pair it with my new white duvet and these cutie pie tie dyed sheets from Overstock. I love so many of the colors, but I'm pretty sure only ivory, rose or black, would look good with my stuff/paint color. Guess which one I'm going to pick? $36 bam!

Moving on from the bedroom, it's time to replace our milk and cereal bar encrusted rug (thanks, Ike!).

I could buy the exact same leather braided rug we already have ($150 here), or I could shake things up... maybe like this.

Of course, who knows exactly what "this" is, since the picture is so craptacular? You're killing me, craigslisters. Anyway, if I buy a totally different rug, then I will need... other totally different stuff. You know how it goes.

I've been eying Ikea's Hovas sofa for a while now... it's so cheap! But it's white, and I explained what happened to the rug, right? But it's slipcovered! But will I ever wash said slipcover? Hmmmm. Has anyone ever sat on this sucker? What do we think about it?

Speaking of Ikea, they reissued the wildly popular Vago patio chairs (thanks to Modfrugal for the tip!), and I'm dying for a set, but our store doesn't stock them. I think you should all call your local congressman to complain.

And since I apparently only like black and white things (did you figure out which color sheets I want yet?), I'm thinking about running over to our local West Elm and picking up these blackened planters on sale. Or maybe I will just save myself some sweat and order them. I'm so environmentally aware.

Ok, maybe not, but I am aware that I'm lazy.

Stay cool, homies!

Austin Craigslist, Cheapskate Edition

Craigslist is littered with asshats who think their doo stained sofas should fetch 1st Dibs prices, but you can't let that stop you from using the craig for good and not for evil. To be perfectly honest, it's been a while since I checked in and zoned out on tables and chairs. Today I had a few extra minutes to search for treasure, and I was a little surprised by all the awesomeness I found among the mirrows, rod iron, and chester drawers. Of course, much of said stuff was Knoll and therefore astronomically expensive, but I did find a few cheap and shiny gems. Warning, many crappy pictures shall follow. People, please learn how to use a camera so you can stop making our blog ugly. Thank you.

That's right. Smoked glass and brass coffee table. $65 here. Shazam!

Mirrored coffee table. Cool shape but those flowers are dumb. It wants to be painted black so badly. Can you help it? $60 here.

Neato chrome chair -- would look amazing floating in a room where you could see it from all angles. Gold star for decent photography. $60 here.

I actually opened up photoshop for this, just so you could see the majesty of this sweet little bedroom set in all its glory. $150 here.

It's got the Mediterranean flava. $35 here.

Pair it with this light. $50 here.

And this rug. $120 here.

And hey, why not this pair (yes, two) of square topped, vintage pedestal tables? $25 here.

Or skip the trad trend and get retro with a pair of square brass mirrored tables. I like these better for our room, anyway. $90 here. The hideous photography is free. You're welcome.

This will also go nicely in our fantasy room. Antique buffet with clean lines and pretty wood. $75 here.

In a totally different room (like, my living room) lives this huge heavy black lacquer 70s coffee table with BRASS base. $45. Within walking distance of my house. Why have I not bought this again? Did I forget to put the link in? Silly me.

Finally, this is not really cheap ($350 here) but I love the shape. The vaguely southwestern pattern/palette is potentially troubling, but I say you just Nagel the bleep out of that shit.

Perfect! And only $10.

And there you have it. Obviously I have rekindled my craig obsession, which is bad since I need more furniture like Oprah needs more celebrities to tell her how AMAZING!!!! she is. Now go buy one of these things, send me a picture of it in its new home, and I will post it.

As long as the picture is good.