Atlanta: the IKEA experience.

I had only been to IKEA once, on a really fun on-the-whim day trip with Eric back in college. The trip changed me. Really - the showrooms helped me see how function and design come together beautifully. Ever since I got a house of my own, I'd been pining to get some things from IKEA, especially when it came to organization. With Beth and Brad in Atlanta, this was the perfect excuse. 

IKEA in itself is an experience. You come in, park underground in an airport like setting, go up the escalators and are greeted with blue and yellow, young cute families, and the smell of meatballs. We stopped and got beverages (icee for me, coffee for Beth and Jake), grabbed our yellow bag, tape measure, and list, and headed up the escalator to the Showroom. 

The showrooms were phenomenal. I mean, it is one thing to ooh and ahh at the catalog and website pictures, but to pretend to live in these organized, fabulous spaces was another. Having planned a kitchen renovation, I had a special interest in the kitchen areas (and sort of wish we had done the counter depth french door fridge - anyone know anything about IKEA appliances?). 

After wandering, dreaming, and drooling, we hit the market place. This is where the real game plan had to go in place. I was armed with a list of items and tried to not stray. We ended up getting most of what we set out to, and only added a few things to the list - like these dog hooks for the leashes. Aren't they hysterical? We got two in red:

Of the things we got, most was for the kitchen. We did get a lot of frames for a gallery wall project in the front room, baskets for under my side board, and a canvas print I love for the office:

We ended up spending 3 hours in IKEA - well worth it in my mind. It was so much fun, especially being there with Beth and getting to just chat and act normal with her, like old times.