Sunday 4 March 2012

What did we do before Ikea?

There was once a time when I wouldn't go into Ikea.  We had a Victorian house with loads of original features and the modern Ikea style and cheap flat pack furniture just wasn't us.  Then we started a family and we saw that Ikea actually did furniture that wasn't all minimalist and modern clean lines and from our very first visit we were hooked.  We also, surprisingly, liked the quality.

Then we moved house to somewhere bigger and slightly more modern and by then we had 2 young children.  And they opened an Ikea store about 20 minutes from our new home.  Its probably the only shop that the children WANT to go to.  The cafe looks out over Southampton docks and so we see the huge cruise liners when they are in port.  L loves the creche but B is still too little, at least for the next few weeks.

When I started thinking about being able to have my own craft room, I knew where I would probably end up getting all the stuff from.  I have gradually been able to get the furniture that I wanted in there and also made better use of the stuff that I was using in there in the meantime.  This weekend I bought, and put together, the final pieces, including a large desk, and it really feels like it is coming together.  I've got a few bits to put on the walls as yet and I still haven't finished the pizza boxes so most of my papers are still in RUBs but I'm getting there and I am loving the way it is starting to look.  I can't wait to get back in there and really attack some projects that have been sitting in my "unfinished" basket for far too long.  I also need to prep for a retreat at the end of March.

I won't show pictures until Wednesday but I don't like having a photo-less post so I will leave you with a layout that I started in October and finally finished a couple of weeks ago!


This is one of the layouts that I started during the stash diving project in Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party class.  I got 11 layouts to the point where they had photos and the initial paper placement sorted.  They just needed titles, journalling and embellishment.


I used the camera stamp from Amy Tangerine again and finally got to use one of my buttons from an Australian pack from Hobbycraft.


Ayers Rock and The Olgas were such fantastic spiritual places and the photos don't do the area justice, especially when you consider that our standard film camera packed up a couple of days later, full of sand and condensation.  I think I still have a gazzillion photos of our Round The World Trip to scrap though!

Bye for now
xx

8 comments:

  1. oooh looking forward to seeing the new room.

    Great layout - you were lucky to get these photos then if your camera packed up x

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  2. Gorgeous layout. I can't wait to see what your craft room looks like now x

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  3. Am so looking forward to seeing your scraproom Lisa-Jane....I love IKEA- we even have them here in Spain, though our nearest one is a couple of hours away :(
    Alison xx

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  4. Ooh can't wait for the big reveal on Wednesday!

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  5. This post made me smile! Before we got an Ikea here, we used to hire a trailer and take the ferry, then drive for miles to buy some flatpacks. We used to take orders from all our friends!

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  6. Ikea eh? I used to "rubbish" Ikea also, but like you, I got married and started a family... suddenly Ikea seemed like a very good plan!
    My studio is mostly kitted out from Ikea, our bed and wardrobes are from there, DS' bedroom shelves, desk and table also. We definitely like it now!

    I'll be looking out for your Transformation Photos!

    Love that layout - I like the structure of it and your colour choices, also the letters you chose for your title.

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  7. We love Ikea too, who doesn't. It's miles from us though so quite an expedition but when we were furnishing the Nursery some 11 years ago now, blimey where does time go, I remember Hubby loading all these huge boxes into the car and struggling, I couldn't help being huge at the time and the chap at the next car was doing the same and his wife was pregnant too so they helped each other. Funny how you remember these things.
    Since then many other Ikea things have come home with us and are still going strong.
    Good Luck with your decorating, can't wait to see your new room. I hope the pink dotty cloth makes a comeback!! lol.
    Love your LO too, those photos look amazing.
    Hugs Lisax

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  8. Hi Lisa-Jane, i love this LO and am completely drooling over that Amy Tan camera stamp, it's so cute x

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