I Ikea-fied our bedroom

 

Last month, my family and I trekked northward for our first Ikea experience ever. And let me tell you it was everything I had imagined, all at once. We had made plans to hit up a few of the other stores we don't have in our town, but we didn't actually get that far. We twisted and turned our way through the Ikea Marketplace, not even venturing up into the showrooms, and that alone took almost all of our time. I loved the kitchen wares and the textiles, frames, planters, lighting and the furniture section (which is another post all together) but my very favorite was the self-serve fabric counter. My mind began spinning when I saw that gorgeous blue floral pillow back in textiles. I knew our bedroom would never be the same.

  I love the backs of the pillow almost as much as the front. Almost.

 When I ventured to the cutting table, I found coordinating navy /tan stripe clearanced for $3.99 / yd and almost had a heart attack right there. I bought 6 yards of the stripe and 2 of that fantastic blue check (because that was $8.99/yd). Then the Map Pillow. My poor husband. He must of thought I was crazy because I think I was shaking with excitement at that point.  

We had a cash budget set aside for this trip and I had a piece of furniture that was on the top of my list, so I calculated all the yardage for the duvet cover carefully and realize that it would be more economical to back the cover with that blue bedspread I had just passed up in the linen section. I was in love just looking at everything already coordinating in my cart, yet also not being matchy- matchy, which is exactly what I wanted to avoid.  I picked up that ruffle pillow and I that point I couldn't wait to get home and finish my new bedroom.

This whole project was so super simple. How simple? Simple enough to not even use a pattern. I cut my huge 6yd cut of stripe in half, matched the edges and sewed the panels together so that you can't see they were pieced. I used my old pillow sham dimensions to make the new navy check shams. I made the duvet ties from some torn scraps from that navy check.

(A word about the chicken pillow. I was not anticipating putting a chicken of any sort on our bed. However, I found that our Ikea has a clearance section off to the side of the warehouse right before you get to the checkouts. I took a peek and found a large plastic bag of fabric scraps stapled shut. I saw quite a bit of that navy check in the bag and decided to take the $2.99 gamble. I check out, make my way to the car and open my goody bag: that piece of blue check was actually this 19" pillow cover. For now it lives on our bed, but I haven't decided it that is the permanent home. Feel free to give your opinion in the comment section.)

Housework is not always my favorite thing, but I guarantee you that I smile every day when I make our "new" bed.