A few weeks ago my kids received an invitation to a sleepover with their cousins that was planned only days before the gathering, rather than weeks before, as is usually our custom. Normally we coordinate sleepovers when one of us parents has need for child supervision, or we want to make the most of our long Christmas breaks, or it's one of the children's birthdays and they want to celebrate together. This time it was just a tack-on to a cookout, and thus I was gifted the next day and a half without plans, obligations or expectations.
The planner in me usually finds these short-notice opportunities kind of paralyzing, and I don't think I'm alone in that. We're all overtired and overworked, and the urge to crash or binge is certainly there. For me, I had recently started rewatching "The Man in the High Castle," a show I had been thinking a lot about during these wild political times we're living in, and I could have easily spent hours with the house to myself, undisturbed except for the occasional cat seeking some attention, but I knew that this scenario would have no long-term restoration to it.
Instead, on my first full day I decided to visit a friend who had recently had a baby and lived 70 minutes away (which feels like half a day away when you try to take two not-on-board-with-the-plan kids with you). I texted her that Monday morning to feel her out about a visit and received a very hearty welcome to come on down. I took my time getting ready, stopped to pick us up Panera lunch and some flowers for her, and enjoyed listening to a podcast during each drive--something I rarely have time to do. We had a great time catching up, I held the sleeping baby for almost two hours, and I tricked her three-year-old into cleaning up his toys by asking how many items he could grab at a time if he scooped up with both hands together (a bonus gift to mama!). When I got home, I made pasta carbonara with things we had in house for Josh and I, and even got to watch an episode or two of High Castle, without having let it dominate my day.
The Tuesday, however, only granted me a half day as I wanted to get the kids home before a hint of rush-hour traffic began, and Josh had already promised to take them to see "How to Train Your Dragon" in 3D in the late afternoon. What could I do for a few hours that would still feel exciting? What would childless Carrie of yesteryear do on a non-working Tuesday morning? And it came to me: go to IKEA.
Did I need something at IKEA, you may be wondering? Was there some little aspect of the remodel that was unfinished, or some need of organization or furniture that we still lacked?
No. The remodel has been over and done with since January. In March, I refinished a buffet Josh and I had gotten at a barn sale and that got moved into the dining room where it now holds my terrariums (that will be a separate post in the future), and that was the last piece of the furniture plan for the renovated spaces. I needed nothing, not even a new vegetable peeler, which I use as an excuse to visit IKEA every couple of years (they're like $3, comfortable to hold and stay really sharp!). But walking through IKEA, studying the ever-changing rooms and fascinating little details is just one of the most relaxing things that I enjoy doing.
Let us look at this living room, for example. This was one of the first rooms to greet me on this gloomy Tuesday. Look at those green walls! I don't know what your screen looks like, but my screen is making them look a little more yellowy than they were. They were a great shade of green (more like that color by the window). The beige sofa and white tables would look so boring in a white-walled room (I know, I'm guilty of having Alabaster white walls throughout the first floor, but that's because I wanted my brand new walls to have that super-fresh look and let the woods and countertops shine). The bold green--not overbearing, but in no way wimpy or just dipping the toe into color with a pastel--really makes this room come alive. And IKEA has such a way with lighting. The track lighting on the shelf on the back wall, the string lights at the desk area, the pottery-shaped rattan lamp hanging over the couch--I just want to curl up there and watch my next High Castle! Just kidding. If this were my home, a room this big would probably be open concept and flow right into the kitchen. I like a snugger area for a tv. This room would be good for ... a book club. Little canapes would be on a tiered platter on the island, my glass salad plates (from IKEA!) next to them with a stack of cocktail napkins, a few extra chairs brought in from the dining room, and this is where we would discuss That Hideous Strength, the next book I'm planning to read because I saw a post that said it was as if C.S. Lewis had written it 80 years ago to warn us about AI before any such thing was fathomable. (If you want to read it too, let me know and we really CAN have a book club on it!) Before we move on to the next area, a quick close up from one more detail in this room:
The living room had a little drop zone and coat hooks, and a little sign that pointed out that many Maryland homes don't have an entryway closet (or foyers that are generally useful at all), and thus encouraged other ways to help keep these areas more tidy and useful.
The next room I wanted to linger in was this little kitchen. This kitchen is kind of narrow, and realistically, probably does not have enough storage (it reminds me of vacation houses with beautiful kitchens, but when you open the cabinets, they're all full of plates, glasses, pans, small appliances and a tiny cabinet of spices, oils and sugar, but there's absolutely nowhere to put all the food that you've brought with to, you know, cook and eat). But the against-the-wall pot rack makes the cutting board and stainless steel pans a work of art. The black DRAWERS (not cabinets with doors!) don't feel too dark because of this super light, almost-pickled flooring, as well as the armed light over the work zone in the foreground, the pendants over the sink and table, and directional lighting over the fridge area. A lot of time when people think about IKEA, they think super modern or stark, but this kitchen feels so homey to me. And look at the cabinets used as bench seating against the wall for the breakfast nook--genius! I'm sure that top probably flips up so they can pull out their serving plates or small appliances when they're needed. The narrow dimensions of this kitchen and lack of windows on the sidewalls made me think of a rowhome, which is perfect for a Baltimore-market. What would a Carrie who lived here do in this space? This Carrie probably works fulltime and entertains less often, and when she does, she's probably trying to scoot everyone out of the kitchen so she has room to work (or staying up until midnight the day before to get all the prep work done in advance!), but on the daily basis, this is a great place to eat breakfast in the morning, pack a work lunch the night before, and walk a few blocks with Josh to our favorite restaurant at least once a week because we live in a wonderful, walkable city neighborhood.
I took pictures of a lot of the kitchens. I think you would get bored if I shared every fantasy I had in each one of them, so I will share just one more.
I thought this was another great example showing that IKEA design is not cold or sterile. I'm not a white cabinet person, but my golly it looks so clean and refreshing in here. That island is a piece of furniture that can be moved and still configurated with storage on one side and seating on the other. Those giant pendants over it--what a lovely shade of mallard green. And the wall behind the seating area, I love how they mixed frames with family pictures with the decorative plates. For a while, before I found the giant tree path painting that we have behind our island, I had been collecting vintage bundt pans--the old aluminum ones that come in different colors--and thought they could make a really neat three dimensional display of art, but they seemed a little too country for me, and I worried people would bump into them, considering they can be up to 5 inches deep. And as for hanging dishes, it does seem kind of silly if the dishes (or bundt pans) have no particular meaning to you, but if they were family heirlooms, or all had a variation of a rose pattern and you grow roses and are obsessed with them, then it would be really cool. I again love these rattan lamps over the dining table, they're so beachy! Yes, this would be Lewes, Delaware Carrie's kitchen and dining room! This is the back of the cottage, where the sun doesn't beat down so hot, and the front living room has a big white-slipcovered couch that I wash every other week because it gets sandy and dirty. We have big tropical plants indoors and a stack of magazines in a basket under the side table, and I grab a new one on my way to the beach, which I ride my Vespa to, every morning from 8:30 to 11, before it gets too crowded. My Vespa is iridescent medium blue, like a bowling ball, and everyone knows it is mine because it has a umbrella attachment welded to it so I don't fry on my way back home or when I ride it around town in the afternoon. (I do not drive so fast or aggressively on my Vespa). Moving on...
This was my favorite of the bedrooms. First, I love the bold artwork behind the bed. Well, maybe not THIS artwork, but the idea of a very large painting. We have a kind of large painting of clouds behind our bed, that I wish was bigger, but you get what you can find. Next major love in this room--the reading nook! It looks so cozy! Frankly, they could use more books and less baskets on those shelves, but if this were my home, I could put whatever I want on those shelves. We have a GIGANTIC bedroom because it covers the whole two car garage, plus the walk-in closet and master bath which are over the office downstairs, but the room has four interior doors and a big French door that goes out to our balcony (which was a MAJOR selling point to this house!), plus three windows that let in so much amazing natural light, but all those doors and windows mean there are no corners available, and the one long stretch is needed for the bed and bedside tables, and the other has a long, low dresser. I did find this really awesome doored-bookshelf for $35 at an antique mall that seemed like it was going out of business, so we do have books in the bedroom, but they don't envelope you in and force you to sit down and start reading. I think the moody walls and curtains make this room magnetic for resting and reading as well. I did a dark, peacock blue paint in our master bedroom for the last few years we were at our old house, but with the new house, my mantra for color choices was "light and airy." I'm sure at one point I will swing back to a darker color again, or maybe something in between. So what Carrie lives in this house? Empty nester Carrie. That's when we'll also be taking over the adjoining guest room to make it a BIGGER walk-in closet/dressing room/my personal office? Or maybe we WILL just make it the adjoining reading room, even better than this room because the night owl or can't sleep one can just slip next door and read with ample lighting while the other slumbers along undisturbed. (Guests will still be welcome, but the boys' rooms will be cleaned out and converted to guest rooms. Don't tell Rye!) (Sidenote: Knox said when he grows up, HE is taking over our giant bedroom, and then the wall between his room and Rye's room will come down to make one big but narrow bedroom for Josh and I to share, and that Rye will get the smaller guest bedroom. He likes watching HGTV shows with me, and I believe him when he says he would do it. Note to self: do NOT give Knox power of attorney.)
Anyway, I spent exactly an hour daydreaming through IKEA, thinking of all the "Sliding Doors" versions of myself that may have been, and I even got two flower pots for $13. When the kids arrived in the IKEA parking lot for the transfer back to me, Rye quickly asked, "We don't have to go into IKEA, do we?" Nope, I answered, I was all done. And their super-tired, post-sleepover souls remained quiet the whole drive home, while I thought more about my Vespa.
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| You don't have to buy anything at IKEA, but you can. |
