Favourite Pendants

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ikea`s ps maskros  source  ikea

Winnie Lui White Chandelier.  source bonluxat.com

blown glass handmade pendant lamp   source luz difusion.com

























diy ikea-hack your own petal lamp source designsponge






























diy Lothair Hamann’s Loopy Lu pendant light  source loopy lu


signed, the willow

oh where oh where did my little hat go?

*Mila* spends far too much time watching America's Next Top Model.

signed,
the willow

My Bunny will live in a castle from IKEA

*Steve-o*! Start the construction for the bunny cage! Be warned, parts will be acquired from IKEA and we all know what that means ?!?! (It means a major bender for me, as in 'shopping at IKEA bender')

source: Design Sponge from Design Curiosities

signed, the willow

What my dream office looks like

First off my dream office has white floors and white walls with 12 foot ceilings and an expansive wall of windows in a loft downtown somewhere, anywhere.

I choose to work from this desk here.

and sit in this faux leather chair here.

While I find all my neatly organized office material behind me here. That's my assistant's desk in the foreground.

I'll use this for my spreading out paper project. The project where you frantically spread all sorts of nice white fresh paper out and then tap it on the desk and put it back in that nice wall unit above.

I'll allow my visitors to sit in these chairs. They'll add a much needed splash of black.




My assistant can file things away in these.

I'll write all the latest news and messages on these glass noticeboards.

And I'll stare at Jenny Wilkinson wall strips. Maybe once and a while I'll doodle the ladybugs in purple and pink.

Of course at my dream office there will be no work done by anyone (but my imaginary assistant).

signed, the willow

'I love the part when Snoopy sexed up his dog house'

That's right. Snoopy sexed up his dog house. I think in the 1970s, they let us watch the occasional movie or tv show in school because it was GOOD for our developing teeny minds. My brother was fortunate enough to watch Charlie Brown's Christmas at school (I'm guessing since we had only CBC) and then was told by the teacher to draw a picture as well as describe it. So there is Snoopy, 'his sexed up' dog house with the phrase above. I'm sorry, it still makes me giggle.

Snoopy and his offspring in the dog house

So now, *Steve* sexed up my kitchen and I think I finally understand what my brother was trying to say. He was right. There's decorating and renos and then there is 'sexing it up'. "Oh boy, what kind of ads will appear on her blog now?", my mother is currently asking herself.

signed, the willow aka Snoopy's Bitch

Why I really did die and go to kitchen

Oy Vay! You know the IKEA commercial where the woman shows off her newly reno'd home and all the rooms have been made into kitchens. Hello! I think I am that lady. However, my kitchens are all dismantled, unpacked and being massacred by my husband with MDF and a chisel. (Tip to all you newlyweds out there: Stay clear of your mate when he/she is carving out a hinge-shaped hole in your cupboards with one of the several chisels from his prized chisel collection)

Welcome to my house, er, I mean kitchen.

We will not be lounging in the living room. No, it is now the overflow of my cupboards.

Sorry, can't eat in the kitchen. My husband is busy chiseling.

We can hang out in the laundry room. You can take the pony for a ride or hide in the old cabinets.

signed, the willow lost in her kitchens

I have died and gone to kitchen. Well, not yet!

This is the BEFORE picture of my kitchen in its most natural state...perpetual mess. That's right, you heard it here first (unless you're on Facebook): Miss Willow gets new IKEA kitchen.

Doooo-dooo-dooo-dooo-doooo-doooo-doooo-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-dum-dum. to the tune of the Jeopardy theme song.

So, I have been sitting on my hands waiting for them to call so I can pick up my flatpacks.

signed, the willow

If you move closer to IKEA will you shop more?

What do you think? If I move closer to IKEA, better adjust the mortgage payments to reflect.

signed, the willow

I miss IKEA and my dog and my husband

While I am away missing my dog and my husband, I am also missing the 2009 edition of the IKEA catalogue. I left on a Tuesday and on Thursday there was an IKEA catalogue on my doorstep. I cannot stand the suspense. While I wait, I think I'll peruse their catalogue online.

You can too.

And OH MY GOD THERE IS AN IKEA DECORATING CONTEST....one problem, just one room to pick from!

signed, the willow

IKEA will be here when we return

*Mila* and I are heading up north to the land where IKEA is only dreamed about in catalogue. That's right. I will be IKEA-less for the remainder of the summer. No frozen yogurts, no quick stop for groceries at the neighbouring Fortinos and the odd cabinet at IKEA. Nope. I will have to suffer and endure the pain of the lack of IKEA.

But the good news is....I bought these 2 cabinets for my kitchen and after having a panic attack while reading the box which read the dimensions as 85 cm x 41 cm, I decided that today was the day to try and put them together anyhow. You see, I bought these horizontal cabinets to put above my dishwasher in a 79 cm wide spot. And according to *Steve* you cannot "fudge" a 6 cm difference. So, I cracked open the box and decided I would make bench seating from the two cabinets I bought. I put one together twice (since I put the back on the wrong way - with the brown side facing out instead of white) and measured it. TA-DA! It was 77 cm wide. I'm assuming that 85 cm was the width of the box itself? I don't get it. It is not like IKEA to make up measurements. It IS, on the other hand, very likely for me to buy the wrong thing at IKEA and make *Steve* return it. I heard him once say to the guys working the return desk: "Ok. So we'll see you tomorrow?" True. And I did send him back the next day with something. I swear to you that I could probably just go down to IKEA buy something, put it together and have *Steve* return it for the sheer fun of it all. IKEA furniture unpacking and assembling is like the thrill of the "hunt" for me. Not that that was a good analogy since I do not condone hunting whatsoever. Don't even think about that! I saved a baby bunny tonight from my dog who scared the frightened thing out of the tall grasses. I'm positive that the baby bunny had endured enough in the storm we had on Saturday. It was borderline tornado.

Alright, so now I have the cabinets and they still need doors. Help me pick the doors okay? I will be painting the remainder of my cabinets WHITE and the walls in the kitchen will be painted apple white for the main wall and our backspash and countertop will be dark slate grey. I've also acquired 2 small VATTERN cabinets from IKEA for the side of the dishwasher. This little "blank" area has become the home to crayons, plastic plates, napkins, you name it. Time to hide it up with these. So which door style shall I pick. ABSTRAKT? AVSIKT? ADEL in white? LIDI? STAT? Time to vote!

signed the willow

This Week at IKEA

That's it. The sale event is over. And there we go. Taking home our new cabinets. Leaving our cart behind.

signed, the willow

When my Childhood Favourite meets my Grown-Up Favourite

signed, the willow

Oh, I do think it the most wonderful thing

This little IKEA swing supported both my niece and my daughter together as they swung on it last night at 10 pm. Crazy long summer nights. Aren't they the best? (I swing on it all the time when *Mila* is not looking)

signed, the willow

Meet The Instructables

IKEA Hacks on the Instructables

signed, the willow

Why IKEA is so successful

1. Flat packs

2. The shopping experience - sorry, you'll have to go there to see for yourself!






3. Low cost furnishings & making self-serve FUN (that mirror is $2.99)





4. Their restaurants and I hear the meatballs are yummy
(plus you can take home a pack for your carnivores)






5. The old standby's: BILLY, LACK, POANG (Sorry, not SUMA)

6. The fun bold Swedish patterns

7. Family Friendliness - IKEA designs things for you and your family

(if you want to display it behind glass you can - or you can just get the glass case at IKEA).

8. IKEA keeps my spell check employed.

9. The ads have always been outstanding

10. They send you a catalogue in the mail

The IKEA Way

11. They adhere to environmental standards and take fair trade to heart.

12. Form/Style

13. Function

14. Creativity - ATTENTION IKEA HACKERS!

15. Their showrooms look like home OR it's okay to have things messy

16. Living 10 minutes away from IKEA makes you never, ever want to move.

17. If someone tells you that they never shop there and they would never buy ANYTHING at IKEA...THEY ARE BIG FAT LIARS! Everyone has bought one pack of napkins, a BILLY bookcase, a RIBBA picture frame or had a 50 cent hot dog! These liars are known as "BIG FAT LIARS THAT PRETEND THEY ARE TOO GOOD FOR IKEA!" Ha! We all know that IKEA is too good for these people.





18. They always let kids be kids and grown-ups be kids too.





19. They allowed Mark Malkoff to live in their store. What other retail operation would do this?





20. Because I shop there, they stay in business!





signed, the willow

What to do with your Glimmas

Happy Fathers Day Dad & *Steve*!

Here is your IKEA craft of the week.

Take 100 Glimmas - you will need all 100 for the evening.

or 42 Tindras. These are equally good and they're scented with yummy rootbeer flavours too!

Put them in an IKEA lantern of your choice. One at a time. Oh and light several lanterns.

Now, go get yourself a fondue fork. Remember the colour on the end!

Get a bag of mini marshmallows. Yes, mini marshmallows. This is for you and your little girl. Why do you have that bandaid mark on your leg still? I don't want to know. I guess I ripped it off a little too hard for you. Thanks for not crying.

And Voila! Instant fun!

Have a wonderful Fathers Day!

signed, the willow

The Line Nazi

That would be me. The "line Nazi". I am desperately trying to use life's little lessons to teach *Mila* about standing in line. She needs this vital skill for the next 13 years of school that she will be attending.

This week, we went to IKEA for our necessary shopping (ahem! LUNs are necessary) and when we stopped off for a hot dog, our lesson this week would begin. So, as *Mila* reached in the fridge behind us for an apple juice...this very large (non-Swedish) woman bonked her in the head with her extremely rude ass, while she walked right in front of us and stood by the cashier. This woman was not only budding in front of me and *Mila*, but the lady with her son behind us. I couldn't stand it. I've been working hard on teaching her to take her turn and this woman just cut us off! We were standing there waiting patiently for our turn and she was now going to take it away from us. Nuh-huh! Gulp, I swallowed and then she turned to us and said "Oh, I suppose it was your turn before me. Go ahead. Go ahead. You were obviously here before me."

"Um, yes and the lady behind us was here before you as well." I said. I think I saw my life flash before my eyes when I spoke to this large Amazonian.

She didn't reply. She just stared at me blankly. She really did cut us off on purpose with the intent of taking our turn.

So I said it again "The lady behind me was here before you as well."

"Oh, I know that", she uttered in her man-voice. "Life is too short to worry about cutting people off in line."

WHAT THE HELL? Was she speaking of herself or of me? She was the one cutting people off. What is going on? Is this the upside down version of the world I once belonged in?

"Well", I snickered, "I suppose I am the Line Nazi, aren't I?"

She completely ignored my comment. I suppose it wasn't politically correct, nor in her conversational English. She now began to talk to herself, "I hope I can make it to Waterdown in just 12 minutes. Maybe I should just skip the hot dogs all together." I wanted to glare her down at this point. We came down from Waterdown and if she expects to drive back up that hill in under 12 minutes, I'd hate to be the car in front of her....she now will be the tailgater that I love to hate.

Unfortunately, the lady behind me didn't know the history behind the hot dog line fight and let the Amazonian go in front of her! OH MAN! No lady, you aren't supposed to let her go first. So the Amazonian now took 19 hot dogs with her to the condiment kiosk and started to squirt ketchup and mustard all over IKEA (Keeping IKEA clean keeps the prices low, hello!).

Did I mention that I think this woman came from what I like to call "The Land of the Dull and the Ignorant"? Yes, there is such a land. And now there will be a label on my blog with such, thanks to her!

signed, the willow

Great Job!

What I love about IKEA is how you are allowed to think outside the box. In fact they encourage you to take those kitchen cabinets and hang them up in the bedroom. Oh IKEA I'd do POANGs (I mean handsprings) on Sunday spitting nickels at Jesus for you.

LANSA handles

Right above was supposed to be a photo of how we took these kitchen cabinet handles and put them on our closet doors in our bedroom and in the office. They rock. Only one problem, they are difficult to install. If you look carefully in the picture below, *Mila* put Tinkerbell stickers on the holes that *Steve* created on the inside of the doors. The top one says "Great Job". I guess she felt his handiwork was worthy of a few stickers. Thanks *Mila*.

signed, the willow

Need I say more?

I spent a lot of time coordinating the layout of that block configuration and then along came her foot!

signed, the willow