We have quite a few things that we need for the new place,  so last weekend we headed downtown to Pier 11 and caught the Water Taxi to Red Hook.

LOOK HOW MUCH HE LOVES BEING WITH ME!!!

You can also take the train all the way there, and then a free bus to the store from the train station, but this is so much more pleasant. Plus, you can stop off for lunch, shopping or sightseeing at the South Street Seaport.

Ain't she pretty!

 Ikea is like a compound. It's definitely at least a half-day trip, so don't think that you'll be jetting in and out in no time. I always say, come for the minimalist design, stay for the meatballs. (We picked up a frozen package and put them in Grant's famous spaghetts sauce that night!)

Note to self: Large, industrial compound. Very few openings. Very few windows. Great for zombie apocalypse.

Here's our haul:


Enough sets of Tupplr shades for the windows in the living room, dining room, office and bedroom. We got white for the office, gray for the bedroom and black for both sets of windows in the living room and dining room. Unfortunately, the window sizes in our pre-war building are non-uniform, so we'll have to modify each of these rolls. Get ready for a whopper of a DIY post on that one. I would have preferred shades that let light shine through, but we need blackout ones for optimal TV viewing and Grant prefers to sleep like a vampire.

Vilmie curtains for the dining room. The coloring will tie into the rug in the living room and the design is modern enough to counter the oriental rugs in there. We just got one set, so we can pull each back and create a symmetrical, straighter panel, as opposed to the formality of a double-drape effect.

We got two sets of Anita drapes for the living room. They're a deep brown that I think will pop against the white walls. You can't see in this photo, but they also have a nice brocade and they're a pretty heavyweight fabric, both of which add a luxe element. Funny story, Grant had never seen a brocade before (he was very confused when I kept referring to them as "brocade") and just thought that they were the coolest things ever. I love when he gets excited about design stuff.

For the living room, we got two Karby rugs to lay side-by-side. They're (give or take) 6'x4'--way too small for the space--so we decided that we could get two and put them together. At only $15 a pop, I think that it was a great economical solution to stopping the click-clacking of the dogs' nails. They are fairly lightweight, so I'll have to sew the two together eventually, but that just means another DIY post!

We also decided on Valby rugs for the dining room. Yes, that was rugS, yet again. The space is huge, and my heart was set on an oriental rug, but my bank account was not agreeing with the $400 price tag that would come along with one large enough to go in there. These are heavy enough that I don't think I'll even need to sew them together, especially since the dining room table will be plopped on top of them.


 We needed an occasional table to go in the entryway. I had originally wanted to peruse flea markets until I found an antique piece that was perfect, but we really need to start organizing the stuff up front. When we spotted this Vallvick bookcase, both of us immediately thought it might look great in the little spot up front. We hadn't thought to have a tall piece as opposed to a traditional occasional table, but I think that this will make quite a statement and provide us with additional storage for workout gear, doggie stuff, and all of the other things I add and remove right before heading out the door.


We needed a coat rack reaaaaaaal bad, and as I don't live in a dream universe where I can justify blowing a wad of cash on an Eames Hang-It-All, we decided on the Portis coat stand. Cheap and easy... and I think a spray-paint pop of color could make this puppy something special.

 We need to switch out ALL of the lighting fixtures in the apartment. And I do mean ALL. I grabbed this Molnig chandelier to go in the dining room and can't wait to pick out which pop of color I'm going to spray paint this baby. Note, inspiration here and here and here.

We also got a few odds and ends. A Lack coffee table (only $20, so when my thrifting and flea marketing finally pay off, I won't feel guilty about switching it out), a set of cheap sheets and another duvet for linens laundry day, ceramic casserole dishes, a pie/tart dish and cookie cutters in the shape of northern hemisphere wildlife (like moose and squirrels!) All in all, a pretty productive day! Can't wait to get everything set up and show you some pics in the house!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, some pics from the trip!

Our entire haul. Goooooosh that was a lot of stuff.

Grant, looking at anti-slip keep-under-rug thingies.