My Love/Hate with IKEA

I have a love/hate thing with IKEA.  I think a lot of their designs are perfect for simple, easy living and I love a lot of the colors they use.  (I have a friend who jokes that the only reason she goes there is for the paper napkins!)  On the other hand, a lot of things they sell have to be altered to actually work for me - pillow covers, frames... but that didn't stop me from going over there on Saturday as I ran errands.  I get there at 9:30 when they open the doors so I can meander halfway through the store to the cafe. 
 
For $2 I can get a pretty wonderful breakfast with coffee.  I sit there and make my list out - what all do I need to pick up?  This time it was napkins, a step stool, coasters...Meanwhile, the cafe filled up with a crowd of hungry people.  You really can't beat that breakfast deal.

You can't get past the cafe where the rest of the products are - for some reason it bothers me that they rope it off.  What's the harm in letting people LOOK?  They are already in the store, anyway. It's going to take them awhile to look at all of it and the more they do, the more they'll buy.  Just my two cents!

 As I was walking through to the checkouts, I spied this amazing tiny home display!

I took a few pics to show Hubby, and after he saw them, he agreed to go again this Saturday to check it out in person.  Admittedly, Saturdays are not the best time to do any shopping/driving in Austin, but that's the only day we can go together.  Plus, breakfast!

Hubby wants to build several tiny cabins like this at Highlands.  Mostly they will be guest quarters, but he also envisions running some sort of retreat thing.  The way they have this tiny home set up is ingenious!  Folding chairs stored on wall hooks.  A futon for a bed. A folding table with bonus storage drawers.  A tiny kitchen with a pot rack and room underneath for a small fridge. And isn't the color scheme fun?

I left with mostly what I came for, but as usual I stopped and admired the antique Turkish patchwork rug I cannot afford (want!).  All of it fit into the small step stool I bought for the shower in the pumphouse.  When I arrived there were less than half a dozen cars - as I left it was a parking lot nightmare, totally full of people and cars.  (Maybe that's the hate part about it)  The quicker the trip, the better, but it's always fun to look around there. 

{P.S.  On the news Sunday night we heard that the founder of IKEA had passed away the day before...}