I haven’t been to Ikea since I furnished my LA apartment seven (yikes) years ago, and back then I had a car, which made the whole excursion infinitely more pleasant. Not that it wasn’t pleasant this time, but…
OK. It was sorta hell. That place (I went to the one in Red Hook) is BIG. And those boxes are HEAVY. But Mom came along to keep me company, so that was nice!
Another thing that made the trip bearable: I found some very cool stuff. Almost all of our furniture is hand-me-down/thrifted/street-rehabbed, but when it comes to storing my clothing I decided I really wanted functional, clean…and new). So the goal of the trip was to find a wardrobe to mitigate our lack-of-storage-space problem (we have one closet in our entire apartment – seriously), and on Saturday’s excursion I custom-designed a wardrobe, bought a non-ramshackle (hee) dresser for Kendrick (that Malm thing that everyone in the world owns? Good stuff), and picked up some inexpensive bits and bobs I’ve been wanting, including side dishes and a black-and-white pillow for the couch.
I love this pillow – super, super soft, and just $13! I’m very into black-and-white, graphic prints lately, and have been looking for some big throws for our couch (really not a fan of the pillows that are on it at present).
Some fantasy B&W pillow purchases: Emilie pillow ($19); Zodax Arabesque pillow ($66); Ferm Treebomb pillow ($100).
Tip: The most striking way to use black-and-white pillows in your decor is to mix up sizes, prints, and even shapes, but keep the rest of the palette fairly simple. For example, don’t pair black-and-white with animal-print – the goal is not to stun onlookers into submission – but do pair it with solid neutrals or pastels (I’m partial to pale blue and pale pink for a retro look).
These pillows also contain splashes of pink, but are just too beautiful not to show you. The one on the left ($100) is a Thomas Paul I found on a fantastic decor website called Modern Chic Home, and the one on the right ($65.95) is from Ferm Living, which has some of the most stunning, unique designs I’ve ever seen. In a perfect world, I’d love to add the Ferm Treebomb and the Ferm Fusion (bottom right) to my new Ikea, and call it a day on my living room decor. Pretty pretty pretty.
Also, Virgil? No slobbering.
