The Journey of Parenthood…

Ikea Trip #2

After Ikea Trip #1 we’ve been planning what we needed to get on Trip #2. It worked out great because Mom kept Kye the night we went to the VSU Hall of Fame mixer and we were able to head out first thing that next morning for Atlanta. Our plan was to get there, get it quick, and get home. No ideas needed, no browsing. Buy and Go! We had returns from Trip #1 to do which takes a little time (especially on the Sat of President’s Day weekend!) but we managed to get everything done there in about two hours and got everything we needed (without losing a purse this time!).

Storage basket for our bed linens in the master bedroom

My husband is so funny…

Showing off the awesome mirror for our dining room (the big one, not that little round one)

One thing we really still need to find is some type of artwork for above our mantel. I know several people have suggested a family portrait. Not happening. I’m not really a big family portrait type person and I don’t like the idea of having to re-do it every few years when we add more kids. I want to pick something and let it be IT until we redecorate 🙂 We are going for a modern/beachy style in our home so another obvious pick would be some kind of beach scene but I’m not feeling that either. I want the vibe to be beachy – I don’t want it to be obvious beachy ya know? What I’d really like to find is some type of abstract modern, yet simple, art. The trick is to find something that matches our color scheme (dark blue, light blue, gray, silver, white and tans!). Anyone interested in painting something like these for us using our paint??? Or know someone who would be?

It was a good trip and we stocked up on everything we should need to finish decorating the house (at least for now!).

I know I said I found “the table” I want for the kitchen (you can see the one I picked on this post) but I’m a woman so I’m totally allowed to change my mind right? When Zach and I went back into Turner’s to look at that table I realized I really didn’t like it. I have certain things I want in a table for the kitchen: 1. be able to seat at least 8 ppl (we plan to have 4 kids but I’m hoping we’ll also adopt and I want us all to be able to eat there together) 2. have a bench seat (I grew up with a bench seat at our kitchen table and LOVE it) 3. be very durable (our dining table shows EVERY little spot and it’s soooo annoying) 4. have two captains chairs (again, our table growing up had chairs on the ends with “arms” and I want that too) 5. fit our modern/beachy style (meaning not country!) The table at Turner’s fit many of my criteria but it didn’t have a bench and only sat 6 people with no option to extend it.

I started looking into Pottery Barn and found several tables that fit what I was looking for. It made me nervous to think about ordering something without seeing it in person first and since Ikea didn’t take very long we decided to go over to Lenox Mall and check out what Pottery Barn had in their store. When we (finally) found parking it ended up being right outside Crate and Barrel so we checked in there too!

Right away we fell in LOVE with this table. SO so beachy and our style but…it didn’t work because we didn’t like any of the chairs that matched and it didn’t have a bench 🙁

On our quick glance around the store we did find a table that we thought might work. Zach fell in love with it right away because of the price, but I wasn’t sold. We left and went to Pottery Barn and tested all the tables I had liked in the magazine. Guess what? Zach’s legs couldn’t fit under ANY of them! He sits on the end of the table and they all had lower pieces on the end making it impossible for him to scoot in! At least that made the decision for us huh?

So we headed back to Crate and Barrel to discuss the new table some more. It seats 8, has a bench, is very simple/modern, has matching bar stools, and seems durable. It does not have any captains chairs but none of their chairs there do! Strange huh? My only concern about it was the color. It’s a honey color and I wasn’t sure if it’d flow okay with our house and other furniture. Plus the lighting in the store wasn’t very good and we have a TON of natural light at home which made me nervous to see the differences. Want to see it a little better? Here’s a link to it on Crate and Barrel’s site!

In the end I knew if we bought it and got it home and I didn’t like the color that Zach would KILL me. So we came to a compromise. We bought a chair! The guy we worked with was super nice and let us buy a floor model chair to take home and test out. Then when we buy the table set we can just return the chair (or if we don’t buy it, one of us will just return the chair sometime when we’re up that way). It was a pretty funny site to see Zach carrying around that chair!

What’s even funnier is that it’s not the first time we’ve done this! When shopping for our dining room table we borrowed a chair from one store and took it to another to see if the furniture we wanted would all match. Luckily this chair fit in our car with ALL the Ikea goodies!

What was planning on being a short trip, turned into a day long shopping adventure and I felt SO bad for Zach. Driving 3 hours? Tackling Ikea? Shopping at a mega mall on a Sat of a holiday weekend? Then having to drive 3 hours home? My man is pretty incredible huh? And he did it all with a smile on his face! We had a lot of FUN and I wanted to end the night with something for him so instead of going to Serafino’s again we went to Maggiano’s which is Zach’s favorite. It didn’t disappoint!

I’m wearing my fringe hoop earrings and bardot silver bangle

In case you’re sitting on the edge of your seat dying to know how the chair worked out – we love it!!! It goes GREAT in our breakfast nook and once we figure out tax rebates and such we’re hoping to be able to buy it! I’m SO ready to have the house finished and I know you’re ready to get a tour 🙂

Emily Parker
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