IKEA and I are having a relationship and it ain’t smooth sailing. I want everything it has to offer my new abode but I can’t afford it all. There’s a fine line between purchases that are legitimately essential (see dresser, lamp, book case) and I’ve justified as “essential” (see rug, awesome orange mirror).
Alas … if my new place is filled with great pictures, mirrors and rugs but there’s no place to sit and eat, don’t judge! The one thing I have going for me here is that I haven’t pulled the trigger on anything yet. This is a look but don’t touch kind of relationship for now.
HOPEN 4-drawer chest, black-brown $99
HEMNES Nightstand, red $59.99
EXPEDIT Bookcase, black-brown $129–of course the price doesn’t include those cool red drawers. Another one of my “essential” purchases to go along with the book case
GISLEV Rug $19.99
MONGSTAD Mirror, orange $129
OLEBY Work lamp $9.99
Sidebar: I did pick up this bad boy first seen here over the weekend. We aren’t going to assemble it until we get moved into the new place so you can imagine how anxious I am to finally see it!
-J
I love, I need 
When you go to the store check out the ‘As-is’ section. On a couple of occasions I’ve found exactly the item I was looking for (or one that I hadn’t considered because it was out of my price range) in that section.
I have that rug!
Is it a POS or do you like it? I want it for our dining area but I was concerned that at $20 it would fall apart, ha.