I took another trip to Ikea today (mosey on over to this link if you want to read about the adventure from my first trip.) I needed to pick up a few Ikea PJÄS baskets to finish up the playroom and some of the Vivan curtains that Young House Love always references on their blog. I decided to snap a few photos throughout my shopping experience and do an Ikea Kitchen Tour post. I am not in process of renovating my kitchen (in fact, it’s my favorite room in the house), but I always love to check out different design ideas. Here are a few of my favorite kitchens and kitchen products from Ikea that I wanted to highlight:
Here’s the first kitchen I saw in the showroom. I love the apron front/farm-style sink mixed with the contemporary amenities.
The next kitchen I stumbled upon was my favorite one of all of them. I loved how everything was white and the backsplash was beyond amazing. I seriously wish I had tidied up those stools before I took the photo, but that might have looked a little crazy (here’s my number, so call me, maybe.)
I also loved the sink in the above kitchen. Here’s the close-up:
How much fun would it be to cook and entertain at this huge island?
Here are a few other Ikea kitchens I saw in the store:
Here’s a double apron-front sink they also stocked- I’m coveting this:
I’m also in love with all of these contemporary faucets:
Our trip got cut a little short in the Marketplace section. We were today’s meltdown of the day at Ikea Stoughton (I swear, last time I saw so many kids throwing major temper tantrums in Ikea.) We got out of there as fast as we could at that point so I was not able to take as many kitchen product photos as I hoped. I did pick up some colorful Fantastisk paper napkins for future parties. I also snapped a quick shot of these aqua and white plates- perfect for a summer beach house:
These glass containers would be perfect for pantry storage (at an affordable price!) I always see so many beautiful images on Pinterest of pantries stocked with glass jars with every type of rice, pasta, etc. Someday…
And I meant to pick up this Stockholm bowl, but totally forgot to look for it in the downstairs marketplace. Guess I’ll have to schedule another trip to Ikea soon!
I do have to say that despite baby T’s major meltdown, Ikea is an incredibly family-friendly place to shop. It all started when we pulled into our special family parking spot:
There were lots of clean bathrooms with changing tables. The changing table even had its own disposable liners- seriously moms, when do you ever see those Koala changing stations actually stocked with paper liners? There was a small baby sink in the bathroom (although T insisted on touching every surface of the little sink, which probably negated any hand-washing done there):
We also enjoyed a nice lunch in the Ikea restaurant. I didn’t notice it until after, but they have special carts that can carry up to 3 trays at a time. That would have been a lot easier to manage rather than trying to balance T in one arm and a tray in another. The cafeteria was well-stocked with high chairs and they sold baby food there if you had a younger baby. They also had a baby food warming station. T especially enjoyed the juice boxes:
Thanks for joining me on my Ikea Kitchen Tour! What do you think of the Ikea kitchens? Would you ever consider getting an “Ikea kitchen?” Do you consider Ikea to be a particularly family-friendly store? Have you ever witnessed (or been part of) an epic meltdown in Ikea?
Lindsay says
Thanks for this post! I am planning to buy a house in Somerville in the spring and chances are I will have to redo the kitchen. I am very likely to do an Ikea kitchen.
As for those storage jars, do not be tempted. I have a few different glass storage jars and the Ikea ones are not very sturdy. The clasp function breaks very easily.
2sisters2cities says
That’s so exciting Lindsay! I lived in Somerville for a couple of years- I loved having so many restaurants nearby in Davis Square, Harvard Sq, Inman, etc. Too bad it looks like the deal for the Ikea Somerville fell through…
Thanks for the feedback on the glass storage jars!
-m
Helena Zackrisson says
Hi!
Just found you blog. I´m a former Bostonian (Newton), but now I´m back in my home land Sweden – the land of IKEA. ;-)
We have an IKEA kitchen in our summer house. It is just great!
Maybe you can se it somewhere in my blog:
http://www.fikagalen.blogspot.se
or the older blog:
http://butterflymom71.blogg.se
//Helena.
2sisters2cities says
Very cool Helena! I went to college in the Newton area. Glad you like your IKEA kitchen! Thanks for stopping by…
-m
Donna Dyble says
Great post. I am currently planning a new high gloss white kitchen called Faktum(think it has a different name over the pond) I am upset to discover after clicking the links throughout your post that rip off Britain strikes again! It seems that the prices are the same in $ as they are in £ which makes the UK prices 1/3 more expensive :( I really don’t understand why when Sweden is much closer to the UK than it is to the US. Very dissapointed with Ikea for doing this.