Today, I ventured over to Ikea to look for something (that they didn’t have) for a project I’m working on. More on that another day. But, I had some time to kill before picking up Zack from preschool, so I thought I’d take a look at their fabric selections (after eating a healthy serving of Swedish meatballs and Lingonberry sauce).  I must say that I was pleasantly surprised!

I’ve never taken the time to check out their by-the-yard fabrics, because I always just assumed that the prints were not my style.  Oh, how I have been wrong!  Not only are the prints fun (and I was told that the more modern, graphic prints will be in stores soon), but the quality is great and the price is right.  The fabric is decorator weight and is $8.99/yard at most, so if they have something that fits your style, that is a hard combination to beat.

I’m trying to inject more color into my home, and I was delighted to find this fabric for $7.99:

Annamoa in Light Yellow

The colors are much brighter in person than they show on my screen (for instance, what looks gold here is really bright orange) and the print is very large.  The blue is the same color as my dining room walls AND it showcases my unhealthy obsession with birds and birdcages.  Really.  You should talk to Susan about the number of bird cages I found at Round Top this weekend that I really wanted to buy.  It was obnoxious, but I still wish I would have bought one of the 4-foot tall ones we found.

Anyway, I was very excited to find this great fabric, and I can’t wait to run it through my sewing machine.  I’m not going to tell you what I’m going to do with it quite yet – because I’m still not sure myself – but it’s going to be cute!

If you have an Ikea nearby, I recommend you take a gander at their fabric choices the next time you need a bold print.  Here are a few more that I like:

Britten Nummer

Grönska Blom

They even have solids, such as this beige linen (for just $5.99/yard):

Aina in Natural

Have you ever used Ikea fabric in a project?  Tell me what you did with it!

P.S. My BEFF (Best Etsy Friend Forever), David @ BasilicusJones, is having another “like” giveaway on Facebook!  He’s created a darling dog tag for your canine companion made from a vintage spoon.  So creative!  Win it by “liking” BasilicusJones on Facebook.

Finding the perfect piece of furniture for a certain space can be a challenge. Whether you are scouring thrift stores or are having a custom piece created from Bassett Furniture, it’s likely to take a lot of time to get it just right.

I always have a list of items I am looking for a thrift stores.  Currently, that list includes a wooden chair to be reupholstered, a footed side table of some sort (maybe round?) and a sideboard or long dresser – all pieces for my master bedroom redo.  I’m also looking for cheap (i.e. less than $5) wooden chairs that I can use for another project, hopefully to be completed this summer.

Our seventh wedding anniversary was this past Monday, and Tom and I decided to treat ourselves to a fancy, new LED flat screen TV for the bedroom.  We used to never spend time in the bedroom watching TV, so our huge, ugly TV was fine.  But, since we discovered that watching TV in our bedroom instead of the living room in the evenings keeps the kids from waking up once we’ve put them to bed (yeah, it took us FIVE YEARS to figure that one out!), we wanted a brand new TV.

So, the sideboard or dresser I’ve been wanting has been moved to the top of the list.  I don’t want the new TV to hang on the wall, so I need a great piece of furniture for it to call home.  I want the piece to be long and I don’t want it to be too tall.  And yeah, I want it to be cheap since I will likely be refinishing it somehow.

Yesterday, Emma and I set off on my first thrifting adventure in ages.  We found a few pieces that may work:

At stop number 1, we found this piece.  If you look past the honey colored wood, the mismatched drawer pulls, and the eleventy billion price stickers, you’ll see that it has a fun shape.  The drawers were a little wonky, so they’d need some work.  I think this one was $80, which is more than I wanted to spend on something Tom is going to have to fix.

Stop number 2 introduced me to this piece.  It’s very nice and will likely not need any work at all.  For a vintage piece in this condition, it’s a steal at $80.  But, I don’t think it’s quite long enough for my space.

I found this piece at stop 3 and I LOVE it.  I’m totally gaga over it, actually.  Imagine it painted gray with all of that fun detailing glazed black.  I think I’d even keep the pulls, but I’d definitely lose the mirror.  Sadly, it’s $125.  This store would probably work with me a little bit on the price, but I don’t know how much lower they’d go.  If I’m still thinking about her after the weekend, I think she may be the one – and if fate would have it and she’s still there.  A lot of my thrifting decisions are based on fate, as you’ll see below.

Then, I found her at stop 4.  She’s perfect – and only $25.  I kid you not – $25.  There are shelves behind the right hand doors and drawers behind the left.  I stupidly decided to run it by Tom to see if he liked it – and it was gone by the time I went back to get it this morning.  ::Shakes fist at universe::

SQUEAL WORTHY UPDATE: My husband went after work and bought Dresser #3 for me.  I could die.  Man, I have the world’s best husband.

Anyway, I’ve now learned not to ever walk away from a great piece at a perfect price.  Live and learn, my friends, live and learn.  But, do you know doesn’t have to worry about walking away from such an awesome deal?  Suzanne, that’s who!

A HUGE congrats and oh-my-gosh-I-wish-I-was-you goes out to Commenter 124, Suzanne from Meridian Road, for being the randomly selected winner of the Bassett Furniture $500 giftcard.  What a win, girl!  You need to be doing the world’s biggest happy dance!

Thanks again to Bassett Furniture for the amazing giveaway and gorgeous furniture options.  Going custom is seriously the best way to find a perfect piece of furniture.  Otherwise, you’ll be just like me – running all over town in search of something that may not even exist!