The IKEA Haul

I mentioned earlier this week that on Monday, I went to IKEA with my friend Amber. She had a specific list of things she needed, but I just went along for the ride. Don't misunderstand: I shop with an open mind and can easily find things I "need," but I didn't go hunting for anything in particular.

I'm not saying this to justify a shopping trip, but I felt like I came home with a great group of practical, useful items that are going to make life in Shafferland a little bit better and cuter, too. Double win!

The first thing I found was probably the most impulsive thing I purchased. I found this adorable little alarm clock - a proper alarm clock, at that! I bought it for our guest room. I have never particularly stressed about not having an alarm clock in there because I know pretty much everyone uses phone alarms now, but I am the kind of person who just enjoys having a clock in every room. I like to glance at the time, and I appreciate having the option to do so. The guest room was one room that did not have a clock of any kind, and when I saw this one, it just screamed guest room clock! My décor in the guest room is red, black, and gray, so it's a perfect fit, it's little, it's alarm-functional if needed, and for the rest of the time, it's just cute.

Next up? These guys - which were HALF PRICE, thankyouverymuch. Because Ryan and I have started working with new ministries at church, I've been looking for ways to keep visible track of things we need to accomplish for them, so these metal sheets are the ticket. They're magnetic, so Ryan's going to hang them in the office for me and I'll designate one for each of the ministries. I can hang up prayer requests, brainstorms, reminders, and other bits of information that need to be sure to stay in front of my face! I love magnetic boards so much better than cork boards, because I always drop the thumbtacks and that's not great for bare feet! I'm still in the process of reorganizing the office, so I'm not ready for him to hang them yet, but they'll probably be up before the week is over! (Sorry for the randomly strange photo...I don't want to take off the protective plastic until we hang them!)

As some of you may remember, in our kitchen, we have a farmhouse style table with bench seats. I have absolutely fallen in love with the fact that the benches scoot completely underneath and allow me to work at the table as though it's an island, unobstructed by the tall backs of chairs. I wanted something similar in the office so I could take out the big, bulky chairs that have bruised me more than once when I've tripped over them. So I found these two cute little stools, assembled them myself, and we're actually going to just shuffle them back and forth between the desk (which is really a dining room table) and our podcasting table.. No need to have four chairs in the office when we can't sit in two places at once! And when we're not using the stools, they can just scoot under the table and be out of the way. No extra bulk!

I happened upon this strainer and decided to get it since it only cost a couple of dollars. I only have one strainer and many times I've wished for a second as I'm cooking so I don't have to stop and wash the one I have over and over in the same meal prep. (Another photo apology. I took pictures of everything the day I brought it home, and then I forgot to take a better one of this.)

A couple of my cutting boards are over ten years old and they're plastic. I'm trying to de-plastic our kitchen a little at a time, and I know those boards really need to go. They are so scuffed up and half the time they don't look clean, even though I know they've been well-washed. I found a couple of wooden cutting boards at a great price, so I got them to replace the old ones.

And finally, I found this set of nesting baskets, which I'm going to put in our bathroom (next up to be purged and organized) to hold makeup and all sorts of little things that need to be corralled in cute ways.

So I was very happy with my purchases, and I think Ryan liked them all, too! :) We're calling Monday an IKEA win! (Should we have gotten the hats?)