Help me shop IKEA

[lalaland42]

Next week I have to furnish an entire 2 bedroom apartment including everything. All I have now is a potato peeler, box grater and mini muffin pan.

I have a 4 year old DD and a baby (boy) on the way, oh and DH. We live in Europe which means the apartment will not come with drapes or light fixtures but fortunately IKEA sells those. It also means that we have exactly 1 closet in the whole apartment.

Here is what I know I need:

dining table and 4-6 chairs or 2-4 chairs + bench
buffet table for storing flatware, napkins, etc.
sofa bed or futon - prefer it to be a comfy place to sit
drapes and rods
light fixtures for kitchen, dining room, living room/playroom, DD's room, my room
bed where we can cosleep with baby and DD can crawl into (beds are small here so this might be a pipe dream)
wardrobe/dresser for us
nightstand

bed for DD. I was thinking of getting a slightly bigger than kids bed because DH and I've been sleeping separately. DD isn't ready to stop cosleeping yet and the bed isn't big enough for the 3 of us.
dresser for DD
toy storage for DD
small table for coloring, etc. with chairs

computer desk with 1 chair. We don't need/have an office.

storage?

storage rack for the 1 closet in the apartment. The previous tenants had a floor to ceiling one and it seemed to work well.

plates/flatware/glasses
pots and pans
various kitchen stuff


So. Do you have a favorite thing or something you wish you had never bought? Any suggestions? I am feeling a little overwhelmed.

[lucyem]

I would recommend going slowly. Needs always change as you live in a space. Especially as you work out what you will need for storage. Divide up your list into smaller lists by room and then "Need immediately" "Need Soon" "Need Eventually".

You need a mattress, children need beds immediately. A dresser maybe not the first few nights so put it on the soon list. Toy storage can wait a bit so eventually. Light fixtures immediately. Dishes immediately. Bedside tables eventually. These are just my thoughts.

Can you shop Ikea online? I did that before we go and it always helps me think about things.

I have also seen kits for kitchens. Like a set of pots/pans and a set of dish ware with plates and utensils.

[carseatqueen]

One suggestion for the bed: You could get a Queen that would work well with a crib side-cared to your bed. We've done this with my DS2 and it works great. Even though he ends up in our bed after 1am I can lay next to him and nurse him at nap time and I don't have to wory about him falling off since he likes to sleep right next to the edge of our bed. Your older DD could sleep in it too. I'm not sure if Ikea's cribs would work for this, though. Since we've had our crib for ages I've never looked close at theirs- just seen them in the store.

We love our DS1s Kura loft, and I've slept in it before- mostly when I was pregnant and he was still holding onto his 4am nursing session. I usually just fell beck asleep in his bed till morning. I think it would work for a smaller parent like DH and I both are. I love the pay area underneath since DS can leave a mess under there and it looks confined and not as messy as "toys on the floor." You could also have your DD sleep under if when she is older- that's our plan for DS2.

I think if you're going to Ikea you will get lots of ideas. Have you been before? Their room set-ups are really neat and since you aren't working around other stuff you already have you should end up with great functinoal pieces. If we don't move into something a teenie bit larger soon I might talk DH into redoing out bedroom furniture (except the bed) with all Ikea stuff to get better storage.

[bezark]

Oh boy.. I loves me some IKEA.

This is my favorite light fixture. I just got it for my new dining room, and I'm seriously considering getting another for the master bedroom.

All of our dressers are from the Hemnes series. They're really well made as far as IKEA furniture goes, and the drawers are a good size.

I realize not everyone shares this feeling, but I LOVE the Trollsta sideboard, and it will soon be going in my dining room. In yellow, no less.

I wish I'd never bought a Klippan sofa. I had 2 of them for my very first apartment, and they were awful. Like sitting on a stack of cinder blocks. I got rid of them within 2 months.

I wish I could have 10 Poang chairs. For the price, the comfort can't be beat.

[flowmom]

The NORDEN series of dining tables is excellent -- solid wood and you could dance on them. We have the round one that doesn't seem to be for sale any more, but they do have rectangular ones.

Toy and craft storage: the TROFAST series is excellent -- get the solid wood ones with the grooves. The price is good and the bins are cheap, multisized, and really sturdy.

For a dining table, I like the FOTO pendant -- I spray-painted mine cream.

I'm not a big fan of sofa beds or futons -- I just have a rolled up foam mattress that I use for guests. For a sofa, I like our KLIPPAN loveseat, available in a variety of covers -- it's small and comfortable and fits an apt. well. It's not super loungey though. I don't have time for that . I mostly use to to read to my kids.

Instead of a desk, maybe you could use something like the IKEA PS laptop workstation.

For your bed, perhaps a MANDAL bed frame with storage boxes? Mostly solid wood and comes with coordinating nightstands, dressers and wardrobe.

I love our POANG chairs - they are comfortable and don't take up much "visual space" in a small living room.

Definitely browse through the catalogue:
http://onlinecatalog.ikea-usa.com/2010/ikea_catalog/US/

IKEA. It's guilty pleasure, for sure.

[annekevdbroek]

If you can get your hands on a catalog first I would start there. Even swing by the store and snag a catalog. I find it much easier then shopping online. Be sure you measure all rooms and figure out what will fit before you go.

Make a good shopping list before you start. You can just look up where the items are in the warehouse area - no need to visit the showroom for somethings. Get a babysitter - Ikea can take hours and hours. Here if you pay with a debit card you get a 3% store credit back- well worth it if that is available to you.

Will you pay for delivery? We did that once for a mattress and cabinets that were too big - it was $75 and it was delivered the same day.

Be prepared to spend a lot of time on assembly. It helps a lot to have a allen wrench attachment for a power drill.