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long-distance design help while shopping at ikea
I was supposed to be in NYC last weekend to help my sister purchase some furniture and furnishings for her new apartment. She just moved in a few weeks ago and desperately needed help making it look descent. My sister is a psychologist and wants to start seeing clients at her own home, which means she has to be able to convert her living room to an office in an instant.
With a time limit of only two weekends, we decided to try and get as much stuff from Ikea and complement it with furnishings from other shops. I had to postpone my trip to NYC, but promised to be available online and over the phone while they were in ikea . And this is exactly what we did with fairly good results.
With smartphones and online access everywhere it's easy to communicate ideas. We were texting and talking throughout the whole time, so that she was able to focus on the stuff I thought would be suitable for her place.
Being familiar with Ikea's products, which vary in quality and style. I could help my sister focus on the better choices. After all, there's only a limited amount of time the average shopper can spend at IKEA before running for the exit.
So here's the huge advantage of one of us NOT being in the store at the time of shopping - unlike my sister, who was constantly distracted by the mass of people and overwhelmed by the thousands of products in the store, I was able to focus on each product without being overwhelmed. This was a huge help to her. She, on the other hand, was able to sit, touch and feel the furniture pieces and tell me which ones were comfortable for her.
Later I realized there was another advantage to this combined effort - while in the store, one could easily overlook a great choice of sofa, for example, only because it's upholstered with an ugly fabric. Unlike her, I was looking at the same sofa online, and was able to see all the choices she had for that sofa and point out out the good ones. Not everyone can visualize it otherwise, and that's were I cam handy.
so here's what we picked so far:
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| IKEA's KIVIK sofa, in light gray |
This sofa has an extra advantage - you can change the upholstery but simply stripping it off and buying a new one when it's worn.
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| IKEA's POANG leather chair |
The Poang chair has been an IKea product for many years for a good reason. It's reasonably priced and with multiple choices of fabric and wood finishes. Changing the upholstered cushion is easy too.
Here's some ideas for rugs:
Or this one:
These rugs would nice:
Here are some window treatment suggestions (top and bottom are from Target, the second one is from IKEA)
So next week, I plan to go down to NYC and help my sister buy a rug, some lighting, window treatments coffee table and some pillows.
If you're planning a shopping at IKEA and would like some help with choosing the right products for your project, contact me. We can discuss your needs before your IKEA trip, and I would be able to help you while you are shopping, no matter how far you are from Newton, MA, where I live,
my contact info:
vered@veredrosendesign.com
617-584-9965
houzz
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