IKEA

The 10th Ultimate IKEA Bargain

Apartment Therapy just ran a piece on their 9 Ultimate Cheap Chic Classics from IKEA and I decided I needed to chime in on my own 10th item. I don’t disagree with the items they are listing. After all, I have mentioned their number 1 item, the Stockholm Rand rug extensively before, I have used their #2 item, the Billy Bookcase in pretty much every space I have lived in and I am currently using a pair of their number 7 item, the Malm Dresser in my elder daughter’s bedroom. But I think the best bargain at IKEA these days – and one that is nowhere near as over exposed as the other nine – is the Tobias chair shown in our dining room above. Lately, I have noticed it popping up in some higher end places, so I think there are those out there who are agreeing with me.

At 79 dollars (or 265 Qatari Riyals), the price is excellent. In Japan, the chair is just over 15,000 Yen, so it’s about twice as expensive, but everything imported has about that same mark-up. I had never really given the Tobias any thought or attention until I moved to Doha, where IKEA plays an even bigger role in basic necessities than it did in Japan, and certainly than it ever did in the USA. I don’t think there is a single piece of IKEA anything at our beach house. When looking for chairs here to go with our Saarinen Tulip Table and Louis XV style chairs, they seemed like the perfect inexpensive placeholders until we found what we “really” wanted. Ironically, they have become a favorite item, being incredibly comfortable, easy to care for and slide effortlessly across the newly installed Madeline Weinrib dhurrie.

The flatweave/tulip table/Tobias chair combo is not a particularly new one, but it just works.

What has caught my eye lately is the places it has been popping up. I noticed them in the May issue of Elle Decor, in Ellen Rakieten’s Anne Coyle designed LA apartment. About as different as can be from her Chicago library – one of those all time favorite rooms of mine.

The larger room deserves a peek too, as it is making me continue to mourn the loss of the French chairs and desk I had scored.

Caught the smoky gray version of the Tobias in the portfolio of Michelle R. Smith when I was writing about her last week. There are also numerous other example all over the internet of it paired with farmhouse tables showing how it plays well and mixes well.

And they have recently launched a lilac version so I’ll be curious to see what folks do with that one. Girls room desk chair anyone?

What’s your favorite IKEA bargain?

Image credits: 1-2, me, 3. Elements of Style, 4-5. Elle Decor May 2014, photo credit: William Abranowicz, 6. Michelle R. Smith, 6. IKEA.

May 16, 2014 By tokyojinja in Furniture, Interior Design 6 Comments Tags: Anne Coyle, Ellen Rakieten, IKEA, Madeline Weinrib, Michelle R. Smith, Tobias chair, Tulip table

Dining Room Decision Made…Oval Saarinen Tulip Table

So I didn’t have a chance to post properly on this before our winter holiday trip but the Saarinen table was delivered just hours before we left for the airport. Yay! You can see that I went off to vacation extremely happy as the table looks even more amazing in the space than I had hoped!

For those of you just tuning in, earlier this fall I posted a three-part series (here, here and here) on trying to decide what to choose for our dining room. Years in small homes in NYC and Tokyo meant that we never really had space for a proper dining room set up. After writing about the Saarinen table as option 2, a dear friend living in Malaysia wrote to say that she had one and didn’t need it anymore as she was moving back to an already furnished home in the US! Since the table is not available here in Doha we looked into shipping and it really wasn’t an unreasonable proposition for a table this fabulous. Six weeks or so later, it arrived.

I always planned to do a mix of chairs as I find a matched set around the oval table to feel very heavy and dull (peek in Google images and you’ll agree). Mid-century chairs are one of my favorite looks but there are none to be had here. On the other hand, a curvy French chair, like this bergère, also sets off the lines of the table perfectly.

French chairs look great mixed with more modern ones too.

Remember those French chairs I got for free? That story still needs to be told but when I got them I knew they would be perfect for the table – it was just a matter of reupholstery. While I am still considering patterned fabrics, the light backgrounds on those seem like they might disappear against all that white and pale gray. I’ve also been weighing up using a solid, in particular a strong clear green to pick up the color from the Japanese screen at the other end of the room.

To balance out the more serious formality of those (and perhaps because I just don’t have many other choices here) we are going with 4 IKEA Tobias Chairs to round out the seating. Using a clear lucite chair with the tulip table is common as it lets the lines of the table shine through with less leg clutter. Typically people use a Louis-style Ghost chair but I have seen only a single one for sale here and I never actually find them that comfortable to sit in. The Tobias is very comfy, simple and so inexpensive that they can serve as placeholders until I find something else.

I’ve been assuming the addition of a Madeline Weinrib dhurrie underneath for some time. I’m thinking Mandala in Platinum or Steel, but more likely the former as I love the striations in the weave.

The fun part is layering in the unusual accessories. The long stored Chinese embroidered bed valence is coming out for the window treatment.

A pair of Italian gilt sconces that I scooped up antiquing in New Jersey this summer will be the new family coat of arms.

A gallery wall of favorite art including this etching by Shinji ANDO as well as my many shrine sale finds will grace the wall above the Empire dresser, which funnily enough is the first real piece of antique furniture I ever bought as a young adult. It has followed us from home to home, country to country and is still one of my favorites.

And a massive gorgeous painting by Doha based artist Pip Hoy will be the centerpiece of the opposite wall.

So not to get ahead of myself, but here’s a sneak peek of progress as I publish…

Not finished with all the art hanging, but as you can see, I’ve been a busy beaver since we got back.

Image credits: All photos via my Instagram feed or as linked with the exception of #2. Lilly Bunn, #3. credit unknown, photo via The Green Room Interiors.

Jan 13, 2014 By tokyojinja in Doha Move, Furniture, Interior Design, Rugs and Carpets 14 Comments Tags: dining chairs, dining room, dining table, Eero Saarinen, IKEA, Madeline Weinrib, Tobias chair, Tulip table

Carpet Conundrum…Adding Warmth to the Tile Floor

Some hard-core procrastinating happening over here as I just can’t bear to look at another box. I’ve managed to clear away some of the detritus and have started to place our furniture. It’s very easy to move everything around because the tile floors are smooth and indestructible. When I looked at houses last spring it bummed me out that everything everywhere was tiled, but I am really loving how light they are and the glow they add to the room by being reflective in the sunlight. And let’s face it, it is also an incredible shopping opportunity for rugs!

I’m showing you the living room as it looks right now, definitely against my better judgement. It’s like showing a photo of myself, unshowered, with no make up or accessories – you know what I mean. But the basic building blocks are these, as well as a lacquer tansu (seen recently here) on the left wall that you can’t see and a second coffee table (ideally brass and glass) as yet unpurchased. I’m doing the double coffee table thing both to fill the space and because I just love the way unmatched ones look together. Lots of art to go up on that blank wall and longtime readers will recognize many shrine sale goodies in this photo already taking on a different feel and a new life.

Originally I was just going to have my sweet husband order big squares of bound jute or sisal for the living room, dining room and TV room to cover almost all of the tile before we even got here. In the TV room I have two antique carpets to lay down over it, a kilim and a Khotan, but nothing for the other two rooms. I’m glad he didn’t get to it because I have been having second thoughts and all kinds of other rug ideas, particularly for the living room.

Over the summer I decided a great idea might just be to buy a big bound square of lavender carpet – certainly a cheap and easy choice – much like the one in Vanessa Bruno’s Paris loft below. Instead of living lavender dreams with wall color, I could have it on the floor, a lovely mix with the warm gray walls. But as I have been pulling things out here all week, there is starting to be too much color on everything else to want that much on the floor. The pink chairs had been hidden under slip covers and it is great to see them out in the light again. Sigh, but I do love this space, so perhaps its an idea for the girls’ bedrooms.

Another option that would be very appropriate is a Madeline Weinrib dhurrie, whether it be a Brooke or a Mandala or a less used pattern like the Wes featured below in an Ashli Mizell design. For the sake of brevity, I’m not going to show photos, you all know what I am talking about anyway or click the links to scroll her carpets. Madeline also has a great Pinterest page with tons of unpublished projects featuring her designs – it’s well worth a browse! I’ve never really seen a room look bad with one of hers on the floor, so I am considering it, but I feel like the very flat dhurries just don’t warm up the tiles enough to use in the living space. I don’t think I want that much of a dominant color either, for the same reason I nixed the lavender carpet. I do think one might be ideal under the dining table, but that’s for discussion some other time.

If I want to go neutral but graphic in the living room we could use black and white stripes, either Madeline Weinrib’s Buche or the easy inexpensive option would be an IKEA Stockholm, especially as IKEA just opened here this spring (a little bit of copy cat chic going on there too). The large size is just big enough for the space. But somehow it feels too bold and graphic and like a dhurrie, not quite warm enough. Especially since this Nate Berkus room was published, I feel like it is everywhere too!

I am utterly obsessed with the rug in Susan Hable Smith‘s living room (and the entire room for good measure) but it seems to be a custom one-off made for her by Elson & Co. based on one of her fabric designs. Maybe she is bored of it by now ands wants to sell it to me?

That rug leads me right back to Ms. Weinrib, who tends to decorate not so much with her own dhurries, but often with vintage Moroccan Beni Ourain rugs. They have the same simple colors and graphic quality as the rug above but with the added comfort and texture of the thick wool pile. Made by the Berber tribes in the Atlas regions of Morocco, they were originally used as warm bedding. Beni Ourains have been hugely trendy and desirable for a while now although their popularity in the design world reaches way back into the early 20th century. While I had always liked them, they had never been on my “must have” list as I tend to like my rugs very patinated and almost threadbare. But that shaggy warmth might be just what the tiles need! Madeline uses them at home in NYC…

…and out in the Hamptons. This room has so many of the same pieces that I have in my space. Chesterfield? Check! Octagonal Syrian style table? Check! (Hidden between the pink slipper chairs)

Funky brass stool? Check! Silk ikat? Check! No horns though, although I do spy some thread spools in my photo.

She even has a Chinese “antique” cabinet and some porcelain garden stools, East Asian mixes so well with Moroccan. For more of this great house, check out Hamptons Cottages & Gardens.

Yet another Asian meets eclectic interior from Ballard & Malson features a Beni Ourain. Dark lacquer cabinet? Check! (The aforementioned hidden tansu).

Pretty pastel chair? Check! The Scandinavians just have such a way with pale colors!

Trunk for a coffee table? Check! Jenny Wolf does it here in this NYC loft. I wonder what Mr. Yamamoto would make of me using his trunk as a coffee table?

I’ve spied a few promising rug shops here in Doha in my reading online but they seem to specialize in tribal pieces from Afghanistan and other eastern regions (which won’t stop me from visiting them, don’t worry!) So I’m thinking buying a Beni Ourain might just mean I need to take a trip to Morocco. Anyone interested?

Aug 31, 2013 By tokyojinja in Doha Move, Furniture, Interior Design, Rugs and Carpets 11 Comments Tags: Ashli Mizell, Ballard & Malson, Beni Ourain, dhurrie, flatweave, IKEA, Jenny Wolf, Madeline Weinrib, Moroccan, Nate Berkus, Susan Hable Smith, Vanessa Bruno

Teenage Wasteland…Bringing Life to Bridget’s Bedroom

Right now I am working on a really fun project, quite different from my usual style. It is a bedroom for a teenager with a strong sense of what she likes without knowing how to make it get that way. Rather than giving me a list of furniture or a design style, her inspiration photos, sourced by her on Tumblr, communicate emotion and personality – a distinct mood. Take a look….

What do these all have in common? A dreamy feel. Obviously little white sparkle lights, perhaps even with tiny lanterns are an absolute given, as is a collage wall of photos, ephemera and other goodies. She is already at work collecting pictures and images she likes. The de-riguer Apple lap top which is a requirement for high school she already has. What these photos also have in common is what they don’t have, i.e. there is no significant or important furniture or art, which bodes well for the budget. On the other hand, the room needs to be more than just some sparkly white lights. It needs to be functional and practical and perhaps able to mature along with its owner.

The room itself is absolute Tokyo standard – small, with ugly off-white wallpaper and carpet and no interesting architectural features. Tracy the bear has to stay.

Her other dictates are also quite clear:

She loves bright pink.

She doesn’t like “Asian”.

And her mom’s dictates are clear too:

She needs the room to grow with her.

This needs to be done on a budget.

My additional inspiration photos for desk and orderly display include quite a bit of white and pink, containers for order, cute desk lamps and a mid-century modern chair. (From here, here, and here.)

Our resources here in Tokyo are limited, particularly on a budget. I know readers in the US and elsewhere think of Japan as a design mecca, but when it comes to reasonably sized furniture (as in not miniature) at reasonable prices, the selection here is very small. We have IKEA, shrine sales for an occasional find, IKEA, antique stores, IKEA, some sweet boutiques and mail order for accessories, and IKEA. We can’t paint or change anything and arguably can’t even put holes in the wall.

That she doesn’t love “Asian” can’t really go over well as that is one of our only pools of choice. I think it requires a bit of trickery – choosing things Japanese that she doesn’t consciously read as Japanese. For instance, one of the key pieces in the design is this hot pink shibori silk kimono obi for a window valence bought at a shrine sale. Quintessentially Japanese, but to her it reads as funky tie-dye. It has her pink and a soft accent of turquoise, which we will also be using.

IKEA, IKEA, IKEA

While an absolutely amazing resource, we don’t mean for the space to end up looking like one of the little sample rooms at the store. That being said, items from IKEA will be the backbone of the design, in particular this black and white Stockholm Rand dhurrie rug.

We have pulled this living room photo as a working tool. The black and white rug grounds the pink and makes it more sophisticated and eclectic. It also allows for later changes and updates. My theory on these Rand rugs is that we should all buy one and put it away. Some day soon IKEA will stop making them and we will all be reminiscing about them for years.

The brand new issue of Lonny also had a perfect inspiration space for this project. Here the striped rug is actually a zig zag, but it has just the kind of bedding mix we want to put together – white background and pink and turquoise accents. Note the mid-century chair here too. (You need to look left and right here as it is the same room in this screen shot.)

For bedding ideas we can turn to the internet, especially since the sizes of local linens doesn’t match the US standard sizes, and order things to be sent to a friend’s house in the USA and shipped here. We will stop into some cute local design stores here that aren’t a fortune too, like Franc Franc and Afternoon Tea, for throw pillows and other accessories like desk lamps and organizers.

I am still on the hunt for the perfect duvet cover, but this Nile cover from West Elm on big sale for $24.99 might do. I’d really rather find something more like the Roberta Roller Rabbit duvet in the Lonny photo above.

We are all loving this long accent bolster from Pine Cone Hill.

Perhaps a splurge on a special elephant pillow from John Robshaw or Jonathan Adler. The choice depends on which way we swing the mood.

And we definitely plan to add some turquoise with either a quilt like these – the Amanda or Big Cata from Roberta Roller Rabbit…

…or a little turquoise trellis, quatrefoil or zig zag in a pillow or two, like this one from Urban Outfitters.

The desk and chair combo needs a little modern sleekness mixed with vintage style. Although the room could use a little brown wood to weight it and keep it from being too child-like, we’d take Carla Fahden‘s exact set-up as-is – vintage white wicker desk with hot pink bentwood chair and turquoise peanut lamp. The lamp is on sale at Pier One right now, so maybe we can order it along with the little white string lights and add it to our box coming from the US.

We are likely to look for a good mid-century desk that could travel with her to her adult life, like this one via Houzz. And I really continue to think the room needs some wood to warm it up…

There are plenty of vintage bentwood chairs at the shrine sales if we want to go that direction, whether in wood or painted pink!

Here’s a mid-century desk + plastic Eames type chair from a great Etsy shop – too bad they can’t ship to Japan.

We could use the IKEA Snille in white (or pink!) and shop Meguro-dori for a desk to get the look above…

We are planning on hunting up the more unique accessories at shrine sales in the coming weeks. I’ll let you know how this develops and hope to have a full reveal quite soon – teenage clients are very impatient!

Sep 13, 2012 By tokyojinja in Expat Life, Furniture, Interior Design, Kids, Lighting, Rugs and Carpets, Shrine Sales and Flea Markets, Textiles 16 Comments Tags: bedroom, collage wall, IKEA, mid century modern, pink, teen, white lights