My Ikea Dining Room

Who DOESN'T love IKEA lately?  I know, I know, the parking lots are HUGE and always jam packed, the product names make me feel like I need a translator to simply ask for help locating an item, I can only hope and pray that I find my way out of the maze they call a store - god help me when I have to double back for something I missed - and once I locate an item I'm seeking on the showroom floor, fingers crossed it is in stock once I finally make my way down to the warehouse. 

I'm tired just thinking about it.

With all that said, their prices and great design make it all worth it, in my opinion.  I tried my hand, for the first time, at using Olioboard to create an IKEA reproduction of a dining room I'm kind of crushing on, and that I found recently on Pinterest (follow me!).  Here is what I came up with:

...and here is my inspiration....

Tiffany Eastmant Interiors

Here are a few other dining rooms that are similar and helped inspire my design:

via BHG, seen on Nestegg

two images above seen on Greige

These dining rooms all have a common theme: they are an eclectic mix of traditional, modern, and funky pieces that create a chic and collected look.  I've pinned all these images over the past few weeks at separate times.  At least I'm consistent in what I'm drawn to, no?  I feel that the products I found at IKEA help convey the feeling of the designer inspiration room.  Here is my IKEA Dining Room again:



Ferle Curtains $14.99 a pair / Ung Drill Mirror $39.99 / STRANDMON Wing chair, Vellinge blue $279.99 / IKEA PS 2012 Armchair $79.99 / Docksta Table $199.00 / KOLDBY Cowhide $199.00 / EMMIE KVIST

Cushion $9.99

DISCLAIMER.  The amazing chandelier in my recreated room is the only item on my inspiration board that is not IKEA.  I tried, I really did, to make it work with the lighting from IKEA.  But this chandelier....it makes the room.  So a splurge is worth it for certain items, don't you think?  That is how I handle my own spaces, so why not my imaginary IKEA dining room? 

I'm sure this Oly Studio Jenny Chandelier from Layla Grace is a splurge, because the pricing isn't even available at the website.  However, I did find a cheaper DIY alternative if you are crafty that Jennifer at the Chronicles of Home made:

Isn't it amazing? I believe this could be tweaked to a shape that looks more like the Oly Studio Jenny Chandelier.

Here is the process I went through to recreate the room, if you are interested.  I started with three easy product matches: the cowhide rug, the pedestal table, and the grey and white curtains.  With those items in place, I moved onto the chairs.  IKEA didn't have a good traditional match for the inspiration room dining chairs.  So, I browsed IKEA's selection to find a product with an eye catching design and that fit within the modern slant of the room.  I narrowed my choice down to these two:

IKEA Tobias Char $79.99 / IKEA PS 2012 Armchair $79.99

Both chairs would work in this space.  However, my cowhide rug, unlike my inspiration room, had a large amount of black.  Therefore, I decided to play off of that and draw more black into the room with the IKEA PS Chair.  Given that both of these chairs are more modern than the ones in the inspiration room, I used a traditional print pillow to contrast the modern shape and sleekness of the chair design. 

At this point, my modern elements outbalanced my traditional, so I thought bringing a traditional mirror into the room could help balance that.  These are the two mirrors I considered for this room, both great looking and well priced:

Levanger Mirror $84.99 / UNG DRILL Mirror $39.99

The UNG Mirror had a great eclectic feel, so it won out.  However, I would personally spray the frame of the mirror gold as I think it would look more interesting that way.

Finally, I wasn't happy with the selection of traditional IKEA couches to recreate my inspiration rooms tufted bench.  So, I decided to browse their chairs and found this:

I think two of these wingbacks in navy was the perfect alternative to my inspiration rooms tufted bench, no?

So there you have it!  A collected and eclectic looking IKEA Dining Room.

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking at: Common Ground / My Romantic Home