Putting the Cart Before the Horse

Yet another perk of working from home - being able to nip off to IKEA on a weekday & avoid the crowds.  We headed down to our local store this morning after breakfast, were home in time for lunch, and then I worked from afternoon into evening, as per usual.  Perfect!

At any rate, the scene above is what greeted us at the top of the escalator - the very outdoor furniture set I've been drooling over for almost a year!  We plopped down to check it out, wrote down the warehouse location numbers, and were off through the showroom & marketplace (where we snagged this, this, and this on the way by).  Then, it was into the warehouse to sit on more outdoor furniture and make a final decision.

We ended up bringing the following pieces home (and yes, they all fit in my little Saturn because I am a flat-pack-box-tetris-master):

• This drop-leaf table (same as the one above)
• Two of these armchairs (ditto)
• This umbrella (same design as the one above, but in grey)
• This bench
• And this sectional (minus the back cushions)*

For those of you keeping score at home, all of that acacia wood outdoor furniture, plus the little things we picked up in the marketplace, rang in at well under $1K.  Try buying all of that at West Elm or Pottery Barn for less than double the price!

Of course, it all looks this at the moment.  And we don't have immediate plans to start assembly, because it's all going on this deck:

Oh wait, there's no deck there yet.  Well, I guess that's next on the list.

*this was the one thing we hadn't planned to buy.  The plan was to bring home two chaise lounges, which would have been cheaper overall.  But, Justin said he loved the sectional and he does not use that word about objects lightly.  When he says it, I listen.