Small tweaks courtesy of Ikea

**I was not paid or perked by Ikea to write this post, I just love Ikea and was excited about my purchases to add some more pretty function to my small abode.

When I moved out to DC about 2.5 years ago I didn't bring a car with me and in the 2.5 years I've lived here I've gotten along pretty well without a car.  But something I've learned about not having a car is that when you hear one of your friends is going shopping with their car you immediately ask if you can go with them (only if you like the location they are going).  When my friend mentioned that she was planning on going to Ikea and then some outlet malls I jumped on that like white on rice and asked if I could accompany her on the excursion.

I looked through the Ikea catalog online, measured spaces in my apartment and then created a shopping list using Ikea's shopping list feature on their website (I am obsessed in love with lists).  We managed to go early on a Saturday morning so we also splurged and got breakfast there. Yep, I know how to party.

An hour and a half later we left Ikea, and I was immensely proud of spending only $60, especially since I only get to Ikea once every 6 months or so, so I tend to stock up when I do go.  Here are a few updates to my place featuring some of the things I bought at Ikea:

First up, I really, really needed to organize the clutter on our table.  The table is in our entry way/living room/pantry/only space to hang out and it has become a dumping ground for mail and a bunch of other stuff that makes a neat freak like me want to scream every time I see it.

 Luckily I found these Kassett magazine folder, at Ikea 2 for $3.99.  Good, easy solution for under $4?  Yes please!  I got to label both of them, one for me and one for my roommate Katie.

Next up, also in the entry way/living room/pantry/only space to hang out, was our shoes.  Being two young women in one apartment we have a ridiculous healthy amount of shoes between us.  I have brought these wire racks with me from my first place in DC and have always hated them and hated how cluttered they make the entry way look.  I could ignore it in our last house since as soon as the door was opened it was behind the door - here it just screams "DISORDER & MESS!" Anyone else hear it? No? Just me?

 At Ikea, I wasn't sure what I was going to find but I know I needed to find something because I was sick of our shoes being all over.  Luckily, when I was in Ikea my friend and I spotted this shoe cabinet, Bissa, after considering some recycling bins that I thought could work - but this was so much better.  At $24.99 it wasn't too expensive, and after living with wire shelves for over 2 years, I was ready to commit.

  So much better, right?  I love how it also provided a table top space to relocate the key bowl, sunglasses and a happy plant (which I may need to water) so I could free up space on our mail dumping ground shown above.  It's so beautiful and fits both of our shoes really well.  I can see us having issues with tall boots in the Fall, but to be honest, the tall boots didn't work in the wire shelves either so I'll just have to live with those laying out - or maybe tucked to the left of this beautiful guy.

Side note: I love the shoe holder so much that I would love to use a few of them in the bottom of my closet to wrangle my shoes, instead of cheap plastic bins like these, which I like but Bissa is so much prettier!