Did You Know That Ikea Is Amazing For Montessori Inspired Equipment?

You guys know that I love me some Swedish home design goods! I popped down to Ikea last month for some new bedding, yay! And even though I didn't need anything from the kids section, I still had to take a poke through, they have just released a while new range of open ended toys and these are some of my favourite oldies but goodies!

Play food - Every kids should have some kind of play food and kitchen set up, it is great for language development and can be used in so many ways. We actually had a combination of plastic, wooden (with velcro so you could cut it) and fabric/felt food. Ebi-kun got hours of fun out of it.

Ikea Fruit Basket

I really wish they had this tea set available when Ebi-kun was little, it is perfectly sized for little hands, ceramic - so kids learn to take care of it properly and can be used for real, not just as a play set.

Ikea Tea Set

Balance beam, this is like an extension of walking on the line, if you have the space, it would be great to have indoors, especially when you have kids bouncing off the walls because they need to get their wriggles out.

Ikea Balancing Beam

Cooking set, I don't think you can actually cook with these but they make a great addition to the play kitchen. 

Ikea Cookware Set

Hooks! They have loads of great hooks which can be set up at child height so the kids can hang things up by themselves and also a lot of the kids furniture is actually made with the kids in mind, making it easy for them to open/reach. Plus a lot of it is made with a fun design!

Wall hooks

We have several steps in out home, what I like about this one is that it has handles, making it easier for the child to move it around. You should have a step at the sink so your child can wash their hands and then anywhere else where they might not be tall enough to reach yet. We have one in the closet for the game boards, they are on a higher shelf and one that lives downstairs and gets used when Ebi-kun is working in the kitchen.

Ikea Step Stool

A thin shelf! These are brilliant, especially if you are lacking in space. Ebi-kuns bed had a small gap between the bed and the wall so we used these to make shelves, I have moms in My Organized Chaos who have used them for reading nooks. A handful of books can be places forward facing, easy for the child to see and take down and return. We also use them for pictures, it means it's much easier to rotate artwork.

Picture ledge

Handy when you are potty training and the actually toilet seat is too big for your little ones little bum.

kids toilet seat

These shelves work well for Montessori work. The square shelving unit that is very popular at Ikea is difficult to work with because the space is too small to fit shelves on, this on the other hand is much better size wise.

Storage combo shelves

I know not everyone is an Ikea fan but I do like that they design with the kids in mind and their prices are reasonable, there aren't many other companies you can say that about.

Are you an Ikea fan? What is your favourite child orientated piece of equipment/furniture?

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On Being Stopped In The Street…

Ahh, the price of fame! We went to the grocery shopping yesterday and I got stopped by a Japanese lady who wanted to tell me she had seen me in the Ikea magazine, it's not actually as an impressive tale as that, she is the mom of one of Ebi-kun's classmates. It was still quite funny though and although it is nearly the end of the school year, she has never spoken to me before.

Talking of Ikea…We went on Saturday, there were a few bits and bobs that I needed (yes, I include cider in that list!) so when we got there we asked for a copy of the magazine. from what I gather it is sent out to people who are members of their "family" club but when I explained that we were actually in the magazine, the member of staff went and got me one.

Of course, that meant we had to get the cheesy photo…

The Ultimate Kitchen Bootcamp started today so I have been super busy making sure everything is set up and ready to go, there are 265 fabulous ladies raring to go, the fun has already started in the Facebook group, it's not too late so if you want in, hop over here to sign up. I had better get back to it but I just wanted to leave you with this quote from one of my Clear The Clutter Rock Stars, it totally sums it up for me!

3 fool-proof ways to save money at Ikea

Yes, guess where I went on Saturday? Some may call me crazy but it actually wasn't that busy and I went alone so over all it was very pleasant. I had meatballs for lunch and actually got to eat all of them instead of certain members of the family who insist on ordering something different but then always have to 'try' my meatballs!

I know some people hate Ikea, despite marriages breaking up and people losing their sanity over flat-pack furniture I think that Ikea is a very cleverly marketed set up.

As soon as you walk through the door you are force to walk around the store the way they want you to, they make it difficult to back track so often you will put things in your trolley because you can't be arsed to go back later, going against the flow is seriously hard work.

I love how they have little rooms set up showing you several different ways of using the same thing, the rooms in Japan are usually standard sizes measured by tatami mats. When you are looking to rent a place it will say the room is 6 or 8 tatami for example. Ikea have many of their rooms set up to this standard sizing so you can see how the furniture would fit in your own room.

They tackle the BIG stuff first, conveniently have the restaurant placed in the middle of their forced walk through, just the right time to have a break! Then you hit the ever-so-dangerous small things section, you know, those things that you go - ohh only ¥199 and you pop it in the basket along with several other bargains. See what I mean - very clever, Japanese home-stores could learn a thing or two!

OK, how to save yourself money, because you know you wallet magically empties after a trip to Ikea!

1. Do your research.

Before you go, get on the Internet and have a good idea of exactly what you want - write it down. Sometimes you might narrow it down to 2 or 3 options but having a good idea of exactly what you need before you go will help with 'ohh look, bright shiny object' syndrome.

2. Only take cash.

Leave any credit card, debit cards or any other way of accessing money at home. Take only the cash budget you are willing to spend and as you go around the store keep a running total - those little items really add up!

3. Go by public transport

This only really works if you are going for some small items, I was after storage boxes. Don't get a trolley, use a bag, then you won't under estimate the weight of the bag you have got to carry home. There were a couple of things that made it into my bag which were kicked out again once I had got the storage boxes I wanted. I know you can have your purchases sent home but then, I had limited cash so that wasn't going to happen.

What I actually wanted were some new boxes to go in the TV unit. When we moved into the house we had some nice looking boxes but over the years the bottoms have fallen out of them. So they had been replaced with a right hodgepodge and the whole think looks unsightly. Oh course, I have been thinking, I will get some new ones when I see some I like.... and still the hodgepodge remained. Since we are doing the living room in the Clear The Clutter course this month, I decided this month was the month to sort it out!

I could do with one more of the cream boxes to replace the brown one, we got rid of the video player that we no longer use and I reorganised the other boxes, threw out a load of junk and I am much happier looking at the area now! Stop snickering at the ancient TV, it works - although it has it's moments sometimes! 

I am also tackling the computer area but I will show you that once it is finished. So, are you an Ikea lover or hater?