I was poking around Ikea’s website, just to see what was new, and I spotted two items — a wool Corrected: not wool rug and a translucent orchid-colored dining chair — that KaPowW, I was in love. So likety-click, I found a table and a bit of wall art to go with — and here we have it, a chic pop-art dining room that inspired us to revive our occasional Mid Mod Mad Mood Board series.
Golly, I wish I had a friend or a relative who need to quickly furnish a first house or apartment — I’d love to see this installed in the right space.
Kate tells me that when she was fresh out of college and moving 600 miles into an unfurnished rental, she used graduation money to pick up as much as possible from Ikea for her new place. At that point in her life, Kate didn’t have much time or energy to devote to decorating, so the ability to walk into an Ikea for ‘instant decor’ was a perfect solution. Later, when she moved to her current home, she easily resold the Ikea furniture on craigslist for 50% – 75% of its original value!
My chic $845 Ikea dining room
Forget “practical.” I just plain love the look of this dining space I pieced together — for $845 — including an 8′ x 10′ rug that I am guessing should last you a goodly portion of a lifetime.
Here’s the breakdown:
- Docksta 41″ tulip table — $200. Note, CB2 has a similar table for $199, Pam had the CB2 table in her kitchen early on, and was satisfied with the quality
- Marslev rug — $249
- Tobias chair, lilac — $79 ($316 for four)
- Knarsta picture — $10
- Ikea PS pendant lamp — $70 (suggested by reader TikiMama)
So what makes this decor all work together? The classic shape of the Saarinen-inspired Docsta table is a great place to start. The translucent Tobias chair — which reminds me of Orchid, Pantone’s color of the year for 2014 — visually echoes the translucency suggested in the rug design — this ‘translucency on translucency’ = awesome. The translucency of the chair also prevents the color from being too cloying — this shade can be difficult to work with.
The Marslev rug also includes sensible neutral colors like beige, cream and grey that make it feel grown up. For art: The Knarsta picture lives large for just $10, and because it is mounted on a board, likely requires no extra frame.
After we published this story, reader TikiMama chimed in with her add-on — the Ikea PS pendant lamp — which is a perfect addition to the space.
If you were able to paint, a warm gray — don’t adjust your computer, yes, I might paint the walls gray — would work to create a calming backdrop for this lively dining room grouping.
Kristina says
Ikea website says Marslev rug is polypropylene, not wool.
pam kueber says
ACK! I swear when I wrote this story up last week it said WOOL!
Well, there you go! That’s why the price is what it is!
midmichigan says
Groovy! Those chairs are far out, Pam! Why do white go-go boots come to mind?
Tikimama says
Add the IKEA PS 2014 pendant in orange/white above that table and POW! I call it the Exploding Death Star light, and we just installed it in our den. So COOL!
I can’t figure out how to copy a photo of it here, so maybe you can, Pam. Love the design you’ve come up with here!
pam kueber says
ahhhh, I’ll go take a look again, I think I saw that at one point!
pam kueber says
FANTASTIC build! Kate is going to add it!
jay says
Whoa Man! Did we just take a trip back in time with the Way Back Time Machine? Nice arrangement!
Steve H says
I like the rug. It reminds me of Neopolitan ice cream. One of my main complaints about Ikea is that their product names are not very engaging (at least to the non-Swede). Try keeping “Knarsta” or “Marslev” in your head while you are shopping.
Trudi says
This table gets used often in home offices so I think this would be a fantastic look for that! Plus no petrified food bits in the rug!
Dawn says
I know people seem to either love or hate Ikea but I really like how visual they are. I get so many ideas from them and they ROCK the small spaces. We are finally getting one here in the Columbus area in 2017 and I am very excited. I have been able to blend several cheap pieces of theirs with my 59 ranch and it seems to all go well. Its a great way for some of us to blend old and new. I will miss traveling to Cincy though for my Ikea fix! I REALLY love the pink chairs!
Roundhouse Sarah says
Oooh I love that rug! Mega thanks to ikea for doing modern cheaply. Even if quality sometimes suffers it’s worth it just because it gives us options. Rug shopping for a modern space can be quite difficult especially if you can’t spend thousands of dollars. And some ikea stuff lasts forever. The shelves in my library/dining are vintage ikea from when it was called stor, still lookin fab!
jay says
I remember Stor. I still have a small Billy bookcase I bought at their first US store. Last I checked they were still selling it. Ikea certainly fills folks’ desire for inexpensive modern.
lynda says
Maybe a laminate tablecloth would be nice for the Ikea table. There are a lot of cute prints. Most are 54″ wide, so with 1-1/2 yards, you would have a nice square cloth to go on the table. Also, we noticed that when my daughter moved out of Palo Alto, she could sell the Ikea furniture for almost the original price. The only thing we could figure out is people did not want to go to Ikea, or put the stuff together and they were willing to pay for convenience.
Kate says
When I sold my gently used Ikea furniture in Milwaukee a few years back, I got nearly all my money back because the nearest Ikea is down in Chicago (2 hour drive). I think getting the stuff put together and locally made a big difference in the amount of $$ I could recoup. I sold nearly all of it to college students.
Janet C in NC says
Or a round glass table top would work to protect the Ikea table without covering up the lines of the table like a tablecloth would. Pier 1 has a 42″ round glass top with polished ogee edge for $100. I have one of the Pier 1 glass tops protecting my round Drexel Meridian table, and it looks and works great.
pam kueber says
Great idea. We bought that Pier 1 glass table top for our patio table!
Sandra says
Yes, and I have one for free, if anybody wants to come get it in CA. You can often find these for free on Craigslist.
JulIe says
cute! Although the quality of the Dockstra table is not good. We have one- after two years of normal use, the table top looks awful. Easily scratched, it’s no longer shiny, the finish is peeling in several places and we even have a weird bubble/crack in the finish. Since the table is just pressboard with a foil finish, there’s nothing we can do to restore it. Skip that table! Sounds like the CB2 may be a better option!!
pam kueber says
Ok — so yup, go for the CB2… I had one in my kitchen for a few years (before I found my vintage table) and I thought it was fine quality for the money….