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live - Homes & Ideas from IKEA FAMILY

live - ideas & homes from IKEA FAMILY


IKEA FAMILY live online forum is full of real homes and real solutions. We have handpicked some inspiring homes. With the help of our stylist these members have made room for their lives by sorting out their storage needs. And you know what, you can do it too!
Kim's cosy studio makeover


Kim loves city life, so she sacrificed size for proximity to Amsterdam's buzzy centre: 'I chose my apartment based on location,' says Kim. 'This is the biggest flat I've had, and it's only 30m2!' With such a small space and Kim's need for areas where she can work, rest and play, this homeowner needed help from live...

Kim loves experimenting with her home and has done a good job of organising her small space, but a certain amount of clutter made it hard to relax. 'My head was full of ideas but I couldn't work out how to put them into action,' she admits. With Åsa's help, Kim has now got things in order.

How to conquer clutter

1. Store and organise. Kim's shoes are now stored in a Billy bookcase lit by a spotlight so she can find what she wants at a glance.

2. Personalise your walls. As a stylist, Kim seeks inspiration from magazines and books so she make a feature of them. 'I love the pops of colour this adds,' Kim explains, 'it's made my home reflect who I am'.


3. Use colour to unify. Åsa added tonal textiles to Kim's headboard, bed linen, and the bed itself to create a coherent sleeping area. Åsa explains why; 'Too many different or bright colours can make a space feel untidy. Use colours to unify a multi-use, open plan space'.
Bedroom makeover for newlyweds


Newly pregnant Lene and Peter from Denmark had been married for 18 months and were in desperate need of some advice on how to improve their bedroom.
‘We learned to live with our room, but it wasn’t somewhere we wanted to spend time.’ For this reason live stylist Pernilla Åsberg stepped in to resolve these issues. Pernilla recognised that, ‘The cramped chaotic space needed a change to reignite their passion and suffered from three key things: lack of space, personality and storage.’

But luckily there are lots of things you can do to give a bedroom like theirs a lift.
1. Improve space
Put in a smaller bed with a clean, modern design and a good mattress to help you get the sleep you need.
2. Intelligent storage
Use the full height of the walls, with hanging shelves added above the bed to maximise your space further.
3. Customise
Choose a wardrobe that can be adapted to include as many shelves and drawers as you need
4. Personality
Put in some shelves above your bed or to the sides to display pictures and photos.
Downsize in style


When Ulrica and her son had to downsize their living space, they found it hard to make it feel like a home. 'I fell in love with this apartment when I first saw it. It’s completely open and I love the feeling of space... I was worrying where the bedroom should be, and always battling a lack of storage,' says Ulrica.

'Åsa (the live stylist) came along and helped me create a unified space with many functions, just as had I imagined. Now it feels like what’s on the inside of me is shown in the apartment – it’s quirky and unique', says Ulrica.
Small is beutiful

1. Make your home your own. Ulrica spends a lot of time in the kitchen area and so getting this right was important, she says: 'I felt more units would make the space feel smaller but Åsa chose shallow units for lower down and deeper units for higher up so they don’t encroach on the space and I’ve customised them with pictures of Rufus.’

2. Turn your sofa into your bed. Ulrica explains; 'At night we sleep on the banquette seating, which is actually made from two IKEA beds. Clever storage boxes underneath make it easy to store bedding during the day.'

3. A white base is great for a small space. 'Åsa stuck to a white base so I could bring it to life with my pictures and lots of cushions,' explains Ulrica.