Mini Ikea Haul

I thought I will go crazy and buy lots of stuff but apparently I had a bit of self control and didn’t end up buying the whole Ikea… okay it was more because I was on a very tight budget .. Anyway, I did get some stuff, mostly storage, very boring but I will show you nevertheless!

1.I shall start with the thing that I’m most excited about… This cloud cushion !!! which is called FJÄDERMOLN because why would you give it a normal name..Anyway, OMG just look at how cute it isssss. I really didn’t need this but hey, you never have enough cushions. Right??

2.Since I’m starting fresh with a new kitchen, I decided a few Ikea storage boxes are in order to keep my cupboards on track. So I got like 5 of these PLUGGIS things, I already had 4 so I just needed a few more to put my baking things, condiments and herbs and ALL THE GRAINS. They’re so nice, I got 4 white mint and 1 completely white.

3.Last time my parents came over, they brought lots of Ikea goodies (oh my, I just love  Ikea storage solutions), including some containers which I really liked and I decided I needed some more so I got another small one (I already have 2) and I got a super long one for spaghetti which I am overly excited about. I think they’re all called DROPPAR but they just have different sizes.

4.My mum also brought these 4 RAJTAN small containers (spice jars) last time so I decided (again) I need more so I got another set of 4. They’re quite nice for small things, I keep my pine nuts, black sesame seeds, chia seeds and flaked almonds in mine and I needed some more for coconut flakes, white sesame seeds, maybe sprinkles and who knows, I’ll decide on the spot.

5.Basically most of the things we got were kitchen storage as I said before so we ended up buying these JÄMKA containers too because they’re quite handy with flour, cereals ect and I know I’m gonna use them because I already have two haha!

6.We also got some super cute beddings called EMMIE LAND (I can’t seem to find them online, think they’re new and on some sort of sale something not sure), I needed some pink and white beddings in my life and I just loved these ones so I got them. So yeah that’s that haha. I am really excited to put them on!

7.Going to the boring part, not that the rest of the items were incredibly exciting but yeh, that’s life. We got a DRÖNA pink box, I already have a pink one and 2 flowery ones and we needed 4 to fit in our new unit wooop wooppppp!

8.So as you can see from the previous number, we got a new unit. And omg I’m so excited about it. It’s a KALLAX, big surprise there haha. We’re gonna use it as a side cabinet in the living room and I just think it’s gonna look really nice. If we change our minds and we won’t like it anymore in the future, it can go on the hallway as we kind of need something there to replace the current foldable shelves. We’ll see about that.

9.We actually got quite a lot of things but yeh the last bits and bobs are for the wardrobe as our didn’t have anything except a KOMPLEMENT rail… and it’s a pretty big wardrobe but meh. We talked to a very nice lady in Ikea and she helped us design our wardrobe and we got another KOMPLEMENT rail, two KOMPLEMENT drawer baskets and a KOMPLEMENT shelf and I’m so happy about them! There’s so much room now!

Been really busy for the past couple of days, haven’t even finished unpacking everything yet… I mean most of it is done but I still need to decorate and go through some things and hopefully get rid of some things and yeh.. really busy so I didn’t actually get around to finish this post either. I think I started it on Monday.. Oh well, better late than ever, right?

Let me know what you think! I love reading and watching videos about other people hauls (is that even a word?) so I thought I might do one myself!

Love, Sim x

We’re moving!

Unfortunately I fell asleep last night before posting this so basically everything is delayed by one day. Just to clarify, we picked up the key on Thursday and moved the first batch of boxes and stuff last night! Very confusing I know..

The time has finally come to move flats.. again! We picked the key up yesterday and I spent all day packing the old flat up, writing inventory lists and dreaming of how the flat will end up looking.

We didn’t manage to move anything last night, even though I had a lot of boxes ready for when the boy came home from work, because the place wasn’t exactly clean. They just finished refurbishing it and the floors were dusty ect and I wanted to give it a good clean before we do anything else. Have I told you it’s a grade 2 listed building?! And it’s super new inside as they’ve been refurbishing for the past months?! The architecture geek in me is above excited.

I literally can’t wait to dive into organising the space and making it our own! Wooooop. I gave the floors a good scrub and rearranged the furniture to my liking and tonight is moving in time!

It will probably take us the whole weekend to completely move all our things but I just really want to get started.

This is how the flat looks like now, not impressive I know but it’s white and it has a lot of potential! Doesn’t it just look like a blank canvas ready to be turned into art?! And it has super tall ceilings both in the bedroom and kitchen/living room and amazing windows! And I have such high hopes for it! So keep tuned for a few interior design posts soon.

And as you do, the next thing on the list is going to ikea so I might do an Ikea Haul post in the nearer future. Who knows!

Let me know what you think of the space and if you have any interior tips/amazing interior shops suggestions!

Love, Sim x

The grainy salad -summer special

In case you haven’t already noticed, the last few recipes have been very summer focused as I have started to be pretty obsessed with this summerless summer that has been going on. (word to self: how many times can I include summer in a sentence? …summer)

The past couple of weeks have been a bit weird in terms of weather and although some days weren’t as hot as I wanted them to be, I was in a very strange summery mood. It might be because we are soon departing to the very exotic Greece for a week – yay!

Therefore, our dinners have more or less been the same… let me introduce you the grainy salad! The smoked trout recipe that I posted a couple of weeks ago has this salad going on, but it has evolved so much since then that I needed to share it with you.

Warning!!!! This is not a ‘what you’re used to’ recipe, is more of a guidance post to let you experience with your summer food super easy!

I came up with this grainy salad idea while I was thinking for a good light summery recipe for the boy. He hates salads (mental…), those salads that are just veg and they don’t really taste of anything, flavourless and sad, you get the idea. I didn’t really fancy another steaming hot meal, I know it hasn’t been hot around here but I told you I’ve been feeling incredibly summery lately. So I had to compromise: the grains in question are still warm when I add them to the rest of the veg that form the salad so it’s not too hot but it isn’t cold either.

How to and what you need:

• Choose your BASE

Any type of lettuce, baby spinach leaves, kale, basically any greens that you fancy

• Choose your GRAINS

You can be boring and go for brown rice or quinoa or be super adventurous and choose one of the following: Bulgar wheat, Freekeh, Buckwheat, Millet and so on! My personal favourite is the middle east Freekeh as it’s got a really delicious smokey flavour- yum!

• Choose your VEG

If you want to go for a green grainy salad, your safest bet will be cucumbers, courgettes rocket and green pepper. But if you’re like me and like to mix and match, radishes, tomatoes and red peppers will go down a treat! Be creative, and use the veg that are in season or at your local organic shop. Corn on cob is in season at the moment so that will be an amazing addition to any salad!!!!

• Choose your FILLING(s)

A vegan options works just great here with some grilled tofu or aubergines(yummmm) or any grilled veg for that matter, but if you’re vegetarian, please go for grilled halloumi! It makes all the difference. You can also have egg or smoked salmon or baked/grilled fish. Seriously everything. You can even go for chicken if you’re into that sort of thing haha. It’s great if you’re having a nice summer bbq in the back garden!

• Choose your SAUCE

I recently tried Sarah’s spicy tahini sauce from her My new roots book and I have been making it over and over again with slight changes( will def blog about it seeing it’s been such an important part of my summer), but you can go for a simple lemon and maple sirup drizzle or go for chipotle. This recipe is so good because it’s open to interpretation and you can make it your own! Also a peanut sauce will be great. The boy makes a great Asian peanut sauce, promise I’ll blog about it soon.

• Choose your TOPPING

This is starting to sound more and more like subway haha, but I promise this is the last ingredient and arguably the best one. You can top your salad with nuts( flaked almonds, crushed peanuts, pine nuts ect) seeds ( sunflower, pumpkin, chia, sesame ect) roasted or as they come or just herbs (rosemary, coriander, dill ect). I quite like to keep it simple with nutritious yeast flakes . Up to you!

Choose wisely! And let me know if you try it! #grainysalad

Love, Sim x