Well, guess what. I’m here to say that it might – might – be time to revisit Ikea. Especially if you have kids, a mudroom, a home office, or a weekend house. Or all of the above.
A few months ago, a colleague of mine (a fantastic professional organizer, Nicole Anzia of Neatnik) dragged me back to an Ikea under the pretense of doing some shopping for a mutual client. But I think she had an ulterior motive. She wanted me to see how relevant Ikea is for people in, how shall I say, a certain stage of life.
If I’ve learned anything as a parent, it’s that kids’ stuff has a very short life span. 
It’s all about planned obsolencence. So while it would be lovely to outfit your playroom with miniature Eames furniture, it’s short-sighted. Even Design Within Reach overestimated the market for designer kids’ furniture: remember DWR Jax, their kids’ line that lasted about 10 minutes?
My approach to kids’ spaces – it’s my approach for most projects, actually – is to mix in the less expensive pieces with the “real” stuff. Our playroom, for example, has a red Gabbeh rug, a charming upright piano that belonged to my children’s great, great grandmother; this Trofast toy storage thing with red, green, and white bins; a sofa upholstered with fabric from India, and a small Ikea table and chairs. The overall effect is fun but not cheap. And the room will age well simply by deaccessioning the Ikea stuff. A computer desk might eventually replace the bins, we’ll swap out the knee-high table for a grown-up sized game table…you get the idea.
A client introduced me to the Hemnes dresser in white; this is a great kids’ dresser if you’re of the Pottery Barn persuasion. It’s available in a few sizes and colors, and I’ve now used it in three children’s bedrooms.
Since we’re in the bedroom, as it were, Ikea’s bedding for kids is absolutely darling. Is it 200+ thread count? No. But is there a huge selection of bright fun patterns, in 100% cotton, for so cheap you can’t even believe it? Yes. This Siffror set is $13 – that’s the duvet cover, pillowcase and one flat sheet (ok, a little odd, but at least Ikea uses US mattress sizes now.)
Ikea also has adorable small rugs that brighten up kids’ rooms or kid-centric mudrooms, like the hippo rug at the top of this post. (While we’re up there, that star-shaped wall lamp is great as a nightlight.)
The Helmer metal shelving unit for offices or kids’ art spaces is really handy. Similar products at The Container Store start at $99; the Helmer is about $40.
And finally, the Vacker fabric hanging shelves for mudrooms or bedroom closets. This kind of thing has been around for years, but for 15 bucks? With pockets on the sides?
There are a few other items I wanted to include (an extremely cute red metal locker, for example). But the Ikea website isn’t all-inclusive and – get this – you’re not allowed to take photographs in the stores. (“Yes, your Honor, I did snap a picture of the Billy bookcase. Cuff me.”)
The above items should be enough, though, to indicate whether it’s time for you to rediscover Ikea.