the best ikea shopping tips

I've been to Ikea so many times, and since it's a 2.5 hour drive for me I've learned to prepare as much as I can to get the most out of my trip.

The very first thing I do is measure everything and anything in the house that I'm considering a purchase for.

Curtains?

• Window heights and widths
• Depths from wall to blinds for rod brackets...I've made this mistake before :(

Furniture, rugs, etc.?

• Room dimensions
• Closet depths and dimensions
• Available space for cabinets, dressers, anything you might be even just be considering...

Here is a view of my Ikea.com shopping cart. It shows store availability, and the print out list option gives you several ways to sort your items, by first added, area of pickup in the store, etc. This is absolutely awesome. It gives you a general idea of what you might spend right ;)...and you can use it to cross things off, I highly recommend it this great tool.

So in short, here is my go-to list for what I bring:

• My own measuring tape, just easier to use than the free ribbon tape they provide
• A list of projects and ideas I have
• Printed out shopping list from Ikea.com

And I still spend 5 hours there every single time.