IKEA's New Indoor Plants

Start with the layout decision, then the finish, then the pieces that get touched every day.
Earlier this week I made a run to IKEA to get a MALM dresser for my youngest daughter's bedroom. Just before finding out about our move to Connecticut, I had sold her old headboard and chest of drawers on Craigslist to start on a room makeover that I had promised for her upcoming 10th birthday. The makeover has been postponed until we settle in Connecticut but with her clothes spread out between our room, the guest room, and her bedroom closet floor, a new chest of drawers was needed ASAP. I didn't have a lot of time for my IKEA trip so I looked up the MALM item number ahead of time and planned to go straight to the furniture pick-up area and be out in a flash. Who was I kidding? A quick trip to IKEA is an oxymoron. It NEVER happens! As I was grabbing my cart out of that fun automated cart dispenser thingy, I glanced back into the store area and saw a bunch of green gorgeousness. It turns out that IKEA had gotten in loads of new plants, including my all time kept – fiddle leaf figs! 

The fiddle leaf figs were on the small side but they were only $12.99 – a price you will never see on a fiddle leaf fig anywhere else, regardless of size. And let me tell you, from personal experience I know that these fiddle leaf figs can grow FAST even if you don't have a green thumb. Remember back in September when I blogged about my love for fiddle leaf figs and the new little fiddle leaf that found a home in my dining room? 

Check her out now, five months later:

My little fiddle leaf has grown almost two feet (from the white arrows on up)!! Yes, her growth is a little uneven and she's looking a bit like an awkward teenager but I'll prune that top branch back a bit if she continues to grow there and hope that she starts bushing out from some of her other branches as well. 

Back to IKEA for more green plant love – they also had these polished paddle plants. Love, love, love. Only $19.99 including the cool black pot. 

The household has wanted a paddle plant (which is a type of succulent) ever seeing this image of one in Country Living magazine, along with the description by Tovah Martin of this plant being “practically unkillable” and “low maintenance”. Sign me up. 

{Country Living}

Other new plants/trees at IKEA were money trees,

calla lillies (well suited to decorating your home for Easter!),

orchids (also in pretty Easter colors),

fern palms,

and several darling little plants for $2.49 including this bright green golden moss fern

and different varieties of himalaya plants:

Since we're moving in a few weeks, it's not really the ideal time to load up on houseplants so of course I just got my MALM dresser and left bought some! I just couldn't leave without one of the paddle plants – he's found a great home on our new office bookcase:  

I also got three of the $2.49 plants because I figured that if they didn't make it through our move, I could handle the $7.47 loss. One of them now sits on my kitchen window ledge along with some friends:

and the other two (which are himalaya mix plants labeled as “peperomia obtusifolia marble”) 

found homes on the nightstands in my daughters' bedrooms:

If they survive the lack of fertilization and long periods without water that come with being a plant in my house, I'll find some cute little pots for them but for right now, they're just fine in the plastic pots they came in. Even though I only spent a total of about $27.50 on all four plants, the household has been trying to save up money for our move so I had some twinges of guilt until I went to go pick up the MALM dresser and saw this:

IKEA had just reduced the price on the dresser by $30. I had meant to get to IKEA weeks ago to buy it – sometimes procrastination pays.

Have a great weekend everyone!!