Last July, while we were traveling in Paris, I received an email from IKEA. And not just any email. The person contacting me wanted to feature me in their IKEA (European) online magazine! A feature all about my home and moi! I was a bit surprised and overwhelmed, but also very excited. I mean they wanted me to share about a store that I love and to also share about decorating and organizing my home. Could there be a more perfect fit??? I think you all know that I adore IKEA for many reasons. I even shared a full post all about my current organizing loves via IKEA.
Well…fast forward a few months and I am happy to announce that the feature has now gone live! As of Friday, my interview and home photos are being featured in IKEA’s November Magazine Issue – (the Portugal version). However it IS in Portuguese – they translated parts of my written interview/questionnaire. So…if you want to know what was asked and what I shared – in English – I included the (full) interview below.
IKEA (Morganize with Me) Interview Questions & Answers:
- What is the best thing about the location of your home? We are five minutes from the beach!
- Who do you live with and what is their relationship to you? My hubby and three kids
- What are your hobbies or interests? How does your home help you with these? I love to organize, decorate, and exercise. Our home is spacious and we have even turned a room downstairs into our workout space.
- Where is your nearest IKEA store? 20 minutes away, yay!
- Sum up your home life in three words. Comfy, organized and fun!
- What do you like to do at home? (E.g. eat as a family, have parties, sleep late…) (30 words +) We relax, cook a lot of meals, swim in our pool, make messes, entertain, work on homework, exercise, and of course clean from time to time. We are blessed to all have our own bedrooms and bathrooms so there is plenty of personal space and I LOVE our large kitchen.
- What is your favourite room or place in your home? Please explain why. (30 words +) Probably the kitchen. We spend a lot of time in this space due to keeping five people fed! I don’t care for the white floors but I really like the white cabinets and all of the space. The IKEA table has been the perfect fit to complete the room. I treat it like an island as I whip up meals for my three kids!
- What are your home essentials: which items in your home would you find it difficult to live without and why? Storage. You have to have good storage options. We don’t have ANY closets on our first two floors so I have added coat racks and dressers to accommodate all of our “stuff”.
- How would you describe your home’s style? What does your home say about you? (50 words +) Our home, I hope, says “come on in”. We’re down to earth, I think fun, and very relaxed. We don’t care if you take your shoes off or not and we want you to just kick your feet up with us on our coffee table. It seems that we always congregate in the kitchen when we entertain and we like that. We want our friends to feel like family. We like nice furnishings but not so nice that they are not comfortable. We want our home to say, come in and stay a while!
- What are you most proud of in your home and why? (50 words +) That it is not cluttered. I am an organizer and firmly believe in having a place for everything. I like simple systems that we can all follow easily. Our home is orderly but still comfortable. The main reason I don’t like clutter is that it makes me feel distracted and unable to focus. I try to minimize what we have so we spend less time maintaining the “stuff”. Life is meant to be enjoyed not spent taking care of too many things.
- If you could change one thing about your home, what would it be? How would it make your home life better? I actually would like a smaller home. We are currently in this home and it is not our forever home. I feel that less is more and that a smaller home would give me more time to spend on other things versus the amount of time I need to spend to clean and keep this home up.
- What is the best thing you have bought from IKEA? Please explain why. (30 words +) I LOVE my office desk and book shelves (Hemnes). I have wanted a home office forever and I finally got one. I love the simple lines and the dark color. It has transformed my office into a great place to work and focus.
- Sum up your bathroom in three words. Simple, organized, and colorful.
- Finish this sentence: If I could change one thing about my bathroom it would be… I would change out the tile – it is pink. 🙁
- What are the first three things you do in the morning? Read, drink a chai tea, and clean.
- Sum up your bedroom in three words. Spacious, comforting, and relaxed.
- Finish this sentence: For me, the bathroom is somewhere to… (E.g. relax, re-energize, use as a purely functional space…) Just get ready, as quickly as possible.
- Bath mat – yes or no? YES
- What’s your top tip for bathroom organization? Have less stuff! And put things away every time!
- Do you have a routine to help you share the bathroom? My hubby and I just get ready at different times. 🙂
- What are the last three things you do at night? Clean up the kitchen, relax, and read/watch TV.
- What’s important to you in a bedroom? Good bedding and soothing colors.
- What does your dream bed look like? A big down comforter and quality pillows.
- What’s on your bedside table? A lamp and a book.
- What color is your bedroom? Why did you choose it? White, we didn’t choose, I would prefer a soothing warm tone.
- Are you an early bird or a night owl? Somewhere in the middle. Just depends on the day.
- What is your recipe for a good night’s sleep? A dark room and my firm pillow.
- How do you organize your clothes? How much of what you have in your wardrobe do you actually wear/like? I organize by like items. I probably wear about 75% of my clothes I work very hard to only buy things I need and I’m constantly purging and re-organizing my closet.
- Finish this sentence: For me, home is… a place to relax, recharge and be with my family.
A BIG thanks to IKEA for highlighting MWM and a BIG thanks to you my precious readers. I value every minute you spend here on MWM and I hope to be a continued source of encouragement and inspiration. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! And, if you are a new Portugal reader, welcome! Thank you so much for stopping by. If you want to know where to start with MWM – go to the START HERE page, this will give you the next steps.
AND don’t forget…
If you haven’t entered Friday’s Personal Training & Handful GIVEAWAY, be sure that you do. The fantastic winner will be announced this Friday!
Sign ups for the Winter OC are regular price through Friday, 10/31. Grab your friend and sign up today! Let’s get organized together – just in time for the holiday season.
