Celebrate the New Year With IKEA 365

This is a sponsored post in partnership with IKEA Schaumburg. All thoughts opinions and anecdotes are my own. 

Did you know that I love IKEA? Did you know how much I love IKEA? Well, I do and now I love them for more than furniture. I could shop IKEA 365 days of the year. Today I get to tell you how much I love them for table settings, and how you really should go ahead and stop by the kitchen utensils section in your closest IKEA (make the drive, you'll love it - make sure to have lunch there too) to pick up some pretties for your kitchen outside of that new family table. Now, they've introduced their new dinnerware, IKEA 365, and it holds true to its name. Functional 365 days of the year, and just fancy enough to use for the upcoming New Year celebration! 

I stopped by my local store IKEA Schaumburg to pick up some dishes for a perfect New Year's Day setting, whether for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It was pretty fun walking through and picking up pieces from the IKEA 365 collection, to decorate my table with AND prepare food on. I think that's the way you know you're a real adult. You enjoy receiving domestic items. IKEA is like a huge playground for adults, and being able to play in the breakables section is like your parents giving you permission to touch EVERYTHING! 

I started with a red and black base and built from there with, what else? White dishes. Clean, because I wanted to be able to use these dishes for the remainder of the year. I'm kind of like Alton Brown in that I don't like unitaskers. I don't like having "special" dishes because I have four kids and no space to put dishes just to show them off. If I'm setting the table with them, we're eating off of them. Capiche? IKEA 365 is the perfect selection of dishes. Different shapes, depths, and sizes to fit any family-style. 

I shopped the IKEA 365 plates and serving dishes and paired them with table runners, and various woven and metal chargers for a bit of texture. Candles, wooden cutting boards and utensils, and you have a wonderfully festive, but normal table ready for the holidays. I thought about adding lights and glitter balls, but let's face it, I have the Twizzlers and the ladybug, and it's just not going to be a normal dining experience if I added Christmas lights. Too much laughing at the table, and no photos. Maybe another time? However, it isn't a bad idea for you to add them to glam up your table setting for the special day. Using the cutting board as a centerpiece, you could definitely spruce it up quite a bit. 

The setting of tables takes me back to my Granny's home a long time ago. She always had her dining room table set (with plastic covers on the chairs - OUCH!) and there was something so glorious about walking into that room without shoes on because if she caught you with them on your feet, you were in big trouble! Her punch bowl with the matching crystal ladle and cups sat on her china cabinet, and the room was ready for company should they happen to stop by unannounced.

This is how I want to have my house at all times. Ready for company. Ready to serve a meal up in a minute, and always festive for my family and friends. It will just be my secret that the china didn't cost an arm and a leg, right?