Heavy Breathing and Heavy Lifting: Our Faves From The 2016 IKEA Catalog

It was just a normal summer Thursday, but then I came home to a mailbox bonanza that changed a just whatever day into a FREAKING AWESOME NIGHT

Right there, mingled with a bunch of stuff I didnt even bother to look at, was 328 pages of YES The 2016 IKEA catalog.

Commence heavy breathing.

In this house, we wear out our yearly catalog. Pages that escape dog-earing are rare. Individual items are circled, crossed out, and circled again with notes and arrows and the occasional diagram. Its not like we cant go online and see the items or flip through the digital version of the catalog and we do that, too. But well take a good ole paper version we can hold in our hands, study, pore over, and daydream about anytime.

Our IKEA love is serious business. Weve already spent some considerable time looking through the brand-new catalog, which is focused this year on the kitchen. We also read what a few other folks had to say about it.

"IKEAs 2016 offerings will include solutions for not only cooking and serving food but also for growing and storing it," said My Domaine. "According to IKEA, This year, were showcasing how food connects people, and what makes life in and around the kitchen work in harmony."

Today also weighed in on what they like from this years book. You can check out their list here.

Here are a few of our new favorites:

VITTSJO shelving unit

We were already big fans of this powder-coated steel and tempered glass piece, which is versatile enough to use in the kitchen, bathroom, or stacked three deep down a hall, and only costs 49. Now that its being offered in red, we see a few stacked in our car in the future.

HINDO shelving unit

We also like the HINDO Greenhouse Cabinet, the newest addition to the HINDO family. It comes in gray powder-coated galvanized steel and glass, it has adjustable shelves, and its large size30 x 64gives you a ton of surface area. Plus its only 99.

ALVSBYN Chandelier

IKEA is known for its fun, affordable overhead lighting, and the ALVSBYN Chandelier does not disappoint. In plastic, steel and rubber, it offers a unique look, along with "tubes with LEDs that create exciting lighting effects and look like the path of fireflies flying in the air," according to IKEA. The built-in LED means this chandelier will never need a bulb.

Priced at 79.99.

SODERSVIK Ceiling Light

We also love the SODERSVIK Ceiling Light, a sculptural LED piece that offers diffused light. 79.99.

SELJE nightstand with MORIK wi>

Leave it to IKEA to make form and function so affordable you cant NOT buy it. This white SELJE nightstand comes with an integrated MORIK wi>

SITTNING Collection

The acacia chopping boards 4.99 each, the bowls 19.99 for two, and the serving spoons 14.99 for five of this new limited-edition collection, available starting in September, make us want to have a dinner party.

SINNERLIG Collection

If youre tired of the wood-metal look thats been everywhere in bar seating over the last few years, the 59 Sinnerlig cork-topped stool might be for you. Its part of the SINNERLIG Collection being >

The collection includes a cork-top table 349 and bench 119, as well as a color-glazed stoneware pitcher that will look just as good >

HODDE Rug

Big, neutral with just enough oomph to be interesting, this indoor/outdoor flat woven rug measures 67 x 910 and comes in gray/black or blue/beige. 99.