Home Decor German style

At 6:00 p.m. last Friday night in the rain and darkness I found myself packing my husband and one little striped dog into the Honda for a one hour and thirty minute drive to the Ikea in Schnelsen, Hamburg.  It was Friday night so what else could we possibly do for 'fun'?  This trip was possibly inspired by a sudden neurotic dislike of my living room.  I thought it would be cured by this rug:

Doesn't that look beautiful?

It turns out that in person it's rather disappointing.  The pretty cream is more of a dark tan and apparently it's hand woven or something but the entire effect says 'dingy and faded' more than 'the answers to all your decorating needs'.

 My biggest problem with home decor in Germany is that with a middle income family we have Ikea and... well, pretty much Ikea.  We've bought a couple of things from Dom and Hendryk still has the remnants of his bachelor pad but the rest is from Ikea. 

Ikea.  Ikea. Ikea.  I love Ikea but I'm so sick of it. 

Can I find another store that sells home furnishings?  Please?  I guess as an American I'm used to having a ton of inexpensive variety.  Shopping is so vital to the American way of life that I took it for granted that I could just walk out and buy whatever I wanted.   I dare say, Germany needs a wider variety of stores.  Do you have any idea what I would give to go to Target and load up a cart and bring it home.  Target, I miss you SOOOO much.  All of my friends back home have your throw pillows and I want them too. 

I'm going to check out Urban Outfitters the next time I'm in Hamburg and see how their home furnishings compare.  At least I will always have Urban Outfitters.