Yesterday was just what the doctor ordered for my current case of The Sads. I got up at oh dark thirty, drove over to a friend's house and we loaded up for the three hour drive up to The Holy Land in Charlotte, NC.
If I could change just two things about the Charleston shopping scene, it would be to remedy our lack of an Anthropologie and an Ikea. But after yesterday, I think I'm going to have to change my Ikea wish to a Nordstrom, because the drive up to Charlotte really wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Especially since we had one 45 minutes away in Washington and still only went there twice over the course of nearly three years!
Here's a sampling of some of the Swedish lovelies I picked up. (Please ignore how desperately my carpet is crying out to be vacuumed.) Evidently I was on quite a black and white kick.
The lampshade will be suspended from the ceiling behind this chair so I can use it as a reading nook at night when I don't have the natural light from outside. The large black frame will go in our bedroom, and I'm hoping to pull of something artistic with the flower decals in the bottom left. I'm using the laptop pad as we speak and it is far superior to the throw pillows I've been using for the past few years. The tray will serve as a flat top to hold drinks and goodies on the new storage ottoman we're using as a coffee table in our living room, and the alarm clock is for the guestroom which is currently unclocked. I'm not exactly sure where the sweet little "B" bookend will go, but I couldn't pass it up!
And I'm already planning my next trip up with Colby so that we can load ourselves down with Expedit bookshelves for the office. They'll be replacing the MDF lovelies we each brought to our marriage, and maybe it'll still be crap MDF furniture, but at least it will be crap MDF furniture that matches. Baby steps!
Yay, that's my IKEA!
Okay, clearly not mine, but that's the closest one to me. I love your finds, especially the big frame. Swoon.
I hope this shopping trip was just what the doctor ordered! :)
Posted by: Jen | June 24, 2011 at 05:17 PM
Oh, HOLLER. I love Ikea SO MUCH. And we have the Expedit shelves ... not so much crap, believe it or not. They've been in the playroom for over a year and still look fabulous.
I love that bookend. Did they have any Ds? I might have to make a trip myself soon.
Posted by: Lynndaue | June 24, 2011 at 05:53 PM
I love that frame! I may need to stop by IKEA some day after work. Don't hate me because it's on my commute home.
Posted by: PomJob | June 24, 2011 at 06:24 PM
Nice! Scotty refuses to go into Ikea on the grounds that if there is a fire you have to follow the "yellow brick road" through highly flammable wood to get out and would likely perish somewhere in the 400sqft apartment display. Dork. Glad you had fun!
Posted by: Katie | June 24, 2011 at 08:12 PM
LOVE that mirror. Sounds like a fun AND successful trip!!
Posted by: Molly | June 25, 2011 at 05:13 PM
Cool B&W motif you have going on. I cannot imagine a three hour drive to IKEA. . . I had no idea how spoiled I've been all my life. But maybe it makes it more fun to shop and you don't mind the crowds!
Posted by: Kate P | June 26, 2011 at 06:59 AM
I just bought that bookshelf for my son's room and I'm going back for another for my daughter's. It rocks! Haven't been to your site in a long time, but I'm glad to be back. Love the design! Glad to see you on Twitter too!
Posted by: Steph. (Cattywampus) | June 27, 2011 at 05:35 AM
Aw, I was so close to you!!
Posted by: Angela Noelle | June 28, 2011 at 05:53 PM
That's great to hear about the shelves! Unfortunately, it looked like they only had B's... weird :(
Posted by: Angela Noelle | June 28, 2011 at 05:53 PM
Well, I won't hate, but I will be super jealous!
Posted by: Angela Noelle | June 28, 2011 at 05:53 PM
Hahahaha!! Oh man, that made me laugh...
Posted by: Angela Noelle | June 28, 2011 at 05:54 PM
Successful for Ikea too in that they managed to make me to want to come back ;)
Posted by: Angela Noelle | June 28, 2011 at 05:54 PM
Yes! The motif was entirely accidental, but makes for a nice photo ;)
Posted by: Angela Noelle | June 28, 2011 at 05:54 PM
Yes! I somehow managed to not update my reader with your new blog, so I had no idea you were still posting! Very excited to rediscover you :)
Posted by: Angela Noelle | June 28, 2011 at 05:55 PM