Before you ask. It’s Swedish. For Happy Anniversary. September 1st was our 4th wedding anniversary. Why Swedish, you may ask? Well, to celebrate our anniversary, we took a day trip to Charlotte, NC to peruse that well-known Swedish mecca…. Ikea!

I’ve been to Ikea in the UK a few times and am familiar with their modern (and relatively inexpensive) design. The Ikea in Charlotte has just recently opened and I have to say … the store is H.U.G.E. We spent several hours walking aroung the two story building and I’m not sure we even saw everything. Even though we didn’t buy anything (well, apart from a cheap “to-do” project we found in the as-is aisle – details coming soon), we came away with a bunch of ideas and inspiration of how we might decorate the house in the future. You know. When we actually have extra money for luxuries, such as furniture. And curtains. And lights. Oh, and flooring.

Look at this beauty. This is my dream library. Other girls have dream outfits, dream shoes, dream wedding dresses … I have a fantasy library.

Floor-to-ceiling glass-fronted cabinets with rows and rows of books, flanked by a comfy chair and a cup of tea. Oh Billy, you’ve stolen my heart.

How about these cute table lamps? They come in a range of colors (white, orange, purple, green, turquoise, pink) and at 17 bucks each, they are a steal!

I love the contemporary feel of this floating media storage unit. Best of all, the unit can be customized by adding glass or fabric. Or how about adding some under cabinet lighting for an eerie glow while watching your favorite scary movie?

This cool sculptural light really caught my eye. I can imagine one of these hanging over each side table in the guest bedroom. Having the light source hanging from above would free up much needed side table space – I don’t know about you but I never seem to have enough space on my bedside table, what with the lamp, alarm clock, several books, a few magazines, a bottle of water and other necessary knick-knacks.

I’m not usually a big fan of white furniture (simply because it takes too much effort to keep clean, especially with 5 dogs around), but this sofa table had me at hello. I love how the white pops against the dark brown flooring, and how the glass top and open storage makes this piece of furniture elegant and functional.

Everyone knows that you can get some amazing deals on picture frames at Ikea. Such a simple and sophisticated way to display photos or artwork in this monochromatic and asymmetrical collage of frames…

These funky light fixtures have interchangeable fascias, so you can change the look of light whenever you want. They can be hung either horizontally or vertically for maximum flexibility. I’m thinking that a couple of these beauties might look cute flanking the front door in the foyer. Talk about mood lighting…

After all that inspiration shopping and walking, it was time for a much needed rest. Great that Ikea has an awesome range of sofas and chairs for us to test run!

You have the test the merchandise before you buy it, right?

Tags: inspiration, shopping, wish list