This past weekend my mom and I took a trip to one of the holy lands in home furnishings, Ikea. In North Carolina, the only Ikea is in Charlotte. We headed out Friday evening, after work, to the Queen City. BUT before we completely left the triangle area, we stopped for dinner. I mentioned in my intro post that I tend to plan my trips around places to eat along the way or at my destination. This trip was no exception!

We ate dinner at a new restaurant in Durham, Harvest 18. Harvest 18 is a farm to fork concept restaurant with a revolving menu. I appreciate restaurants that use local fresh ingredients directly from the farmers, but there is always uncertainty when it comes to the actual dishes on the menu each night. This can be especially tricky when you are a vegetarian. Nevertheless, I am confident that I can find something to eat at almost any restaurant.

The menu last Friday consisted of several fish dishes, a red meat entrée, a chicken entrée and a completely vegetarian entrée. I ordered the Harvest Grilled Vegetables which consisted of zucchini, squash, and sweet potatoes grilled to perfection on top of a carmelized onion sauce. There was also steamed kale with roasted red peppers and tomatoes. I apologize that there is no picture or record of this fabulous plate, as I was too busy consuming it to pause and take one. Mom ordered the Harvest Grilled Chicken salad which was served with a house made vinaigrette. We decided to order desert and chose the cinnamon chocolate cake with blackberry sauce. The cake was excellent with the right combination of cinnamon and chocolate.

For breakfast the next morning we drove in to downtown Charlotte, while we wait for Ikea to open at 10am. We ate at Tupelo Honey, which has a small franchise of restaurants in North and South Carolina. The biscuits were superb! It was topped with sea salt and coarse ground pepper. This savory component was balanced out with the blueberry compote served on the side. We also buzzed through Amelie’s French Bakery and picked up some treats for later in the day. They are known for their salted carmel brownies. We definitely order one of those!

We finally arrived at Ikea shortly after it opened and we didn’t leave until after 1:30. Whew, it was a whirlwind in there! We first spent most of our time on the second floor browsing through all of the vinettes. It is nice to get ideas and inspiration on how to use piece and configure different spaces. This is also where you can sit and try out the furniture! I loved this wing-backed arm chair. It was comfortable and I liked the grey color fabric.

I also liked the new desk options they have. You can pick any legs and any top and create your own desk space. I liked the mix and match option. My favorite was this ‘saw horse’ type leg. This version is adjustable and reaches a max height of 36 inches (or you can lower it to 28 inches) and the table top can be angled or flat. These legs would be great in a bold paint color with a butcher block table top.

After we finished with the displays upstairs, we headed to the first floor to do some shopping. I saw this “Home” print and purchased it to go above my fridge.

I wanted to get several things for the office including some of these nice white boards, these wire picture displays, and a wall shelf. I was very disappointed to find out that they sold out of the whiteboards before I could make my way to the office section. I guess with all the back to school madness it is the wrong time of year to be hunting for whiteboards. I guess this just means I will need to make another trip back to Ikea soon!!!

I am excited to hang the wire picture holders in the office to display all of the post cards I have picked up on my travels. I have oodles of post cards that I don’t know what to do with. I think this will be a nice way to display them, similar to this picture from Apartment Therapy.

It was a great trip to Ikea this past weekend. I left feeling inspired and the wheels turning in my head with ideas for future projects!