Ikea is not new to us as a store, but it is new to us in a sense that Charlotte just got an Ikea store not long ago. We have been getting catalogs for years, but had never actually been inside a store. Until last Thursday.

Our plan was to just enjoy the experience and check out some things that we had been wondering about. Was the couch we wanted as good looking in person and was it comfortable? Were those pretty curtains well made or just flimsy cotton? We spent a good 2 hours strolling the display aisle, picking up good ideas, see furniture we liked online in person. It was pretty darn cool. We certainly enjoyed our selves.

My plan wasn’t to eat at Ikea, but Jason had been drooling over the Swedish meatballs in the back of the catalog for, oh I don’t know, like 5 years? So we ate at the cafeteria. Not bad I must say. My favorite part was the sparkling peach drink and the princess cake. Yum!
We ended up purchasing office furniture. I don’t know why, it just seemed like the thing to buy. Honestly, I was tired of blogging on a mini pink vanity I had since I was 16. We came in with a shopping list, but we changed things and pick up a few other items along the way. Here is what we picked up ::

1 | Vika Glasholm w/ Vika Lendved :: I fell in love with this desk the moment I saw it in the catalog. I just adore the table top design and the minimalistic clean lines. I knew it would be hard to pull off with an old school desk top PC (which I hope to soon replace), but I just couldn’t say no to it after I saw it in the store.
2 | Lerberg Shelving Unit :: We ended up buying 3 of these, but are currently only using 2 of them. I had originally wanted to spray paint them red, but am leaning toward the white right now.
3 | Jules Swivel Chair :: We didn’t plan on buying a desk chair, but I really liked the natural color of this chair. After some persuasion, Jason agreed to it.
4 | Ludde Sheepskin Rug :: I purchased this to act as a cushion for the Jules chair. Really I just love sheepskin and the softness went well with the contemporary table, but it’s one of the reasons Jason let me buy the Jules chair. The promise of a comfy bum.
5| Knuff Magazine Holder :: I liked the naturalness of the wood against the white shelving. Plus, I collect a lot of magazines and need a pretty place to store them. I will eventually add tabs onto the front of these holders.
6 | Dokument Letter Tray :: Just to hold all my papers and pads and such.
7 | Helmer Drawer Unit :: (not shown) A draw unit to hid all our bits and pieces that seem to collect on our work surfaces. In red and on casters, it fits easily under the desk and is movable. Plus it has 6 drawers!!
We purchased other items as well. I’ll get to those later. Look out for the office transformation post that is soon to come! It’s not totally dramatic because our office lacks painted walls and flooring, but it’s a transformation!