Shopping Surprise

Last weekend we had plans of tackling the mold around the new house's trim, trying to remove the paint splatters from the brick via power washing and painting the shutters. But Daniel had other plans. He surprised me Friday with the idea of going to Charlotte to a fabulous, huge indoor flea market. Could it be? Could there really be a little piece of heaven here on earth just an hour and half away? Pinch me.

Let me introduce you to The Depot.

 

I had never heard of the place but some of Daniel's clients recommended it. It is 88,000 (I'm about to faint) and over 600 booths. The neat thing is that the booths aren't manned. They have prices on their items and if you like something you simply take it up front to pay for it. Here are a few things we found we liked...

 



We loved this blue table. I could totally picture it in our living room beside the couch or in between two chairs. Daniel really loved it too but it was a little out of our price range for now.

In the same booth there was also this that I fell in love with...

Curse you mom for giving me such expensive great taste!

We also found one of the things we ended up buying, our kitchen island. I was thrilled to find one that was unique but also had some storage and a good price.

I really, really, really want to go back again once we move in. We didn't have near enough time to pick through all the booths. We snagged a really cool old iron key, a huge basket and an old wooden box but we didn't have time to really sort through the rest. I was so excited that my mind was racing the entire time. Never let me go there alone. I can't be held responsible for my actions.

The next big stop was Ikea.

I was so excited to go for the first time. I'd heard great things about them and we were told to go check out couches there. Perhaps not so smart on a Saturday before school starts and their new catalog has just come out. Seriously it was so packed we couldn't even navigate the aisles. Check out how packed check out was...

One thing we did learn is that we aren't huge fans of their furniture. Some of it was sort've our style but for the most part it was too small and/or too contemporary for our taste buds. I did find a desk...but they were out of stock until September. I also found a storage unit for the kids' closet and a few other storage items for the pantry. In the end, I'd go back (and will in September for my desk) for housewares but not for furniture. That's just me.

Perhaps the best purchase of the day was the cute tent we bought for the boys for $20. They even ate their dinner in there that night.