MisadventuresofMarla

Trader Joe’s and IKEA in Charlotte

February 2nd, 2010 by misadventuresofmarla

Jeremy and I went to Charlotte for the day yesterday. We got lunch at Whole Foods…

Best olive salad I'll ever eat!

Seitan "chicken" salad from Whole Foods

Then headed to IKEA which is our #1 favorite place to go besides Trader Joe’s. If you don’t know the joys of Trader Joe’s then I suggest you check out their website: www.TraderJoes.com. TJ’s is a grocery store that mainly carries all organic, natural, or fair trade. They’re fairly inexpensive too.

IKEA in Charlotte NC

IKEA in Charlotte

We found a lot of stuff to get for the house. We’re going to do some “light” remodeling in the next year or so. We’re figuring we may be stuck here for a “few” years…like 5+ until we can unload the house. It going to take a lot to make this house sell for a price that won’t be less than was paid for it. Actually, the month after buying the house a letter from the county tax collector arrived to say that the house was reappraised for about $20,000 LESS than it was just bought for. So, we’ll need to add/upgrade the shit out of it to make it worth selling…….This means we’re going to be here for a long ass time. I’m rambling, my point is, we figured we need to make the house bearable for all those years. Hence the remodeling for our comfort and to increase the house value.

We’re also thinking of repainting the kitchen, again. Turns out after only a year, we dislike the dark grey and blacks we painted it. Now, we’re thinking something “vintage”, “Pinup”, “classic”, you get the point. We’re going to paint the walls a bright blood red. Paint the cabinets either white with black trim or black with white trim. Dark grey or black stone tile flooring. Then I want to get some HUGE poster of Betty Page, Marilyn Monroe, Greta Garbo, and etc and Frame them in white for around the red walls. Then we’re going to install black shelving for cookbooks and etc. I’m drooling as I type, I can’t wait to see how this comes out!

We’re not sure how we want to do the rest of the rooms. I have some ideas for the bathroom but I don’t think we’ll go with those. They’re “permanent” and a tad abnormal so I think they’d further hindering the selling of the house. One of the ideas involved creating our own wallpaper out of books we love, poems, comic books and so on and then putting a clear waterproof sealer over them. Then gorilla glue/bolt “trinkets” to the walls. So needless to say I’m still exploring ideas for the bathroom.

Here is what we found from IKEA that we’re planning on getting:

New Bathroom Sink and Vanity - IKEA

Vanity would be a different color

New kitchen island with electric cooktop for under $3k - IKEA

Check out the storage possiblities of the kitchen island drawers

IKEA Kitchen stools for the island

We found much more but these are the most important things we’ll get. About $3500 total. We’re also thinking about fake hardwood floors to replace our carpeting. IKEA has some good selections for $1.49/sq ft. Now we just have to wait until enough money is paid in to the mortgage to refinance or until we get antsy and take out a home improvement loan. Whichever comes first…I’m assuming the loan since we only have a little over $1700 paid on the principle. (And well over $4k on interest. I hate banks.)

Anyway, we headed off to Trader Joe’s and spent more than we should. We always do.

Trader Joe’s Spiced Coffee!!