Last weekend my husband and I spent a wonderful couple hours exploring Mebane, NC. Situated in the Piedmont Triad area Mebane is about 3 hours from both beaches and mountains.  More importantly to me, Mebane hosts some great shopping.  The downtown area is filled with quaint little shops and if you venture a little further out you’ll find the Tanger Outlets of Mebane.  Great deals and friendly people….sign me up!

One of my absolute shops in Mebane is The Elegant Relic.  I’m trying to piece together the right words to convey how amazing this store is but all I can come up with is “WOW!”  I mean it.  The downstairs is packed with beautiful home accessories and the upstairs is packed with beautiful clothing and jewelry (the upstairs shop is called Hen Feathers).  In just two minutes I took these pictures.  Everywhere you turn there’s something that inspires your creativity.

Across the street from The Elegant Relic is a little shop that specializes in bringing old metal furniture/pieces back to life.  Here’s an old glider that he’s restored.  Notice the old lawn chair in the background.

Many of his pieces were found dumped by the side of the road or at yard sales.  First, he sandblasts the piece with lava stone then he applies the powder coating.  The finish looks brand new but only this time it’s much more durable.

Here are two more items in his shop.  One is a red fire truck (obviously) and the other is an old dentist cabinet.  Both were restored and powder coated.  My husband and I were so excited to find this man.  We have an old cast iron eagle he is now restoring for us.

Great shopping, good food, friendly people….Mebane, NC is the perfect location for an afternoon getaway.  I hope, if you’re in the area, you’ll take advantage of this little southern gem!