Summer Is Here and Our Dream Shop News

It is the first day of summer...you know what that means...windows open, fresh cut flowers everywhere and laundry on the clothes line. As beautiful as summer is it is also busy and hot and as a result I like our farmhouse to be clean and simple.

I didn't buy much for myself this year at the Springfield Extravaganza but what I did buy are some of my favorite finds yet. These two heavily crazed ironstone pitchers are among them.

And I have the most exciting shop news! We officially have a new location in the works! It is the old general store that I told you guys about in the last post. It took many miracles, my sisters tenacity, hours on the phone getting information and my family's steadfast belief in me but it is officially ours to make into all we ever dreamed of. To be honest I am still in shock and haven't quite accepted that this is actually our shop! I mean look at this!

The building is in Linesville, PA and was built in the early 1900's as a general store and is absolutely everything I ever dreamed of. It even sits on the most beautiful piece of rural property, something we had decided was equally important as the building itself when looking for our new shop location. We want to be able to host outdoor antique markets as well as have a place for the kids to play outside while they are with us at work. It has been many things since being a general store, one of them being an auction house, but amazingly enough other than the store shelving and counter not much of the original charm has been stripped of the building. Literally every inch is covered with either shiplap or beadboard, there is not a single piece of drywall in this building...that is heaven for me. The icing on the cake are the Amish horse and buggies that go past.

I can't even begin to describe the feeling I get when I drive up to this building...how lucky are we to be able to restore this historical building but then also eventually work in it everyday?! I always hoped I would be able to restore another property other than just our farmhouse. Unfortunately it will be a while until we can actually open. Since this building was sitting vacant and was not a retail space we have a TON of work to do to make it ADA Compliant and to UCC Code. Just some of things on the list are making a handicap accessible bathroom, putting in a parking lot, painting the whole building, and maybe having to install indoor sprinkler systems. I am currently in the process of painting the inside of the building and the front of the store seen above. Stay tuned to see which green I picked!

I just wanted to say thank you again to all of you that went out of your way to email me or come up to me at the Springfield Extravaganza to express your condolences on the loss of our other shop location. The support and encouragement I received from family and all of you really helped me through a rough time. Many people have commented on my Instagram that this new shop is way better than the other location and that things happen for a reason.  I think people should maybe rethink those phrases when talking to someone facing loss. Loss is painful regardless what follows or what caused it. This shop clearly is better (although it carries way more risk than just cheaply renting a place) and I thought it would be years before I was actually even looking for my dream shop location let alone working in it so believe me I see the silver lining. I feel so lucky and blessed and am truly thankful for this opportunity. There are definitely more devastating things in life, and I have faced many... that being said, the reason the first shop loss was so devastating for me was not because of the way it looked or its location but because I felt a pure and innocent  (and maybe naive) absolute joy over the fact that I was finally going to have a shop. I am beyond excited about this new shop but my happiness is a reserved one as I just can't get that uninhibited joy back. As I try to put that all behind me I am looking forward to this amazing journey that is beginning. I can't wait to share more of this historical building with you guys!


I promise to try to blog our progress much as possible, I can't wait to share more of this historical building with you guys and share my ideas for it with you! Oh the things we can do!

I will let you know more about opening dates soon!