Making Room

Usually, when their children grow up and go off to college, most "empty-nesters" begin to start thinking about downsizing or, at the very least, turning their children's bedrooms into craft rooms or hobby dens or some kind of functional room that they have always dreamed of having but never had the time to enjoy.  Let's face it.  When children move away, we "empty-nesters" have to grow up ourselves and think about our own futures.  Well, after a year of Kevin off to college, Peter and I, ever the possibilities are endless dreamers, are now turning that corner and looking, not to change Kevin's room.  Rather, we are thinking outside of the box and looking to add a garden-style studio/showroom to the property and expand our home-based/craft fair business.

It's been at least a year since Peter and I first started seriously talking about doing some kind of business, beyond traveling the local fair circuit.  Something that stems from our crafts, plants and paintings and something we can do at least somewhere close to the comfort of our own home and property.  Along with fairs, we've been toying with buying, or at least renting, a piece of real estate that speaks to us and communicates to our customers who we are as crafty-garden people.  Hopefully, by early next spring, we will have a new addition here in the form of a lovely English style garden house where people can come and visit Blooming Hill at their leisure and we can welcome them at ours.

What suddenly moved us to this juncture?  Something as simple as a visit to a local antique hot spot convinced us that never finding quite the space we are looking for keeps leading us back to our own roost, where we are always in our element, and that is exactly where we need to be. Yes, we may be a bit off of the beaten path but that's what makes Blooming Hill all the more charming a location to come and visit.

So, divine inspiration hit us like a ton of bricks standing there and gazing upon what looked like the coolest tiny sheds that could be turned into some kind of unique place loaded with gingerbread details and country quaintness.  Something totally different yet at the same time similar to the greenhouse that would compliment Blooming Hill as well.  Why hadn't we thought of this before?!  Well actually, Peter will tell you that he had thought of this before...he just didn't tell me..hahaha.  Alright...enough of that, let's put our thinking caps on and start planning.

Visions of something akin to sugarplums for "Type-A" adults started dancing in our heads as we walked through the vintage architectural elements.  By piecing together what we would like to see in a cute country shop with all of the bells and whistles, we'll get something like this, "Only better!" Peter boldly declared and he was off and running with camera and measuring tape in hand.  If there is one thing I know after thirty years of marriage, when he gets a "bee under his bonnet," there is no stopping him.  This can sometimes be good and sometimes be bad.  However, in this case, it's good so I followed him as he rambled happily through the booths and sheds all of the while imagining the finished product, myself.

So much to see and buy at this particular place as we sifted through bric-a-brac and sorted through old glass windows but also a bit on the pricey side.  After making notes of different building details we would like to incorporate in our studio/showroom, we decided to hold off on a few possibilities while we investigated a few more architectural element venues.  However, I did come across a sturdy ladder to paint and use in my booth along with the old ladder I currently have.  Maybe not my most exciting nor my most imaginative purchase ever, but it will come in handy for displaying items. 

After gathering ideas and picking through corbels and cornices, off we went to look for windows and doors that would be just right for our future studio/showroom at a few of our other favorite antique haunts.  One of Peter's favorite places--the Restore for Habitat for Humanity, is quite often a treasure chest with lots things full of potential and this weekend was no exception to the rule.  You just need, as my mother would say, "A little bit of imagination and hootspa" (whatever that means) to make your idea a reality and voila you are on your way!  There you see them, a door and windows ready to go, just as we imagined, and our sugarplum is already starting to take shape.  I'd say that's pretty good karma!

Now to start considering and planning for the harder parts--the actual clearing, grading and accumulating of materials and finally the building of the place.  A clear vision, a little bit of faith and lots of hard work are now entering into the picture along with a detailed building/site plan.  (It's a good thing one of us actually does this kind of thing--design and planning--for a real job and even knows how to use a chain saw to boot!) 

In any case, building this structure is something both of us are ready for and something we'll gladly share with Kevin when he comes home from college on summer break.  So, here we go embarking on feathering our new little nest right here while keeping the old birdhouse comfy and cozy for the one who has flown the coop but will always find Blooming Hill to be his roost, and ours, for many years to come.   It is our vision and hope that friends, old and new, will find us in their travels in and around Western Loudoun County.  Our projected opening date--April 2011, barring another snowmegeddon, like last winter.  I'll keep you posted of our progress along the way.  In the meantime, see you at the fairs and you are always welcome to stop by Blooming Hill.  We empty-nesters will probably be here, making room.