Hey There
I am thrilled you found my site! I love knowing there are so many individuals out there with the similar interests. I will never claim to be the most creative, most talented or best at everything "home decor" but I certainly love it! I can lose many hours in a day perusing all of the different decorating sites, crafting sites, gardening sites, you name it...and then trying to find a way to make the items I see using materials I might already have on hand, can salvage from a dumpster or curb, or even buy at a thrift store or garage sale. My items might not turn out exactly like the original but that is OK! I'm all about tweaking the pieces I see and making them personal to me and my current home decor. I hope to inspire many of you to look at the items you see in your home, or items at a garage sale or thrift store (or even free on a curb if you're lucky) and give them a little upgrade. Some of my tutorials might even show you how I completely disassemble a piece of furniture and turn it into multiple different projects. The possibilities are endless!
All About Me
So where did this crazy passion come from? I blame my parents! I grew up with a mother who LOVED browsing furniture stores, wallpaper stores and thrift stores. I spent my teens years through the next couple of decades going to holiday tour of homes and garage sales, and then discussing what plans I was going to make in reality for her house or mine. Now, add in to the mix a father who had mad construction skills - which made a dangerous combination for someone like me! He would help me work through any of my ideas and turn them into an executable plan. I loved wandering around his shop and finding pieces of wood or leftover pieces of metal and turn it into a fun home decor project. ​ I remember asking my dad to cut snowmen and angels out of plywood, drilling holes around the edges, plugging lights into the holes and use those to decorate for Christmas. That turned into making smaller versions to decorate inside the house. Then it became other items to be used throughout the rest of the year, either inside or outside. ​ At the age of 16, I purchased my first trunk from a garage sale, sanded it down, cleaned up the metal, refurbished the whole piece, and had my dad line the inside with cedar - it is still in my bedroom today! I absolutely love that piece. I love to redo furniture! I have done dressers, book shelves, end tables, coffee tables, etc. and am always on the lookout for salvaging furniture that others don't want. ​ One warning - I have to be very careful I do not start hoarding items. I have a tough time throwing out pieces of wood, scrap metal, broken furniture, and the list goes on. I always think I can take nothing and turn it into something. There are always new things to try! Plus, I feel so incredibly guilty about adding more junk to the landfill. Can you see why I run into issues??? With this site, I am hoping to find more people just like me! I know I'm not alone in this and I can't wait to see what everyone else is doing with their saved pieces. Hence the reason for this site.....so thank you for visiting! I'm excited to see what we can all do together.
Squirrel Shack Story
The Story behind Squirrel Shack
I'm going to blame my husband for this one...when we started dating, I would carry on conversations with him about anything but would quickly get distracted by something and comment on it, then flip back to the original conversation without skipping a beat. In a very endearing way, he started referring to these moments as "squirrel moments."
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When I work on projects, I have these squirrel moments ALL.THE.TIME. One thing will lead me to another, and another, and another...and I have to force myself to finish one project before moving on to something else. Heaven forbid I have to wait for paint to dry because I will inevitably move onto something else in that short amount of time.
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Fast forward many years and he has put up with me and my dumpster diving methods and being convinced I could turn it into something else. I saved old windows, doors, pallet wood, etc until my absolute dream came true!! I had what I needed to build a shed for my workspace. He sat back and waited for me to come up with the design, while changing my mind many times! We finally started working on the shed, while changing my mind again, several times. There were definitely some marital struggles through that process but in the end, I have the most AMAZING workspace called "Squirrel Shack" and I am thrilled to have you join me...