Once Upon a Time..

Our old doorway looked like this:

When we acquired a second unit in our building last September, this was the door we inherited from previous years of neglect. The '70s era yellow bottle glass sidelights were particularly unattractive.


Right away Jeff changed the side windows to standard clear. We designed a bright new sign and installed it before Christmas. The windowless door itself was a bigger project.


The strange size of the door opening meant that we couldn't buy a premade door. Lucky for me, I am married to a professional woodworker who makes doors from scratch! Above is a shot that Jeff took in his shop of the door in progress. Many hours of work and many pieces of pretty wood later, Jeff installed our door.



Not only does this door let in more light, but the grain of the wood also sparkles in the sun.



One more time for emphasis:

Our Day Off

Today both Jeff and I had the day off, so we went here:



We bought these:



And these:



We headed over to the shop and planted two of these:



They may look a little sparse now, but in a few weeks the plants will expand and bloom. There's Jeff. He's the one with the green thumb. He made the planters too, out of recycled tires turned inside out.



While we were doing all of that, Otis was at home doing this:

Northwest's Squarest Deal

"This building used to be a drugstore," a gentleman told me the other day. One of our window washers, he was fastidiously squeegeeing our front door.

"I used to come here a lot in the '50s. It was a malt shop too with a long counter," he told me. "They had one of those record machines that would turn the 45 over automatically."

I have been obsessed with his story ever since. This old building has been through so much in its history. One person told me about a shop that sold antique gumball machines. Many have mentioned the little cafe that was here in the mid 1990s. One of our favorite regulars, Wilma, used to own the building in the 70s and 80s with her husband.

But a drugstore; The quintessential 1950s hangout! That is the coolest thing I've heard so far. How I would love to have a photograph of good ole 6418 20th Ave in those days. I've combed through some online photo archives looking for an image, and I haven't had any luck yet. I did find a few cool things to share with you though.


That's George Bartell, founder of still thriving, locally owned Bartell's Drugs, a Northwest tradition. He's pictured here tacking up a fabulous "Buy American" poster in 1933. Apparently, the newspaper Seattle Post-Intelligencer printed this poster as a tear out.


Here's a jewelry store pictured in 1937. According to the records, this building was about five blocks from the current LBD digs. I love the big sign and great slogan. I think this building may still be standing, although the store has long since closed. I'll take picture of it now if I can track it down.

More historical photos to follow. If you want to do your own searches, visit this website.

We love our new windows

Earlier this week...

To do list

Remodel space. Check.
Tear down wall. Check.
Gasp at vast square footage. Check.
Vacuum dry wall dust. Check.
Install new lighting. Check.
Do a little jig. Check.
Reconfigure workstations. Check.
Reassure Otis that all will be OK. Check.

Charge battery and take photos of above. OOPS!

Next on the list...reopen on Thursday 11-9-06! Please stop by to visit our new digs!

Cornershop

Making it Work

You may have noticed that we're behind on our Project Runway analysis. We've been having our own make it work time around here getting the new space ready and gearing up for Christmas. Our wholesale business is going gangbusters, with stores carrying our line in Portland, New Zealand, Michigan, Wyoming and Colorado (among others). We've found some terrific small boutiques who understand what we do, and who have customers who buy our stuff. (Thanks!)

Those of you who have been to the shop will recognize the pink paint above. It's been our ceiling color for the last four years, and we've painted the new space with the same color scheme - vanilla walls and pink ceiling. The actual paint color is called "Taffy Lips" which brings to mind all sorts of X-rated associations. I've had to go back to the paint store a couple of times to restock, and I can tell that the gruff guys at the counter think I'm a wacko. (For the record I would have named it cherry pink.)

Under Construction

I'm excited to announce that our store is expanding! We're going to stay in our current Ballard location, but we'll double in size by adding the corner unit. My husband Jeff is already hard at work on construction.

Ultimately, we'll have more than twice the space for retail, for production, and for custom design. It's going to be a long process to get the new space ready, but I couldn't wait to share the good news!