Our shop is a place where a lot of the community come in, read notices, pick up their papers and stop and have a natter. We wanted to offer a place for the locals to sit and catch up over a well priced cuppa, perhaps lunch or a cool drink. Where Mums could sit, feed their babies if needed, where little ones were welcomed and could play with toys or draw.
Its one of those jobs that can be really expensive if we allowed it to be, as most jobs can. But this lifestyle of trying to live simply and mindfully outworks into all areas of our lives.
We no longer look outwards for new, we look at what we have to see if there is something we already own that can do the job, can be re-purposed or if there is a way we can change the way we are thinking about the task at hand. So much of our lives in today's modern world are geared towards mindless consumerism, these simple steps help us to stop and take stock of what we are doing, and why.
We have hired a lovely fancy commercial coffee machine, (better value then buying for a small scale and they service/repair them etc.) re-arranged the old shop so one of the big old bay windows was clear and brought in seating.
I really wanted a couch to be there, so we measured up our comfy, leather two seater couch which fitted perfectly so we brought that on in. Our big 3 seater couch is still in our outdoor lounge/sewing/spare room and the boys can have beanbags. We went onto Gum tree and found an amazing, solid timber, country style 4 seater table and chairs and brought that in also for $75, a total bargain. I have said it before and I will say it again, it is AMAZING what people get rid of! I bought a lovely big basket for the toys which was on clearance due to a damaged handle. I can fix it with string and wood glue and 10mins of effort.
Once it was all in place I decided the wall needed brightening up, so I nipped into spotlight and bought some timber embroidery hoops, some clearance fabric and set about making some wall hangings, and finally hung some sweet hessian bunting in the window, brought in some cushions and a little round side table.
What we now have is a lovely sunny nook. We hope to convert the other large bay window into a seating area also in time. We have a freezer to move and a bit more re-arranging to go on that side though. I'm thinking about painting that wall to emphasise it and visually seperate it a bit to the eye, though it's a tricky spot. What do you think?
As we make our move to the town, not only will it be nice for our customers, but also our family to have a comfortable space to eat, spend time and talk whilst running the business together.
Much love,
Emma
xx
