The RE Store

Happy Earth Day! In honor of recycling, redusing, reusing, I present to you: The RE Store!

If you live in Seattle then chances are you've been to, or have at least heard of this wonderful place. It's heaven. Located just north of the Ballard Bridge, it's a is a gem of a store serving a great purpose:

"The RE Store was founded in 1993 by the non-profit organization RE Sources for Sustainable Communities to address the growing problem of wasteful disposal of usable building materials, most of which were buried in the local landfill."

When houses or buildings are torn down or renovated, sometimes the reusable pieces of it get donated here to be sold and reused, rather than winding up in the dump. Just little pieces of history, getting a second lease on life, so to speak.

How sweet is this fixture? This was my favorite thing I came across, and I kept walking back to it over and over just to stare at it. How I wish I owned my home and had a light that needed replacing. You know, if it's still there the next time I go in, I just might snatch it up anyway and hoard it until I can put it to good use.

There is so much fun stuff to explore; about a zillion light fixtures line the front room, there are oodles of old doorknobs and light switch plates, an entire warehouse of reclaimed doors and windows, bathroom fixtures, old maps, boxes of tile, hard wood flooring, on and on and on.

They have tons of hand-painted signage throughout the store. Just so charming and personal and fun, and actually made me stop to look at things I might have passed by otherwise. I tried to think of a way I could put one of these Seattle Metro bus fare boxes to use, but I couldn't come up with anything.

A row of old school desks. Complete with chewed gum!

I don't know how old these tiles actually are. They look like they were recently a glazing experiment for someone. They were a buck a piece, and I loved the colors, so I am going to add some felt to the bottom of them and use them as coasters!

This heege cash register was the size of a piano.

The sign says "Iz bath, man." I've never seen one like that before, but I thought it was super cute and different.

I grabbed this old soap tray and am thinking of pasting a picture to the front and using it as a frame. It stands up so nicely on its side.

They have shelves of hardwood flooring in the warhouse. All different kinds of wood, different lengths. Again, wishing I had a house that needed renovating

So if you're ever in the area and are looking for something to spruce up your house, or even just spark some ideas, The RE Store is definitely worth swinging by. The staff is awesome, the pieces are unique, and it's a real good time.