West End field trip

This past week I got the chance to take my kids on a "shopping" field trip to the Big City! There is a wonderful shop downtown called West End Architectural Salvage:

It is a huge warehouse loft, the atmosphere is so cool, even to my young kids! We did opt to go on one of the HOTTEST days of the year, and since this is an old building, the upper floors had NO AIR CONDITIONING! But we still had a great time....and look at some of the salvaged, reclaimed items we saw:

I love old metal buckets and bins....this would be amazing in a home office!

I don't know how comfy this sofa would be, I was too scared to sit on it, but it was so beautiful, along with the more modern pillows!

We took the stairwell in between floors, very lofty, my boys thought it was a little spooky, but in a fun way!

There was a whole section of a level dedicated to lighting fixtures....oh the fun I could have with these!!!

Each level had it's own restroom, and even those were fun and interesting to look at....always finding inspiration in the most unusual places!

If we ever have to replace our doors at Irishman Acres, I vow to buy from here...I think it would be so interesting to have each door in a home to be different, and just think of the instant character these babies would add!

Love me some IRON! These could be kept as is for garden art, or refinished and brought into the home....dreamy! 

Wyatt was on the hunt for old hinges for a 4H project he is working on, and found the perfect pair! I will show his pick along with his project when it is finished!

We had a little reprieve from the heat with doors they propped open on the west end of the building, thank goodness there was a nice breeze on this day...spent a little rest sitting here while I looked for some old doorknobs...sadly did not take a picture of the huge assortment they had!

And of course we found the neatest piece of glass with an etching of a peacock! I should have asked the owners where this was originally....don't know where I would have put this, but I bet I would have had fun with it SOMEWHERE! :)

This was a fun way to spend an afternoon with my kids....if anyone is ever in the Des Moines area, this is a great shop and has a fun cafe on the main level (that IS air conditioned). To visit, get store hours, or see what is happening at this always changing place, visit www.westendsalvage.com

Until next time,

~Kim