Although I’m not a huge shopper, I do enjoy a good country store. And I REALLY enjoy country stores that also sell antiques and local, hand-crafted merchandise. Which is why I was so delighted to discover this place a year or so ago, only about 15 minutes from my house in Calverton.
I stumbled across this adorable little store while looking for another antique shop I’d seen advertised. Country Corner Woodworking & Antiques is owned by Amy and Butch Beard. I’ve met Amy, a very nice lady who is usually running the place, but haven’t met Butch, who does a lot of the woodworking.
I dropped in on my way to the farm last weekend, hoping to find a gift for a friend. I haven’t taken pictures before because it’s usually full of people. Since I was the only customer that day, I asked Amy if she’d mind my grabbing some photos so I could share this little treasure of a place with you folks.
If you’re a local, or coming to visit for a bit, and want to see this place, I’d be more than happy to take you. Of course, you can go all by yourself, if you prefer, or with some other friend/family member.
The Beard’s shop is very much like the country stores in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In fact, they get a good bit of merchandise from Amish wholesalers in and around Lancaster.
Butch makes a lot of stuff, too. My favorite piece that day was this gorgeous pie safe, fashioned from recycled oak fence boards. Isn’t that wood gorgeous? The inside was my favorite part.
I just love how you can tell that the wood has some age to it.
Here’s another cabinet he made, using an old shutter for the door.
The bead-board on the inside is a nice touch, too.
There’s quite a variety of country merchandise and other hand-made local goods. And there are antiques, too.
I actually ended up buying a couple of gifts. I’m determined to thin-out the amount of stuff I own, so have been in “non-acquisition mode” for a while now.
I spent the bulk of the day on Sunday going through my basement craft/storage/painting space, reorganizing and getting rid of some unwanted stuff. I made good progress, but still have quite a bit to do before it’s fully organized.
Part of the problem is that I have a bunch of stuff in the storage room that needs to go, too. Then maybe some of the treasures I want to keep can be moved into that area.
It’s a very slow process. I don’t want a bunch of stuff sitting around, gathering dust, but I don’t like to throw stuff away.
One day, I’ll finish down there, then I’ll be able to show you what a craft room is supposed to look like. As opposed to the disheveled mess you’d see if you went downstairs right now.
I took a couple bags of trash to the curb yesterday AND my car is full of items to be donated.
See what I mean? Imagine how bad it looked before. LOL.
And that’s why it’s best if I just avoid cute country stores, auctions, and the like. At least until I finish getting my space into tip-top shape.
There are some really nice pieces in that store. Butch does great work. Those birdhouse gourds in the first pic are pretty darn cool too.
One of the things about living in 912 sq ft, is that we don’t have room to collect. Hubby’s garage is another story. 🙂
Brandy, when we moved to VA, we were supposed to be downsizing. That didn’t quite work out, and we seem to have expanded to fill our space. Ugh. Now my daydreams often feature a single-storey cottage with a big yard, but no flower beds. I also seem to be losing my desire to garden as I age.
Maybe the real benefit of visiting stores is to figure out how to market the stuff you have.
The cabinets in the shop are called Hoosier. 🙂
I know only too well what it feels like to try and purge … sadly, like digging a hole in the sand at the beach … it fills in as quickly as I empty it. (In my case, it’s not always, actually rarely, my stuff it fills in with!) But just the same I would love to look through the store.