Changes for Fall

It was lovely and wonderful and FALL here in Tennessee a couple of weeks ago.  I even brought a plaid, wool blanket to the neighborhood pool to keep warm while our kids swam for one last time.  It was idyllic.  I dreamed that we’d have a fire in the fireplace and wear slippers for a reason other than the a/c being too cold.  I lit a pumpkin candle.  I considered buying a jumbo pumpkin pie at Costco.  I was all ready to settle in and I almost even got out my turkey transferware.

Until hell seemed to actually break loose, leaving 90-degree temperatures and super-humidity in its wake.  Now I remember.  Fall doesn’t really start in Tennessee, temperature-wise, until October has come and gone.  So we forgot about wool blankets and fires and instead put on sunscreen and tank tops.  And we did the last thing anyone should do when the temperature reaches the 90’s and the air is too thick to walk through.  We went to the flea market.

The flea market is not for the faint-of-heart anyway, but throw in oppressive heat and it makes for a short trip.  I did pick out some big pieces this time that are really cool.  They’re both on Instagram if you want to see them (I think they show up at the bottom of our website, too).  One is a vintage lead-type drawer system that looks very industrial/midcentury-esque and the other is a huge vintage mail sorter.  I have some ideas for them that will show up in this blog later, but for now, I thought I’d share the news of something we’ve been working toward all summer but is finally almost here!

As you have probably noticed, the services we offer on the website have changed this year.  We are cutting way back on design consultations, even though I do still love to help diy-ers and give them ideas.  But now we’re focusing on bigger projects, like kitchens, instead.  We have developed a team of tradespeople we like to work with plus some really cool sources for things like cedar and barnwood, from people who get the wood from their very own trees and old barns.  Dave is still doing some of the work too, but is now handing more over to different tradesmen we know and managing it instead.  We also have three really nice cabinet lines that we’ll be using exclusively.  And…

We are about to open a kitchen studio/showroom/shop in Franklin!  Several months ago, we started looking into locations, but the expense was so huge that we decided to keep doing in-home consultations.  Which is a lot more time-consuming.  But then, we were approached by the new buyer of a huge bath showroom who was remodeling and wanting to add kitchens.  He had clients coming in all the time wanting kitchens and had to say no.  Then he heard about us, and asked if we would be willing to run our kitchen business right next to his bath business.

If you’re local, we’ll be in Franklin on Columbia Way right across from Target and Panera.  It’s the Noland building, but it won’t be Noland anymore.  While the bath showroom is being remodeled, we’re going to have a small kitchen showroom going in that’ll be our home base until our adjacent kitchen studio is remodeled, too.  If you want to do a kitchen in the meantime, we are taking on kitchen clients and will just bring samples to you.  More about this later!

Here’s a picture of the inside of our new location!  This is actually the bath showroom, but it’ll include a small kitchen showroom and is where our headquarters will be until our adjacent kitchen studio is done.  We are pretty excited to be in this space!

Like usual, we’ll be incorporating vintage items into our designs.  Each of our sample kitchens will have a vintage piece to show you how to incorporate unique finds into your kitchen so you don’t end up with the same kitchen as everyone else.  Most of them will be for sale, so we can design your kitchen around your choice of vintage piece, if you like, and order your cabinets at the same time.  Here’s a cool 1800’s seed store counter we just got that will be heading to the shop!  We need to do a little work to it so it’s not put back together yet, but here it is in the trailer:

Here’s an up-close of the drawers.  One side has drawers and the other has glass inserts for displaying the kind of seed or grain in it.

I am a huge sucker for this type of piece.  It’s always cool but never trendy.  We have a similar one in our kitchen, which is a favorite of everyone who comes over!

I love the vintage hardware and worn wood.

More soon as we get our studio open in the next couple of months!  In the meantime, just contact us directly using the contact form on our website or by emailing us at hthrenovationfranklin@gmail.com or holly@hollythompsonhomes.com.  And if you’re local and happen to be an installer of some sort (tile, cabinets, etc), email us or call Dave at 615-268-3675 and he’d love to talk with you.  We are always looking for more installers.

Thanks for following along!  More is coming soon!