Tag: furniture

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Back-to-School 101: How to Create an Educational Atmosphere at Home

As that yellow school bus rolls past the house, it’s a sign that summer is officially over. After the fun-filled days of “not-a-care-in-the-world,” moving back into the routines of the school year isn’t always easy.

Preparing your children for success starts by creating an inspirational atmosphere so they are encouraged to study, learn, and imagine. From stocking up on school supplies to designating a work area, planning ahead makes sure back-to-school transitions a lot easier for both you and your children.

Here are 4 ways to create a school ready atmosphere with some key rustic furniture pieces:

Homework Station: A barnwood desk is the perfect addition to your home to create a stylish and rustic “homework central” for the entire family. Make sure you fill the desk drawers with lots of school supplies; such as pens, pencils, markers, scissors, etc., so that the area becomes a “go-to” spot for homework and projects.

Desk

Book Cubbie: Create your very own at home library by adding a bookcase to your family room or kitchen. Visible shelves keep all of your reading materials on display, maybe as a friendly reminder to your students in the house who are working through their reading lists. You can even designate each shelf to each family member so they can better commit to their reading goals for the year!

Bookcase

A bookcase can also serve a dual purpose for the family by holding important files within covered cabinets. Add two barnwood bookcases to one room for wall-to-wall of good reads.

Reading Nook: Think back to your school days, do you remember the designated reading chair? Consider incorporating one into your home. This reading chair will signify quiet time for your children to freely read a book of his or her choice, or maybe a relaxation spot for when your child is tucked away in bed.

Barnwood Chair

Family Dinner Spot: It’s important for parents to promote family time, whether it’s game night or family dinner. Taking time out of your day to reflect on your children’s school day is very beneficial for positive reinforcement. By having a central homework station at a desk with books stored within your bookcase, the dining table can be just that – for dining.

Family Dinner Table

Are you ready for back-to-school season? Tell us how you are making your home school-approved!

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Take a Peek Behind the Scenes at Old Barn Star

We can’t believe it is already almost July!

Between custom furniture orders and local events, this season has been a whirlwind for us and we are ever so grateful. We often use our blog to show you some of our customers’ favorite projects or some unique ways to use barnwood in your home. This time, we wanted to pull back the curtain on ourselves and share some behind the scenes photos with you all the way from Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania!

Whether you already know and love Old Barn Star, or you’re just starting to get familiar with all of our barnwood furniture; here’s a look inside why we love to do what we do.

Meet Bella and Sookie. First and foremost, we have to introduce Bella and Sookie, the unofficial mascots of Old Barn Star. Bella has a black brown coat, whereas, Sookie is more of a Reddish brown. Usually Sookie finds the trouble and Bella gets caught in the act because she is so slow and laid back. This sister hound team is always there to put a smile on our faces, as we’re busy filling furniture orders. We like to think of Bella and Sookie as the ideal helpers whether we’re painting or delivering shipments and they often makes guest appearances on our Instagram page.Old Barn Star Dogs

To stain or paint? That is the question. A lot of hard work goes into each piece of barnwood furniture. We believe in doing everything by hand because it makes for a better quality product. Back at the Old Barn Star shop you’ll see us hand painting and staining every piece of furniture that we sell. We have samples of our paints and stains all over the shop to keep us inspired!Paint

Stain

On the Road. The one part of the process most customers may not see is when we’re packing up custom orders to hit the road! Here are some photos of how our barnwood furniture leaves the shop and heads to its new home. We like to say that we must have been very good with building blocks when we were kids!

This past Spring we were also lucky to meet so many of you at the Vintage Tin Can in Maryland. It’s fun for us to see our pieces get dressed up to be put on display at this incredible store and we are lucky to show alongside some very talented vendors!Barnwood Shipments

Accessorize, accessorize! Every now and then we are always looking for ways to add personality to our barnwood furniture pieces, from unexpected paint colors to the perfect hardware accessories. We have fallen in love with handmade hardware, especially these artistic hand-forged knobs below that were done by a local blacksmith. Our local community has such a huge part in who we are as a shop and we love showing that off in each of our pieces.Barnwood Furniture

We hope you learned a bit more about our Old Barn Star team and what makes us unique! If you are interested in learning more about our barnwood products or furniture process, please contact us for more information – we can’t wait to hear from you!