Need building materials, craft materials, or maybe just to get out of the house? Have you heard of the ReBuilding Center? Trust me, once you visit this place, just off Fremont, at 3625 N. Mississippi, you will never go back to that horror of all horrors, Home Depot.
This weekend, Jeremy, Selah, and I all piled in the Volvo and headed out. Jeremy needed some building supplies for a volunteer project he is heading up, and thought he would at least start at the ReBuilding Center. I was just curious. Selah is an involuntary participant in whatever we do.
When we pulled up, I experienced the mixture of awe and dread I always do when I visit home or gardening stores. I always want to smell the wood, look at pretty cabinets, etc., and Jeremy invariable goes to a shelf full of different kinds of bolts that all look identical to me, and proceeds to take three hours to choose some. But I digress. Once we walked in, I was struck by the thought, What fun!
It's kind of like the Goodwill for building materials. It was a giant warehouse (well, several warehouses) filled with reclaimed wood, windows, wood lattice, cabinets, appliances, furniture, you name it! Two-year-old Selah especially liked the rows of potties, and the resident cat, Ella. Jeremy tried to choose from long, identical-looking boards while Selah and I followed Ella around. Next, she and I got to watch a big truck load a dumpster onto itself while Jeremy was still looking at boards. In an attempt to keep Selah from clinging to his legs, I led her back to the cat's lair, and discovered a wall full of homemade coat racks, made from cabinet knobs screwed onto rectangles of wood. Apparently they have classes to help people make craft such as those, as well as a variety of other courses, such as Carpentry for Women (boy, sign me up!) and Intro to Power Tools.
The staff was very friendly, laughing with me instead of scowling as I followed my toddler around, eventually succeeding in scaring their cat, knocking down the world's largest stuffed dog, and wandering amongst workmen loading a truck. One man, when he spied Selah, took special care to warn us that painted materials from before a certain year were likely to contain lead paint, and pointed us toward brochures they have on the topic.
Anyway, if you are a would-be artist, want to renovate your home, or maybe just want to be inspired with ideas for family fun or future projects, I highly recommend you visit! The Chinook Book has a 10% off coupon at C-437. I do suggest you dress warmly--drafty would be an understatement.