August 23, 2012 ~ Carolyn Linton is an amazing woman. A talented woman too! A couple years ago I was a ribbon cutting for a store in Columbia and saw some of Carolyn's tables there. I knew these tables were something I wanted to own but I just didn't have the extra money and I didn't want to settle for anything less than her tables. Earlier this year I had saved some money up and called the store to see if they still had those tables. Sadly they said they didn't but offered me her name and phone number. I immediately called her up and left a message to call me when she had a moment as I was interested in purchasing her tables. She called me back and that was the start of a great friendship!
I drove out to her shop and loved it from the moment I drove up! Little did I know she disassembled this barn and personally built it back on her farm. This barn came from where she was born and raised in Chillicothe, MO.She moved this barn in 2005.
I love the front of her shop because it's just country! Makes you feel so welcome to walk through the front door into a great showroom of her designs!
When you walk in you can just feel the passion in her work. She really loves the old barns and being able to re-purpose them makes her happy! It's sad to think that most old barns just fall in, rot away or get bulldozed in and burned. So much history is in those barns and all of these items that she makes is from barns from all over the state of Missouri. For example she has made things from barns from Ladonna, Calloway, Boone, Pilot Grove, Prairie Home, Bunceton, Mexico and Glasgow, MO to name a few!
I just love looking at each piece in her store as the are so individually unique and have so much character. I am pretty sure I could spend a lot of time in here!
Each piece that she makes has a sketch of the barn along with the approximate year (most times she knows the year from the owners) and places it on a metal medallion. I love this part of each of the pieces as she puts them so that you can see them. She also hand writes a little about the barn the piece was made from under the furniture. So each piece comes with a little history of where it came from! What she loves about the pieces are that the trees had to have been at least 100 years old to begin with and people didn't have skill saws and the tools like we do today so many of them were cut by hand and even used wooden "nails" on many of them to hold it together. So realistically they are made from 150-200+ year old wood! Pretty cool!
I always have great conversations with her and when I first met her she was just completing her last bit of radiation. She is a breast cancer survivor and somehow has kept pushing forward even through some tough times. She is really excited to get back into full swing of making furniture as she has several of us on a list for custom furniture! I have ordered 2 end tables and a coffee table and can not wait to get them!
For now I have picked up my sofa table and love it! She is such a neat lady and does all of this on her own. The construction is well made and very durable. She is also been asked to a juried artist which is a big deal! For a unique item that fits in just about any home please visit her website for more information and great pictures of things she as made. http://www.greenmeadowbarncompany.com/index.html or contact her at 573-592-0331 to call and make an appointment to go to her shop.... I promise you'll love it!
No comments:
Post a Comment