So, I mentioned my butcherblock countertops, which are one of the pride and joys in my life. Just like we source my pets from the strays that start hanging out in my back yard, we like to source materials for our house locally as well. It likely all started with the garden. My husband often says that there’s nothing more satisfying to him that walking out into the backyard, picking the items for dinner or a salad and then bringing them into the house to eat. I tend to agree. In a weird way, solar and geothermal are an extension of this concept. I’m not sure where the geothermal pump came from or where the solar panels were made, but they make energy for us right here at home. The geothermal draws up groundwater from the front yard; the solar sucks up the sun in the back yard.
Inside, sourcing locally has taken on meaning as well. First, there are two spoiled cats who meandered into our yard and took up residence. They now rule this household. But besides them, there are lots of locally sourced items. First, are my pride and joy: my butcherblock countertops. Made from hard rock maple, the countertops are the flat grain style that look more like the top of a piece of furniture than the traditional lined end grain. They were sourced in local forests, coming from no farther than 50 miles away. I hand-finished themselves, using stain and then a miracle product called Waterlox which makes them impervious to heat or water stains (love that stuff!). For the custom cabinet we had built by a local manufacturer, we dropped the cabinet height so we could add a four-inch block of end-grain butcherblock (think checkerboard style) and still have it be counter-top height for ergonomic food prep. That gets finished with either beeswax or kitchen-grade mineral oil once every three or four months to keep it safe for prepping food.
The result? Straight up, they look amazing to me. My husband doesn’t completely love them because they’re not perfect, but to me, their imperfections are their appeal. They are wonderfully warm, welcoming and unique. We had them built extra deep – a half-inch thicker than usual countertops – so they also feel substantial and sturdy. They’re just plum amazing. But, they’re not the only locally sourced items.
The post and beams for our conversion to open concept? Those also were sourced somewhat locally. They were built about four hours away from us. When you’re rural, that’s local.
And when we decided to remodel our half-bath for a second time, I again went local. What was critical for me was to find a sink that could function as the main bath guests would use – so it had to look nice – to also being study enough to function as a true laundry/garden sink. An Etsy search found exactly what I was looking for. A guy just a little over an hour away was building custom concrete sinks with hardwood bases. He could build the sink the exact size I needed to fit in the cubby we had created for it. Even better? They had rough-cut maple that they would sand to be smooth to the touch without losing its sturdy feel. The sink? That could be done in a linen white and would hold up to washing out paint brushes, soaking dozens of ears of corn, cleaning up garden supplies and still look elegant and classy for guests. Score! It took eight weeks to build and the sink itself weighed over 100 pounds, but the effect? Just about perfect.
As we move forward next year with the next set of renovations, we intend to use the same sawmill that made our countertops to make our hardwood maple floors. In reality, they will end up being less expensive than sourcing the floors from a “big box” store and will be infinitely better produced. We can expect no waste from the boards delivered for our floor.
Now, as much as I may like to pretend, we’re not purists. When we need to, we source supplies where we can easily get them. Next year’s deck project? They’ll use a concrete pier system sourced from the upper Midwest. That shiplap ceiling came from a big box store, although I hand finished them. The Scandinavian wood stove? Not made in Europe but not made in WNY either.
But the thing with sourcing local is that it’s fun. It’s not just being resourceful about what you can find to fit the label “local”, but it’s like a little scavenger hunt to find small businesses, manufacturers and resources right within your community. When whatever you source gets installed, you are reminded every time you look at it where you got it and the story around it. For example, I look at the stainless steel backsplash behind my stove and I think, “Ah, my friend Mike’s company made that for us.”
So, while I’m still thinking about renovations (obviously), I’m also thinking about the joy local sourcing brings me. Maybe in a future post, I’ll talk about the joy that reusing items we already have also brings. Not only does it save money, but it reduces what goes to a landfill and makes sure that we remain creative and resourceful with what we already have.
For now? I think I’ll belly up to my hardwood countertops and pour myself another cup of coffee. And while I do? Yep, I’m going to run my hand over those beautiful imperfect countertops and recall exactly how they came to be mine.
The Yuppie Homesteader 