Thank you, Red Barn Collective, for sponsoring this post, part of Bahorich Abode's Shop Small Holiday series. I was selected for this opportunity by Red Barn Collective; the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
Guys, I am a sucker for little children's furniture. I don't know if you saw over on my Instagram story this week, but I just bought another piece of wooden furniture for little Lillie's room, a doll house book case. There is something about a solid wooden creation that steals my heart. Knowing that it is of good quality and typically, is handmade with someone's love, I just cannot get enough of it. I walked around my garage earlier this week and found three different sets of little wooden chairs waiting to be sanded and painted for Ollie and Lillie over the next few days. That's six chairs?! I have a problem...
Thankfully, there are places like Red Barn Collective that benefits from my love for all things wooden for my littles. From wooden learning towers to step stools, busy boards, lego boards, I am dying over each and every piece in their shop. They sell the peg boards just like we have for Ollie's nursery to the most adorable little wooden baby gym that I am currently eyeing.
This holiday season, for us, we are all about Legos. Dusty and I have been working on a Lego table for Ollie and asking all of the family members for Legos of our little man. He loves building things and of course, knocking them right back down. My big "ah-ha" moment was our first night at Walt Disney World this past month. Ollie (and Dusty) couldn't care less if we were at the happiest place on Earth, because we had wondered into the Lego store at Disney Spring and he was in heaven.
We sat and played and played with those Legos for nearly an hour. I thought the longer we stayed, the less interested he would become and the less likelihood for a meltdown. I was wrong. He interested just grew and the meltdown of leaving the Lego store was inevitable. Thankfully, I found Red Barn Collective and their amazingly built Lego board.
I know the moment we introduce Legos throughout our home, they are going to be a hit. The Lego table that we are building is headed to the new playroom in our basement, but honestly, with an addition to the family coming soon, we needed something that Ollie could sit in the living room floor or his sister's room and play with Legos in a manageable area. Enter this great Lego board.
These mini lego trays that Red Barn Collective makes are bound to be a huge hit in your home as well! Their trays are designed with our littles in mind specifically: sturdy, practical, and handy. The trays are a great size so Ollie can move his Lego creations freely throughout the house. It also makes for an easy pick-up when guests are coming over and have a landing spot.
My biggest fear with introducing Legos into the house is the stepping-on-Lego nightmare; however, thankfully, these trays help designate where Legos can be in the house, you know, and not under your feet at night... The best part about ordering from Red Barn Collective is that you have full creative control when designing the board: choose your board color, and either paint or stain for the frame. Not seeing a color you like exactly for your style? also, not a problem! Choose any Valspar paint and get exactly the style you want for your home! How awesome is it that they are that flexible!?
Like I mentioned, Red Barn Collective is packed full of goodies for your littles this Christmas. I also know a few baby showers and birthdays coming up that this shop would be amazing to partner with for my future gift buying. The best part is Red Barn Collective is offering y'all 10% off your entire order when you use the coupon code "BAHORICHABODE10" this holiday season. Thanks Red Barn Collective!!
Here is a little bit more about The Leeman Family, owners of Red Barn Collective:
How did you get your shop started?
Red Barn Collective began as an expression of love. The more we created these gifts for family and friends, the more we realized how much we enjoy handcrafting timeless, heirloom-quality pieces. What began as a husband and wife team has bloomed into a family adventure. We pride ourselves in our unique talents and skills, knowing that what we create will be passed on for generations to come.
What is the hardest part of owning a shop?
Definitely the hardest part of owning a shop is time management. Between homeschooling, church, and our growing business, we are constantly striving for a balanced home/work life. We love being able to incorporate our business with our homeschool curriculum, but we still spend many after-school and weekend hours working on orders and perfecting our craft!
What is one thing unique about you?
I think one unique thing about our shop is how we involve our children in the design and production process. With a large family, every penny counts, and the purchases made from our shop directly support our children! Not only do our children learn valuable lessons on how to save and invest their money, but that lego tray you just purchased? Those proceeds are going towards someone’s first car, their college tuition, their next mission trip, etc.
What is the best part of owning a shop?
Our favorite part of owning a shop would be the positive reviews and feedback we get from our customers. We take pride in our work and it is always such a blessing to receive thank-you messages and pictures from happy customers.
How did you get your shop name?
Our shop name, Red Barn Collective, is named after our 150+ year old barn that sits on our family’s property. We wanted to find a way to honor our family history and there is so much charm in a beautiful, old barn.
What is one way that you keep organized?
If we could start another business, it may be in organization. With a large family and a busy business, you absolutely have to stay organized. After some trial and error, we have found a system that works best for us to keep track of all of our orders and day-to-day family activities. The secret? Old school calendars and printed out invoices.
How do you balance family life and work life?
I think the most effective way to keep a balanced family life and work life is to work smart and think ahead. Over summer break we put in extra hours to build up inventory for all our holiday markets coming up- it gives Christmas in July a whole new meaning for us! It’s also worth mentioning how easy it is to get sucked into work, work, work. Family life and our church community are extremely important to us and we have to be very intentional with our time and energy so we don’t burn ourselves out spending too much time in our workshop.
