Life at the Chicken Coop

Cleveland Art

Two days ago I took the kids on a fieldtrip "over the tracks" to the other side of town, through streets whose buildings were boarded up and graffitied and teenagers roamed in herds like misguided cattle. I kept wondering if I would feel safe getting out of the car at my final destination. The GPS lady's directions took me to a huge old brick warehouse in an industrial district with those huge leaded paned windows, alot of them broken and all of them dirty. There was a bright orange splintered and peeling sliding door that would have made a great backdrop for a family photo (I've got my eye out for such special spots as we're getting our photos taken this weekend). Anyways, to make a long story short, we walked through a hallway, up two flights of stairs and went through an unmarked door to get to the offices of Pucel Enterprises, the maker of the coolest new-metal furniture I've come across (yes, even Martha Stewart and Land of Nod have them tapped). I went with Bob, the head hauncho, through an entire floor of scratch-and-dents, stacked on top of each other, some of them covered in dust. (Some pigeons had made a mess after getting in through one of the broken windows. Bob didn't seem to mind). As we walked through this huge warehouse floor, Bob would point to a specific piece say, "And that's a Martha too," or, "She ordered these for nightstands." It was really cool. Now I'm just torn as to what to buy. Do I buy this chest of drawers for Miles room (above picture)? Or, do I buy a vertical set of lockers for a more unconventional clothing storage piece? Oh, endless options! If I could, I would buy a truckload of this furniture and save it for our future home, one which might actually have a bathroom larger than a small closet.

{photo via Cleveland Art}