One Year On: A Little Shop, A Lot of Heart
- janeandharryalnmou
- Jul 11
- 3 min read
One year ago today, it was full-blown chaos behind the scenes — paintbrushes flying, wires being wired, shelves being built… all in a race to open our doors in time for the Arts Festival weekend 🎨🫣
We had painter Dean, Uncle Dave on the tools, Cousin Jake the joiner, and our electrician James Fernback all pulling early mornings and late nights. A shout out to Spotty Dog Signs for our slick signage! Some people weren’t convinced we’d make it — and OK, we were 20 minutes late for our grand opening — but we DID it! 🙌
I’ll forever be grateful to that dream team for bringing my ‘little’ vision (or “tall order” as Uncle Dave liked to call it) to life. You made the impossible feel just about do-able.
To all my girls — I honestly couldn’t have done it without you. From packing up the old shop to unpacking the new one, to creating a floral window display at 11pm, to simply showing up when I said “it’s fine”… even when it wasn’t. You turned up, mucked in, and made it happen.
I also have to say a huge thank you to the village and community I get to call home ! Jane & Diedre who helped me paint and clean the windows. Shelly from the Sun who supplied the tradies with drinks throughout the late nights. All the people that piled out the Sun the night before opening to help us unload all the stock into the shop.
A massive shout out to Angus — who gave up so many weekends and evenings to help me put in ceiling insulation. We sweated it out in overalls, itchy and sore, convinced we were being stung from head to toe. We powered through the dreaded fire-retardant paint job too — thick, sticky, and slow-going. (Dad’s attempt to save the day with a paint sprayer turned into a bit of a disaster… rollers for the win.) Angus, thank you for being there when I was on the verge of a meltdown — you were my calm in the chaos.
And of course, the biggest thank you of all has to go to my mum and dad. Without you, none of this would’ve been possible. Demolition Dad to the rescue — we did a lot (if not all) of the demolition work ourselves to save money, guided from afar by Uncle Dave (“Don’t knock that one down — you can knock that one down!”). Mum, thank you for seeing my vision, even when it was just a scribble on a page, and for backing me every step of the way.
Looking back from where is all started and the whole journey feels surreal — the shop’s now packed to the rafters, and we’ve welcomed even more amazing local artists since opening. Supporting small and independent makers like ourselves is what we’re all about, and we couldn’t be prouder 💛
Here’s to one magical, messy, beautiful year — and hopefully many more to come!
Local businesses and tradies we have used throughout the renovation are named or linked at the bottom. Along with our favourite fixtures and fittings.
Signage:
Electrician
Plumber
Painter - Dean Smith
Builder - Dave Powell
Joiner - Jake Powell
Building Supplies
Tiler - Scott Richardson
Exterior Door Accessories (which we have had so many lovely compliments on, thank you)
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