Custom orders and requests are a recurring theme in the work load at The REvision Divsion. All of them are a solid tool for outreach and a wonderful opportunity for service to the community.
I want to share one of them today, that went out recently and created a smile beyond design and crafting:
In early summer, I was approached by a couple during one of my Saturday presentation days in the REvision Division showroom with a rough pencil sketch.
It showed the outline drawing and dimensions for a cabinet. Her question was, if re-purposed materials could be used to build a lean-to, outdoor closet on the back porch of the couple’s county home. It would be housing the clothes, boots, gloves and basic tools for him who was living with the onset of dementia.
Members of their community had already fenced the yard to prevent him from getting lost and helped to enable him to maintain his dignity and independence for the garden work that he loves to do. And though she had been pro-active around house and acreage it was still a challenge to maintain a sense of order to the chaos of misplaced and impossible to recall items that he needs throughout his beloved daily activity.
Hence the need for a centrally located storage location that could be the go-to place.
With something like that, he would have only one place to remember when looking for stuff and she could spare him the embarrassment of asking and herself the tediousness of constant readiness. This easy to reach outdoor cabinet would be stocked each morning and periodically restocked by her with the retrieved items and accessed by him for resupplies. Less need for asking, reduced interruptions and no more constant opening of backdoor and dirty boot tracks in the kitchen!
And so it was done!
When the “right” materials in the form of knotty cedar T&G boards from a long defunct rustic cottage contraption showed up in receiving with strap hinges and hasp to boot, the project became a quick reality. It featured a built-in slanted, asphalt-shingled top to shed rain in addition to the existing shelter of overhanging house and porch roof.
The on-site measurements that needed to be taken and the installation of this closet was easily done and accounted for by the Revision Division’s 2 hour free consultation and design offer for every commitment to a custom order.
Along with the hope for long in-home independence, this Wardrobe For All Seasons became a most recent, humble example of possibilities in the tool box of The RE Store’s waste diversions and community outreach.
Written by Eberhard Eichner Lead Designer/Builder Revision Division The RE Store Bellingham