Store

If you think wrought iron means thick, black gates with minimal decoration, lighten up. Home & Garden Art in Ballard displays iron of all widths and colors—bent, coiled, curled and flattened into 350 garden accoutrements.

Like a giant coloring book, this place is all lines and spaces, waiting for color from blooms and vines. Each wiry outline paints its own picture: frogs, pigs and miniature windmills speak to the English country garden. Delicate fleur de lis hint at provincial France. Terra cotta suns tell of Italian patios, but the waist-high welded roosters are just plain sci-fi.

Under an outdoor canopy, 20 arbor styles and 22 trellises vie with rows of chimineas—charming clay fireplaces with lidded flues. Lemonade and coffee wait inside, as do two towering suits of armor ($200 each), fringed lamps and gilded picture frames. Don't miss the wine rack shaped and sized like a viola ($395)—it even holds stemware!

Hiding among the garden skeletons are either Jim or Lisa Honold, the affable owners who will help you as much as you like but never more than you need. This may be a retail store, but the Honolds' whimsy inspires buyers and browsers alike.

Tips: You can rent arbors—or any items—for up to seven days. Home & Garden Art delivers, but most items fold into smaller parts and fit neatly into a compact car.

By Alison Peacock
Special to NWsource