Store

It'd be a cinch to pass by this little salvage shop. Masked in with a bunch of identical businesses, under the Bardahl Oil sign in the last underdeveloped corner of old industrial Ballard, is RE Store. Once inside though, the vast and commanding warehouse is packed floor to ceiling with inexpensive recycled home materials.

The front room houses endless lighting fixtures, from deco wall sconces to crystal chandeliers, oodles of hardware and widgets (brackets, faceplates, doorknobs, wiring, pulleys, etc.) and piles of tiles in retro colors and varied textures. Don't miss the psychedelic fish tank made from the belly of an old monochrome television. Cabinet and drawer pulls are a steal at $1 to $5 — Restoration, eat your hardware out!

In the Lavatory Lounge, find faucets and fixtures, toilets and tubs and mirrors and sinks — some are even avocado colored, if you're looking to relive the '70s.

The back part of the warehouse is doors galore: a no-frills panel door might be $15, while a more elegant multi-paneled leaded-glass French door is $90. Dig through stacks of window panes for a Medieval-style, arched and gated multi-paneled frame for $100 or settle for a $10 small, single-pane frame. Continue excavating, and you'll find low-priced shutters, screen doors, lockers, shelving and filing cabinets, all salvaged, reclaimed and recycled.

In the backyard lot, search for a treasure among the Pompeii-like landscape of fallen chipped marble, stone, brick and lumber. Bricks are a mere quarter; marble is $10 a pound. Let your imagination go wild: a few polished glass blocks would make a cool base for a coffee table; and the pink translucent siding, cleaned and framed, would make a one-of-a-kind folding screen.

By Ali Basye
Special to NWsource