Thursday, November 29, 2012

Downtown Home and Garden

The Hubby and I were in Ann Arbor recently to visit The Boy, attend a football game (U of Michigan won!), and take a quick look at the house he'll live in next year. It's old and lovely:



Filled with architectural details:


 And I'm sure he and his friends will thoroughly trash it, in true frat boy tradition. *Sigh.*


I also had time to visit one of my favorite Ann Arbor shops: Downtown Home & Garden. A century ago, it was a feed and seed store, and you can still see traces of that in the stacks of hay bales, bags of chow, and an old-fashioned buggy parked indoors:



But now Downtown H&G sells a huge array of things for, well, home and garden. This time of year, the store is aglow with cute things for the holidays, like these adorable glass teapot tree ornaments:



And little critter ornaments made from...I'm not sure what. Straw? Paper?



The blown-glass ornament were so unusual. Piccolos! (Or are those flutes?):


Trailers and VW vans!:


Retro lights, like this set:


The store had yards and yards of fresh evergreens for sale:


And stuff to make sure the wild critters in the back yard have a merry holiday season, too:


 I loved their sweet, retro-style toys:




And they have a dear Shop Kitty, too, seen here with some of his fan mail from local children:



But what really makes my heart go pitty-pat when I visit the store is its amazing assortment of big-kid toys, like these colorful Le Creuset teakettles:


 and matching frying pans:



Dishtowelling by the yard (I went home with some of the blue-and-white):


Teensy tart pans (I tucked a marble in one so you could see just how small they are):


Polka-dot aprons:


Gloves for heavy and light work:


These rolling pins are used to make a kind of cookie, I think:


 Now, here's something you don't see in Los Angeles!:


Since I was last there, Downtown Home & Garden has added a Beer Garden out back, with a kiosk selling spirits and snacks, and fire pits to gather 'round:


If you are ever in Ann Arbor, be sure to visit this lovely store. And pop out to the Beer Garden, too. They've saved a seat for you:




1 comment:

  1. I just LOVE that store! We are headed up this weekend to do some shopping for paperwhite and amaryllis bulbs! (Got my Dad that hat for Christmas last year :)) Hope you found lots of treasures!!

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