We knew we wanted to create The Range Vintage Trailer Resort, but we couldn’t bring a business into this world just for it to create more waste for our profit. So we knew it had to be as low waste and ‘green’ as possible, with a goal to always strive to improve. That aim can take many forms – from buying things with little to no packaging, to reusing existing products and materials, to simply reducing what you use and buy (minimalism is all the rage right now).
Here at The Range, we’re doing a bit of all of those. But what we’re especially excited about is reusing. The most obvious act of reuse at The Range is of course the vintage trailers, but there’s so much more! It takes creativity and vision to look at old discarded wood and see a beautiful floor, or an old refrigerator handle and see a towel hook (more on that below).
So this post continues our blog series showcasing some of the ways we have followed this reuse and repurposing path, this time focusing on the bathhouse.
The Bathhouse
Of all our buildings, the bathhouse and laundry might have the most reused and repurposed elements. Which is maybe not what you would have expected for a bathroom, but we promise the important parts (like the toilets) are brand new!
In the men’s portion of the bathhouse, the urinal has a colorful history. Originally from a Waxahachie football stadium bathroom, its more recent use was as a goat feed trough! It was offered to us so we added a reclaimed sheet of tin and turned it back into a urinal.
The sinks are repurposed – on the men’s side we’re using what was originally an old water feature bought from a local business, The Greenery. And on the women’s side there are two old bowls that we’ve converted into smaller sinks.
The vintage mirrors in the women’s bathroom are a Facebook find, while the mirrors above the men’s sink and in the shower is from Paul and his friend Rudi’s old lake house. Fun fact: Paul actually sold the lake house to buy Sarah’s engagement ring! He and Rudi fixed it up before selling it and saved some of the mirrors, and 10 years later they have found their home at The Range.
Even the doors, doorknobs and hooks are vintage or repurposed! The hooks on the stall doors are old refrigerator or cold box handles. We are in awe of Paul’s creativity on that one! And the vintage doorknobs and secondhand doors have been gathered from different places.
In the half of the bathhouse building that houses the laundry facilities, we have new washing machines and dryers but used the decor as an opportunity to reuse. These quilts belonged to Sarah’s grandmother and are a special and sweet touch to warm up this space. The picture frames came from Sarah and Paul’s house, and a bottle (not pictured) holding flowers was actually dug up from this land when we were enlarging the creek and ponds.
So when you’re walking past or making use of these facilities, we hope you can see the TLC and imagination that went into this building! Even though it’s a necessary facility, we had a lot of fun with it and we hope that shines through.
We can’t wait to share with you the other spaces and ways that we’ve gone green at The Range! If you missed our post about The Range’s store, check it out now. And stay tuned for more…