Archives January 2022

Contest: Most Creative Use of Our Buildings!

by rebekahraemullins Featured Events

Once our building is set up on your property and you are completely satisfied with the purchase, it’s not really our business what goes on in there. However, sometimes the design process brings up some interesting requests, that beg the question: what will you use our buildings for?

Sure, most just need a tool shed, or a metal carport for the hail to ping off of instead of your workhorse truck. Some need something a little more special: a man cave or she-shed, or a massive barn for all the farm’s equipment. We see a hundred people every year looking for a tiny home: a sweet little log cabin or Cape Cod they can insulate and run electrical wiring through.

Others, however, need something unique. We live for those stories. A lofted A-frame barn with extra loft space, multiple dormers on the roof, and ventilation windows high up all around the walls makes for an impressive aviary. Put shelving all around and add a few cat trees, and your feline friends can run and jump all day without sacrificing the furniture in the den.

The pandemic put a lot of people to work at home, which not all households were ready for. We’ve seen people outfit a simple shed with lighting, AC, and Zoom-ready backdrops for the perfect home office. Others took the opportunity of extra time at home to rediscover passion projects, and turn our garages into amazing workshops for woodcraft, painting, and so much more.

If you have done something spectacular with a Buildings Plus building, we want to see it. Either submit a picture and description through our contact form on this website, or tag us on your social posts. We’ll boost our favorites, and be sure to give you a shout out for your awesome idea!

“Custom Design” Means Our Walls, Too

by rebekahraemullins Events
Taken shortly after completion–see the paint cans still scattered around!

When you step through the door to our office, you’re greeted with the roar of a crowd chanting your name. Cameras flash through the audience as laser lights sweep across the ring in a dazzling dance. The ropes tremble with the beat of your theme music, and you part them, ducking between to stand tall and turn to the crowd—

Alright, maybe that doesn’t actually happen. It’s just what we hope you imagine. What we offer at Buildings Plus is not just the raw material to construct a backyard edifice. We offer the empowerment to design exactly what you want, and the quality partners to make that dream arrive on your property just how you pictured it. Stepping into our office isn’t a battle, or test of willpower—all of our customers get the same quality product at discount rates—it’s a display of strength and reliability, with the spotlight on you and your custom design.

But why a boxing ring, you ask? These same qualities could have been written on a nice sign outside, or been part of a lame sales spiel. Well, we have always been a little unique. More to the point: Troy, manager of our lot, was a boxer for years. He was frequently encouraged by others to go pro, but began his career a little too late to do so comfortably. Regardless, sparring provided fantastic exercise and could be an outlet for stress, a gym full of companionship, and a fulfilling hobby to pursue.

This mural was actually a long time coming. The spare room in our double-wide during my childhood was Troy’s office and boxing room. A desk was pushed to one corner, with punching bags, speed bags, medicine balls, weights, and more scattered around the remaining space. I heard the clank of those weights dropping every day, and the boxing ring bell tone–“ding ding ding!”–going off from his phone to indicate that the set was over. Even back then he suggested we paint the walls of that room as if all his gear was in the center of a ring, a cheering crowd visible just beyond the ropes.

That particular goal wasn’t achieved until this year, in interesting conjunction with the much grander dream of stepping into the family business that longtime Clarksville resident Moon started over a decade ago. While I crouched in the corner of the office painting abstract representations of folding chairs, Troy led tours outside and helped visitors to our lot choose and modify the exact building they needed. I’m not a professional artist, but a lot of heart went into this mural, just as it goes into your custom designs. Hopefully, you will find it as inspiring as we do whenever you step into our office.

This chair is a bit over-sized compared to those in the mural, but maybe that helps with a sense of scale?

New Year, New Buildings

by rebekahraemullins Events
new buildings

With winter now officially in full force, a new year rolls around (with new buildings rolling in behind). You’ll notice a few things have been differently lately, both at our lot and around Clarksville.

This weekend, for example, brings the third snowstorm of the season. Blankets of fresh snow and treacherous driving conditions make us want to bundle up inside, huddled around the fireplace or under comfy throws on the couch.

With the leaves gone from the trees, everything looks a little colder and barer. Our lot is not immune to this change, and you may notice a lot of empty spaces where buildings once were.

There’s no need to fret! January is our month to sell off the sample buildings we display year-round. With those sheds, garages, barns, and carports at the homes of their lucky new owners, we have plenty of room for the new year’s inventory.

That means we have an entire new selection of buildings for you to tour on your next visit to the lot. Many will be the same models we offer perennially—albeit in different styles and colors—but sometimes a new year brings exciting, entirely new models offered by our partners.

new buildings

Whether you drop by now—when we look a bit empty—or later, when our stock is replenished; know that we still have the capability to design the exact building you’re looking for, and can have it built and shipped to your home within weeks. The only difference for right now is that tours may have a few less direct examples for reference, and there aren’t as many options for immediate purchase as there may be in a month.

This is an exciting time of year for us, and I hope you enjoy all the new stock we are sure to see on our lot very soon. It’s a treat to see each building unloaded, as well; Tennessee Steel is efficient and reliable, but Bieler’s folks manage so much so quickly with manpower alone.

Happy New Year to all, and happy new buildings as well!