The Amish Walmart: Building Frames with Soul

This weekend, I spent most of my time in the garage, prepping for a marathon session of frame building. First up: a new frame for “The Ride Home”—a painting that captures an Amish buggy heading up the highway on a crisp fall evening.

I wanted the frame to feel like it belonged to the world inside the painting—weathered, humble, and full of character. So I used reclaimed barnwood pulled from an actual Amish barn. Nothing prefab. Nothing synthetic. Just real wood with real history.

// Rewind 24 hours //

The day before, Sarah and I finally visited a place I thought was more rumor than reality—a hidden gem locals refer to as The Amish Walmart.

It’s not a store. It’s a massive, half-forgotten shed tucked down a dirt road, surrounded by acres of scrap wood, rusted tools, forgotten machinery, and salvaged treasures. Basically… the holy grail of DIY gold.

That’s where I found it: a tall stack of sun-aged barn wood. Not the faux-distressed stuff from big box stores—this was the real deal. Weather-worn. Textured. Beautiful. And the price? $1 per 6-foot plank.

I brought home as much as I could fit in the car and immediately started cutting frames. The grain, the texture, the way the light hits the old wood—it brings something extra to the finished piece. It doesn’t just hold the painting… it tells part of the story.

Here's a shot of the frame I built for The Ride Home. The art and the wood feel like they came from the same place—which, in a way, they did.