How I invented the Harpswell Box - the perfect little storage container

I got my start in an indirect way-by decorating our vacation home in Harpswell, Maine. We had been watching a cable TV series about how to get a free vacation home. The idea was simple, we needed to find a rentable, affordable vacation property — decorate it on a budget — and use the rental income to pay for it. So the challenge was to finish it on a budget. We scoured flea markets, raided curbsides on trash days, and hit the thrift shops. Paint, new hardware and an open mind helped transform and evolve the pieces.

What happened next is I ran up into a challenge. As I said, the cottage was small, and we were careful on the furniture budget. The big challenge was with lots of little things in a vacation rental house-we needed some sort of box to help keep things organized.

My mother, who had been my guide and partner in all this, sourced some simple, but solid pine boxes. But the box happened to be just the size of a license plate. So, to up-cycle the box, we attach a car’s license plate to it, painted it the right color, and we then had something. My Harpswell box was born!

Today I paint the boxes with my own chalked paint and use a license plate selection that I have curated — to make the perfect box. They are constructed of solid pine, painted and sanded by me, and then decorated with a handpicked plate - and mounted by me.

And, you can customize it too, just tell me the plate you want, and the color — email me here: squidflipnh@gmail.com

So that is how I came to make my Harpswell boxes, and how you can order one that just the way you want: be it for a gift, keepsake, or the prefect organizing tool