One of the many questions about our new old house is: WHY FABRIC ON THE CEILING?

Ladies and gents, let me introduce you to #Hashtag... I consider myself an Austinite, even though I was born above the Mason-Dixon Line. My parents moved to south Austin when I was two and this great city has been my hometown ever since. I did move away for about five years to Colorado Springs, Co. and even though it's a beautiful state with so much to do I couldn't wait to get back home. I worked the corporate world for several years and was fortunate enough to work for a company that allowed me to bring my son with me to work right after he was born. One Friday afternoon I was packing up, ready to head out for the weekend, when my boss asked to chat with me, I quickly realized what the chat was about. I was jobless! By Monday I had processed this change and was now thanking God that He had answered my prayers and desires to stay at home with my then six month old son. Fast forward a few years and my family had grown once again, we had a beautiful little girl that completed our family. After adjusting to being a family of four I began to want to scratch the itch to bring home an income. That's where Hashtag began. Jessie and I started turning our creative wheels and making home decor out of anything we could get our hands on, from items left on the curb to friends and family begging us to take pieces off their hands. Since we started, less than a year ago, not only has our company evolved but we have grown in so many ways. Kasey LaBorde

Born in Alabama, raised in Louisiana, grew up in Dallas and settled in Austin and don't plan on leaving. Sorry mom! I have always had the "junk" bug. I can remember decorating the front room of our house when I was 15 with old suitcases, photographs and vintage clothing. It was a useless room but to me it told a story. I wondered who had this stuff before me and why did they throw it away! I met my husband when I was 17 at a church camp in Dallas where I lived and we dated long distance for 7 months before I decided to move to Austin. Austin and I belong together. Weirdos at heart! I was having a group of moms over to play with, well, they brought their kids too, but it really was about the moms hanging out. Looking at all my friends sitting on the floor of our playroom, next to a window with no curtains, I felt ashamed and embarrassed. I realized I had put our house on hold to raise babies...well, time was up. I didn't want to go blow tons of money on decorating and neither did Cody plus, like I said I like "junk"...pretty "junk". I went to a thrift store, found some really cool old floral print sheets and decided I was going to make curtains with them. I drug my three boys into the woods and set them loose...mission: find mom a 6 foot stick to repurpose into a curtain rod and that they did! Is it weird to use a stick and old sheets as curtains...not in Austin! Everyone raved about it. It hit me then that people like to use things in ways they are not supposed to be used, along with saving money! Hello! #Hashtag was born...Kasey and I started selling small home decor items we had repurposed in an antique shop in Plano and when I say the rest is history, I mean, we haven't had time to look back since! We let God take the reigns and we are just holding on tight during this crazy, amazing, shocking, fascinating, rewarding ride.

Stage two of the Craigslist Customers...sounds like a title to a horror story. Pppsssttt...ask Kasey if she was really scared when I hid in one of the empty rooms and jumped out a scared her. Oh, good times. Remember that budget, lets just say it saved us! So many times I would find a perfect piece ..refer back to budget...and then put that perfect piece into someone else's basket because it deserves a home and wasn't coming home with me. However, I do have to say the hard work of weeding through the too expensive and "yuck that's red" paid off!

I think Kasey and I are finally getting the hang of the "rotation" of our lives. Stock Austin Gift Company, fill customer orders, set up for Wimberley Market Days, then finally hit 71 Main on the way the Plano Antique Mall in Dallas. And repeat!!

While I am in Dallas, there are certain honey holes I always have to visit. Uptown Country is one of them. I picked up three chairs for a great price. Can't tell you how many requests a week we get for chairs. We have a customers request log and I am consistently on the prowl for you! I found old wood drawers to make in shelves and some items that will be a surprise!

And a trip to Dallas can't be completed with 73 trips to the restrooms. This picture was the cleanest we could find.