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Celebrating 20 Years

by Kate Maassen
November 30, 2023

October 26th marks the 20th Anniversary of Originate opening its doors for the first time. We couldn’t be more thankful for reaching this point as a small business, and we would not have made it here without the support of the Tucson and Southern Arizona communities. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! The… Read more »

Originate’s 20th Anniversary

by Kate Maassen
September 22, 2023

For Originate’s 20th Anniversary we have organized 20 days of Giving. It is my way to support the Tucson Community who I dearly love. We are going to be unrolling 20 days of events from a Fall Market, work parties from planting trees to building with light clay straw to plastering, talks on rammed earth… Read more »

Fall Market

by Kate Maassen
September 20, 2023

Please join us Saturday, September 30th from 12-4pm at Originate for our first ever Fall Market with local artisans that will have goods available for purchase and enjoyment! Catherine Eyde – cards, tea towels, bags, stickers Alysa Volpe – mixed media on paper Phoebe Lipton of Paper Alchemy- hand dyed paper flowers  Sam Okerlund –… Read more »

19th Anniversary

by Natasha Winnik
April 26, 2023

Around our anniversary, I always feel grateful for all of Originate’s customers who have made it possible to make it to 19 years.  Our success is because of each of you choosing to include Originate in your renovations and new construction.  So thank you from the bottom of my heart. We have spent the last… Read more »

18th Anniversary

by Natasha Winnik
November 8, 2021

October 26th was the 18th Anniversary of opening the doors at Originate. We opened to be on a solar home tour in 2003! 18 years is like graduating from high school and heading to college! The business has changed so much, we carry the largest selection of products now than ever.  We started with a… Read more »

New E-Commerce Site

by Natasha Winnik
June 11, 2020

So for the first time in over 16 years, Originate is venturing on a new path. If you had told me in January that we would open an e-commerce site, I would have laughed. But everything changed in March. More people are shopping online as they stay home. We are starting with about 20 products… Read more »

Rammed Earth Courtyard Wall

by Natasha Winnik
January 9, 2018

I have been dreaming about a rammed earth wall between the main building and the metal building, the construction crew named ‘The Barn’. It would enclose the patio between the two buildings on the west side to create a courtyard. Originally, a workshop was tentatively scheduled for the Fall of 2016, but then I broke… Read more »

Creative transformation to a 220 square foot living space

by Natasha Winnik
May 10, 2014

Paula and Becky set about to transform a part of their historic house that was under utilized into a second living space. The back of their house used to be a porch, then it was closed in, but the space never functioned well. They wanted the ability to travel, live inexpensively within the core of… Read more »

Why Yoga Oasis chose American Clay?

by Natasha Winnik
March 23, 2013

Why we chose American Clay: The colors and textures are beautiful and earthy and it seems to have a calming, grounding affect on many who visit and practice yoga in the spaces. The finished affect of American Clay shares similar properties to other natural building materials such as adobe, rammed earth, cob and straw bale… Read more »

What Makes Up a True no VOC Paint?

by Natasha Winnik
February 28, 2013

VOC is short for volatile organic compound; chemical liquids that evaporate at room temperature. Some examples of solvents used in low VOC or traditional paints are propylene glycol and paint thinner/turpentine. Traditional resins/binders (the stuff that sticks to the wall and binds the pigment) required chemical solvents to form a film as the paint dried…. Read more »