Some things just keep inspiring– The Smiley Barn in Delafield, Wisconsin is one of them.
I’ve written a song with the “old familiar, yellow barn” mentioned in it called “A Window Seat” (listen or watch music video below).
AND I included a story about The Smiley Barn in my book I’m writing. (excerpt below)
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Mom and Dad bought me a ticket to take a Badger bus out of Madison. With the familiar badger on the side of the bus, I’d ride on my own all the way to Goerkes Corners Park and Ride where my grandparents would pick me up. The stop was just outside of Brookfield, the suburb of Milwaukee where they lived. I took my little red hard covered suitcase Grandma had bought me along. Watching from a window seat, I’d see the bus driver place it underneath in one of the large storage compartments and then slide the huge doors to all of them shut. I’d wave goodbye to my folks and hello to my grandparents when I’d arrive about an hour later. My favorite part of the ride, taking the same route we always took as a family, was going past the barn with a smiley face on it. When I saw that landmark, I knew we were getting close. It was my favorite color yellow and called, The Smiley Barn— It made me so happy and feel welcomed every single time.
I eventually got a slightly bigger red suitcase than the first one Grandma got me, because I mentioned that Sarah’s and Jenny’s were twice as big. I got one identical to Sarah’s red one, while Jenny still had a light purple one. Because Sarah’s and mine matched, Grandma put a label with my name on the suitcase so we could tell them apart— I loved having a label with my name on something, and a place to put everything I needed in one spot.
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Above is an excerpt from my novel, from a section called “Little Red Suitcase,” a current work in progress (pages 85-86). ©️2026
Read more excerpts from my novel by becoming a pen pal here
AND I also painted The Smiley Barn on a tile as a part of a community art project. (pictured below)
Not long ago, I was asked to paint a tile. I was at work, and we were all going to participate in a project the local community was a part of. There were a few groans, maybe because a lot of us hadn’t painted something in years, maybe since being in school. I didn’t feel strongly like I wanted to do it, or like I didn’t want to do it, but was simply open to doing it. Why not? My motto is “Make it an Adventure!” afterall.
We were each given a bag with a tile and a certain pallet of paint colors. Not all of them were the same. The idea was that we’d each paint whatever we wanted on the tile, but had to use certain colors, and make sure a certain percentage of the tile was more of particular colors over the rest. Together, once we were all done, and combined our creations with the other tiles in the community, we’d have a piece of art that looked like something.
I got to work, and chose the bag that had yellow in it, my favorite color. I immediately thought of doing The Smiley Barn.
Not only had I passed it dozens of times on the way to Milwaukee, but met a friend there with our families a few years back to actually go inside. I knew the barn had changed over the years, both in how it was painted and what was inside, but I was completely delighted to see it was currently a fabulous toy shop. All the years I had been driving past it, I had never stopped, and finally made a point to check it out. Meeting my friend who lives near Milwaukee and also has young children, it was a perfect meet up spot coming from the Madison area.
Months after painting my tile, I was out and about during a work day with a coworker. We stopped to check out the mural and spotted the tiles we contributed to the community artwork. Neither of us had been there when they revealed it on the 4th of July, 2026 — the United States of America’s 250th anniversary.
Can you find The Smiley Barn tile? (above)
It also dawned on me that that particular experience sparked another creative endeavor I’d been interested in ever since. I hadn’t realized that painting that tile might have been the reason I started doing all sorts of fancy paint-by-numbers.
To date, I couldn’t tell you how many paintings I’ve done, also because I always have one in progress (count them below), but I don’t anticipate stopping anytime soon. The earlier ones, I got from Aldi and Target and an unopened one from a garage sale on a whim. But now, I’m intentionally selecting my next one, and getting them only from Target.
The ones I’m painting are from Ukraine, where the kits are made.
It’s funny how things fall upon us sometimes, and how being open to trying something slightly out of our comfort zone might just open a door to a new favorite hobby or interest. Keeping me creatively very happy and busy, I have The Smiley Barn to thank, once again.
Is there a place that continues to inspire you over and over again? I’d love to hear your story. Leave a comment below.