It’s been fun decorating our home for the summer time fun we are about to embark on.  I’m lucky to be working at the House Dressing to get inspired by all the lovely things we have in the store.  Colour is a big thing at this time of the year.  Bright, fun colours do wonders for us during the Spring and Summer months.  It’s funny how once a season ends, however, you can’t wait to stash those colours away and bring on the next season’s shades.  Right now, the brights are it!  We got some great silk throw cushions in last week in gorgeous colours!  Yellow, green, two shades of blue, hot pink and bright orange.  They are such fun, and co-ordinate with some other printed cushions we also brought into the store.  The nice thing about them is that not only do they give you a shot of colour, but they are reasonably priced too!  Bonus!!!

I’m really looking forward to eating outdoors, once the weather warms up again (it’s supposed to this week!  Hurray!).  I love to set an outdoor table with pretty placemats and napkins, candles, flowers and the whole works.  I keep my white Christmas lights up on the deck all year round, as there’s nothing prettier than twinkle lights and candles when you are dining outdoors.  I have a large water bowl on the deck too, and will often float candles and flowers on the water to add a bit of charm to the outdoor area.  At the House Dressing right now, we have floating candles, votive candles and tea-lights on sale.  If you buy one pack, you get the second pack at half price!  I better hurry to get mine, or we’ll be sold out before I get a chance!!

Along with our bright coloured cushions, we also got in some great placemats and napkins in the store.  There’s soft blue, aqua, lime green and butter yellow.  They are easy to wash and don’t need ironing!  They look crisp and fresh with the Maxwell and Williams dishes and, let’s face it, food looks way better on a white plate than anything else!

As Julie mentioned in her last blog, we have some great pieces of furniture on sale right now until 11th July.  Actually, some are up to 60% off, so definitely worth a look.

I hope that you feel inspired to brighten up your space – be it indoors or outdoors – and enjoy the wonderful summer that we are going to have!  We love to help our customers with ideas and choices, so anytime you need a bit of help or just want to throw some ideas around, we’d be happy to assist you!

Until next time!  Enjoy your summertime!

Best wishes,

Ingrid

I was just reminiscing the other day as I chatted with Chris Cater of Knickerbockers (as she unpacked boxes of yummy inventory) who has just opened a 2nd location in the Sidney Pier Hotel just in time to be a part of the celebrations this week.  The memories of my first weekend grand opening are sooo vivid for me and it was such fun!

So I wanted to be sure to invite you to celebrate our 19th year with us.  It’s been a fun ride.  I’ve enjoyed all of you customers over the years dropping in regularly to say hi.

Our anniversary sale kicks off today and tomorrow is the day that you can stop in and have your choice of anything regular priced for 15% off.  After tomorrow enjoy savings on a variety of goodies we have priced specially for our anniversary sale.  Our hours tomorrow for Canada Day are 11-5:00pm.

The Sidney Days Parade is tomorrow at 11am-you’ve got to come!  It’s such fun!  These are some snapshots from last years parade to get you in the mood and convince you to come on down and enjoy the fun–and shop a bit in the store if you wish at the same time!

What are your plans to celebrate this special holiday?  A family dinner or picnic?  Have you hung your Canada flag yet? Or will we be seeing you IN the parade?

What ever you choose to do to enjoy the day we at The House Dressing Company wish you a lovely day and thank you for your kind support over the years.

I apologize for the lack of postings on the blog here but I managed to sneak off to Europe for a couple of weeks and I plan to share some dreamy photos on my next post.  So stay tuned.

See you in the shop:)

Here we are on yet another gloomy, rainy day nearing the end of May!  I’ve managed, in between showers, to get my garden cleaned up and planted.  How about you?  Do you have lots and lots of projects on the go right now like I do?  Oh my goodness, some days I don’t know where to start.  Sometimes, the rain is almost a blessing because it forces me to do the inside projects that need doing too.  If the weather were nice all the time, I’d be outside!  That would be my number one choice for sure!  Also, we have a wedding coming up in July and overseas visitors arriving shortly before that.  There is no better motivator than a wedding to get things spic and span, organised and ready for the big occasion.

Still, summer is on it’s way… or so I’m told!!  I believe it too because eventually we will have those lovely, lazy warm summer days.  Until then it’s time to get prepared so we can just relax and enjoy those days we so long for.

I look forward to barbeque season, entertaining our friends and family, relaxing in our garden and enjoying the fruits of all our labour!  I’m sure you are all feeling the same way.

With these dreary days, it’s been so very nice to get colourful, summery stock in the store.  Yesterday, we unpacked a whole shipment of wonderful new stock.  It’s like Christmas!!  (Almost as cold as it too! Blah).

We’ve had a lot of requests for table linens, so we have obliged and received a lovely shipment of bright new placemats, napkins, runners and tablecloths.  Even a couple of round one’s which are hard to find, but always in demand.

The new placemats and napkins go great with the Maxwell and Williams ‘Mix and Max’ collection of oranges, yellows, lime greens and blues.  You can mix the colours up with the placemats, napkins and dishes and get different looks each time.  Such fun!  Don’t you love playing with table settings?  I do.  Just use your creative juices and imagination!  Add lots of colour, some fresh flowers, candles, great food and bingo!  You’re the hostess with the mostess.

Also in this latest shipment were some gorgeous little ceramic turquoise birds that can be used as a tiny vase, and these vintage style bunnies in a shiny, chocolate glaze.  So sweet to pop onto a bookshelf, place at the base of an indoor or outdoor potted plant, or on a table as part of a little vignette.

We also got new bubble glass tumblers and wine glasses which are great for long, cool summer drinks.  There are acrylic tumblers and fancy wine glasses especially for outdoor entertaining too.  No worries about broken glass if there is a little mishap.

These painted metal planters are very contemporary and clean looking.  Great with fresh greens or bright coloured flowers.  White goes with everything.  You can even use the wider, more squat planters as coolers to put on your patio when you are entertaining guests.  Just fill with ice and pop the bottles in to keep them cool!

Of course, we got some great doormats in.  Lovely patterns and prints to brighten your front or back entrance.   What a lovely greeting for people when they come to your front door.

After all the projects and jobs you have to accomplish, it’s great to sit down with a good cup of tea!  We got a great shipment of new teas in last week from Tea Forte – a very popular line we carry.  If you’ve never tried them, they are a must.  Delicious and rejuvenating – a special treat for you or great as a gift for someone you care about.

I hope you’ll enjoy our wonderful, new assortment of accessories for your home as much as we’ve enjoyed choosing, unpacking and displaying them for you.

Until next time – let’s do a “sun-dance” to chase away the grey clouds and hope for some warmer days!

Best wishes,

Ingrid

Don’t you love Maxwell & Williams dishes?  We sure do!

The selection of items that they produce is mind boggling.  You haven’t seen the half of it if you haven’t peeked at the Maxwell & Williams website right here. We can order most any thing but if it is not something we stock we ask that you take the minimum quantity that we need to order.  This number is determined by the catalogue details that we have in the store so just give us a buzz and we can work it out for you.

To honour all of you Maxwell & Williams fans we have a special offer for 1 week only.

Get 15% of your purchase back

in Gift Cards when you buy Maxwell & Williams dishes.

Redeem your gift card with your next purchase on anything in our store or on more Maxwell & Williams dishes–your choice!

NOW  Thru  Thursday, May 27th

If you are not a fan yet you might want to check out these affordable lovely white dishes that are sold open stock in a myriad of designs to please and complement your daily recipes or your special entertaining menus.  I chose the coup below for it’s large plain surface and our family loves using these new fresh super white dishes.  Food looks even yummier on it too–bonus for the chef!

Thank you to all Maxwell & Williams fans for supporting us this past year.  Because of you we have grown–we offer you the largest Maxwell & Williams collection in Victoria!  If we don’t have your favourite items,  we’ll get them for you!

Last year when I wrote about these dishes I featured the coffee cups and at the same time I hinted at Jim from Fresh Cup to carry almond milk for dairy free Lattes.  He took the hint, brought in the product and he still serves it.  Yeh!  Thanx Jim!  I guess I buy enough of them to keep the almond milk on the shelf!!  They are honestly quite delicious–if you haven’t tasted one yet for a change, be sure to ask.  For some reason there isn’t an obvious sign (unless I missed it)  but he does have it hiding back there!

Jim and his gang are preparing madly and selling tickets for their up coming launch of the 2nd volume of Feed the Soul, a music CD called “Second Helping” that has stemmed from his successful Thursday night live music events featuring local talent.  The drive behind this project is the Sidney Lions Food Bank.  Jim is passionate about contributing and supporting the local food bank and has been very successful in doing so with the last CD.  At The House Dressing we too have focused on the needs of the local community and share a passion for contributing like we did with our Decorating Contest this past December.  We gladly support Jim in his efforts to make a difference by sharing this event with you.

If you are looking for some fantastic musical entertainment for a good cause this event at the Mary Winspear Centre on Saturday, May 29th Friday, May 28th is sure to deliver.  Tickets are $45 and include a CD ($15 value), an Appetizer Buffet and over 2.5 hours of Live Music!  With a variety of 20 Musicians performing there will be no shortage of energy.  Tickets are available at Fresh Cup on Beacon Ave or in Saanichton.

Get your tickets before this event sells out like it did last time!

Have a great week and we hope to see you in the dish department!

Julie

It’s 60 days today until summer officially begins.  That’s precisely enough time to choose a slip cover for your summer living room or your summer cottage.  I love the denim I chose for this square armed sofa at our lake property as it stands up to all the summer fun that happens in this room.  It washes beautifully like my favourite pair of jeans.

Our Slip Cover Event (see details here) continues until Sunday, April 25th, that’s this coming Sunday.  The girls are quick to help choose from some of the classic twills and denims in a wide array of washable colours, eco friendly choices too!  Once again check out Rowe Furniture’s web site for all the furniture styles available.

Right now, I am trying to decide what to do with the old leather sectional in our family room.  It’s looking a little tired.  I think a slip covered sectional with a pullout sleeper for extra guests or sleep overs for Elliott might be in order!  Just have to pick out a fabric, that’s the fun part, and some accent pillows too!  The best part of choosing a slip cover for the area that the kids use the most is knowing that I can easily wash it if there’s an accident and I know that there certainly will be panicked calls for Mom when a spill happens!  But that’s life, better to be prepared for it than freak out and stress my body and my kids!  It’s just a sofa, we’ll remember the fun times and the happy memories snuggled together but we’ll likely forget the spills! -especially since they will be so easy to deal with, right?  Are you prepared for stress free living when it comes to your furniture?  If not, now’s the perfect time.  Receive a $100 gift card upon ordering when you pay for your order in full.  Yeh!  You can shop for accessories now!

Have a great week and hope to see you in the fabric section:)

Julie