Written by : Ingrid

Hi everyone – Happy Earth Week!

I’ve been researching Earth Week today, and it’s been great to find out what it’s all about.  Earth Week started 40 years ago in 1970, in an effort to raise worldwide awareness about our increasingly fragile environment.  This year, more than 1 billion people in 170 different countries are expected to take part in all kinds of environmental events and rallies.   This year, Earth Week is from 17th to 25th April, and Earth Day is on 22nd April.

This is a great time to raise awareness as well as remind ourselves again about being eco-friendly in our own homes.  As individuals, there are so many ways we can improve the way we deal with the environment in our own houses and backyards: everything from using eco-friendly cleaning products, composting, recycling and being energy smart.  Other ways we can make a difference (and I’m sure you know and practise most of these already)  include:

.     supporting local and organic foods that are in season and to eat less meat (healthier anyway!).

.     When doing the laundry, we can save a lot of energy by washing only full loads in cold water and hanging to dry whenever possible.  Nothing smells better than clothes and sheets that come off the line after being in the wind and sun all day!

.      Install ceiling fans and programmable thermostats.

.      Vacation, travel and work as close to home as possible.

.      Take short showers instead of baths and close the water taps when you are brushing your teeth.

.      Walk, cycle, car pool and use public transportation.

These are all common sense things that we have been hearing about for years but sometimes, we just need to remind ourselves about these simple actions and get back into the swing of them again.  Sometimes it’s easy to fall back into old habits and ways, and we need a bit of a wake up call!  I know for myself, there are some things I’m really good at, and some that I think I get lazy about.  How about you?   I’m pretty good at putting on an extra sweater and socks instead of turning up the heat in the house; my husband and I are great recyclers; I’ve been composting garden and kitchen waste for years and then using it on my garden, and I don’t keep the tap running when I brush my teeth!  I love buying local veggies and fruit and am trying to cut down on meat.  However, sometimes my shower is a bit too long; I fly home to Australia every year; and I drive my car to and from work.

We can be eco-friendly about how we decorate our homes too.  By buying low VOC paints, we are doing the environment and ourselves a favour.  Fabrics for upholstery and curtains are increasingly being made of sustainable materials like bamboo pulp, organic silk and cotton and even from recycled plastic pop bottles.  Upholstery foam made of soy has the same quality and longevity as petroleum-based foams.

Some carpet manufacturers are using more natural materials such as vegetable cellulose combined with recycled nylon fibre for strength and durability.

Linoleum is making a comeback!  Unlike petroleum-based flooring products, it doesn’t emit harmful gases.  It’s made from natural materials like linseed oil, pine resin and wood dust.

At the House Dressing, we have several eco-friendly products that you may be interested in.  The Thymes Essential line has a wonderful assortment of beauty products that have no parabens, SLS/SLES, no propylene glycol, no synthetic colours, no petrolatum and no animal derived ingredients.   All the girls at the House Dressing have tested these products (aren’t we lucky!?) and we all love them.  I use the face polish and face lotion, the Hand Scrub (after coming in from gardening all day) and the body scrub.  It makes me feel good to be using an exceptional product that doesn’t have all the nasty things in it.

We have these wonderful bamboo cutting boards too, which are also eco-friendly.  Bamboo is an attractive alternative to the widespread cutting of forests.  It absorbs very little moisture, doesn’t shrink or swell and is harder than most hard woods.

Our Adirondack chairs are made from recycled plastic – another eco-friendly product!  Using recovered materials in manufacturing saves energy and reduces greenhouse gases; recycling produces less carbon dioxide, it lessens the number of trees harvested and lessens the impact on landfill sites.

We also have a large number of eco-friendly fabric samples from Rowe Furniture to choose from, if you order a sofa, loveseat or chairs from them.  They are mostly made from 100% organic cotton and the colours and patterns are lovely!  You can also buy this fabric by the yard.

I hope you will give Earth Day (22nd April) and Earth Week some serious consideration and like me, try to do better at being a conscientious friend of the environment.  How do you do you show that you care about the environment?  I’d love to hear from you!  In the meantime HAPPY EARTH WEEK!

Ingrid

Written by : Julie Cove

This month is a great time to think about some new possibilities for your furniture needs.  Slip covers are on Sale starting Monday April 112th with many choices of washable fabrics.  What I love the most about these is the easy care and the ability to have a 2nd cover to swap mid year if I wish- a bit of a luxury but really, it will double the life of your slip covers!!  Can’t argue here!  You can check out the myriad of styles available right here at Rowe Furniture. The girls love helping with fabric choices so bring your decorating swatches or your memory and they can assist you with selecting the right fabric for you.  Take the fabric samples home and make sure you love them and we’ll do the rest.  Ohhhh and I almost forgot- we decided to include upholstered furniture styles in the sale too!

Oh, and the last major detail is…. You can also get a free $100 gift card for our store during the sale when you purchase furniture by paying for your order in full upon ordering- don’t you love free stuff?  Let the girls know you wish to do this and they will charge up a card to be used for your next purchase.  Just think you can choose some great new accessories to go with your new furniture purchase!

We look forward to seeing you in the store soon especially if you need a new furniture!

Happy Sunday,

Julie

ps- Today, Sunday is the last day for our “buy one accessory and get the 2nd one half price”.  We are open 11-5 today:)

pss- one more day to leave a comment on the blog here and enter for a chance to win 1lb of Fresh Cup Roastery Coffee Beans

Written by : Julie Cove

Hope you had a lovely holiday weekend!  The weather was a bit tricky, wasn’t it?  We were up at our cottage without power for a number of hours, thank goodness for the wood stove and my hubby’s continuous efforts to stoke it.  We even had snow– the mountains and tree tops were white capped!  It’s supposed to be April for heavens sake!  Crazy hey!  All in all, it was a treat to escape and snuggle by the fire, play games and drink tea!  How was your weekend?

Birthdays are so fun especially when it’s mine-Hee!  I like making it last, like spreading lunches with friends or spa days with a girlfriend long after the actual day- a good excuse to pamper thyself I think!  What’s your favourite thing to do on your birthday? Do you drag it out a little like me?

One of my gifts was a new lens for my camera from my family that I have been eying for some time.  It is a 50mm f1.4 lens with greater light gathering capabilities than my stock lens so I was trying it out inside and took this snap shot above for you!  I love how nice and light the photo is without the use of a flash even though it was a dull rainy day outside- you would never know.  And the tulips–soooo pretty.  I picked up the vintage embroidered table cloth & vase at a lovely antique shop in Duncan called Belongings on Lois Lane. My sis and I poked around in Duncan on my special day–what a treat since I hardly take the time. Boy oh boy, there are some cute shops that I didn’t know were there.  You must take the time and wander thru the downtown core, you’ll be pleasantly surprised like I was.  We were also thrilled to find a country market going on right around Lois Lane that is on every Saturday, rain or shine!

I wanted to remind you that our “Coffee and a Shopping Spree” promo is on until this Sunday, April 11th.  By leaving Ingrid or myself a comment anywhere on our blog before Sunday you will be entered to win a pound of coffee from Jim at Fresh Cup Roastery.  Nothing like a nice weeks supply of fresh locally roasted coffee if you win!

Below is the promo once again in case you missed it!  Buy one accessory, get the 2nd one 1/2 price!

Have a great week, lets hope the sunshine visits again:)

Julie

Written by : Ingrid

Hi all – hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend.  It was good to have a couple of days off with family and friends, to relax, read, go for a walk/run around the lake, eat good food, drink some wine and enjoy a couple of afternoon naps!

Do you take naps sometimes?  Some people are great nappers (my husband is one of those people!) and others say they feel yukky afterwards if they have a nap in the afternoon.  I’m in between.  I find that if I’m really tired from a long week or late night, a 20 minute nap in the afternoon is refreshing and helps me to get through the evening.  I sometimes feel a bit guilty doing it, because there is always so much to do around the house and garden and sometimes I feel napping is a waste of time.  However, it gives me a little power boost and that’s worth it.

My daughter sneaked in and took this photo of me and my little buddy Tucker grabbing a quick 20 minute nap on Easter Saturday after cleaning the house for a few hours.  I am lying on my old couch which I find very comfortable and a perfect fit for me.   It’s a bit small for my husband, who is 6′3″ so he prefers the sofa in the living room or heading upstairs to lie on the bed.

There has been a lot of talk about napping in the press lately.  Researchers have found that napping can increase your intelligence, make you more patient, have less stress, better reaction time, better memory function, and naps are good for heart health.  Apparently, in countries where afternoon siestas are common, there tends to be less heart disease.  Needless to say, my husband was so happy to get this information!  It has given him lots of reasons to have his naps which he loves so much.

All this talk about naps got me thinking about comfort during naps, and what constitutes a good napping couch or sofa.  What else is important for napping – things like throws, toss cushions, low lighting?  We often have couples come into the House Dressing and very often it’s the man who is quite concerned about the “nap-ability” of the couch they are looking to choose.  Hmmm…. so that being said, what is a good napping couch?

First of all, size IS important!  Most people like to stretch out on their sofas, so choosing one that is long enough, would help.  A sofa with a chaise lounge would fill the bill too as would a free standing chaise lounge.

Fabric is another important consideration.  Something soft and plush is nice to lay on (and sit on too!) especially in the winter months, when we tend to nap more.  A slipcovered sofa or sectional done in one of the washable fabrics, would be a very good idea, especially if the dog (like my little Tucker) likes to snooze with you!  The covers are removable and can be easily washed.  Another incentive for comfort would be to get a couch that has a feather wrap option for the seats.  Rowe furniture has this option, and it really makes a difference to the cushyness of the sofa overall.

So, how do you feel about napping now?  Is your sofa good for napping?  Do you have all the accessories to go along with your sofa to give you a good, decent nap?   You are welcome to try out our sofas, loveseats and even chairs, to see how they fit with your snooze style!  We’d all be happy to help you in this venture!

Until next week – happy napping!

From Ingrid

Written by : Julie Cove

I’m so excited to share this fun idea for you to enjoy a cup of coffee with a friend and stop in for some really great savings on our accessories.  Jim at Fresh Cup Roastery serves up a delicious cup of coffee and yours is free with a $25 purchase at our shop starting Good Friday thru April 11th (we will issue a coupon for you to take over to Fresh Cup).  Spring is a great time to pick up a few new accessories for your home.  Or do you have a need for a gift this month for a birthday or anniversary, maybe even a spring wedding?  Actually come to think of it, my anniversary is coming up this month. We had a lovely spring wedding many moons ago…..with mixed bouquets full of every spring flower imaginable!  I can still remember the incredible smell of the lily of the valley in my bridal bouquet.  Since I am such a flower fanatic I couldn’t toss it for the single girls, instead I had a second one made for this purpose.  Memories!

It’s also my birthday this weekend- Yeh!  I love April!!  Hope it’s sunny, it usually always shines on my day!  What are you up to for Easter?  Family dinner or a quiet weekend?  Be sure to do something just for you, sneak in a spa visit, or a nice walk or take some time to read a favourite magazine–I just picked up the Coastal Living Mag, it makes me dreamy for summer!  You might even like to tip toe thru the tulips!!  Take a peek at these tulips!

Vantreight Farms is offering u-pick tulips at their farm market stand on East Saanich Rd.   I went today and plucked an armful at a mere 40 cents a stem!  They are so fresh and lovely.  I rather felt Dutch– just needed my bicycle and a carrier basket with the tulips piled high!

I hope you might stop by our shop with a friend since this is a rare ocurence that we have an excellent promotion like this one.  Just in case you do decide to, our store hours this holiday weekend are;  Good Friday 11-5,  Saturday 9:30-5:30, and Sunday we are closed to enjoy Easter. On Easter Monday we are open 11-5.

One last thing.  Ahem…. we love your comments but I think we have confused you as to how to reply to us.  I often receive comments, but in the form of an email (vs a comment on our site) replying to our method of sending out our recent posts.  It was my goal for you to see the pretty images in your in box vs just the text.   However, if you click the title of the email in the body or the link at the bottom it will take you to the site and there is a comment box at the bottom of the post.  We luuuuv your replies, suggestions and ideas on our site.  It inspires us to keep on writing.  Sooo, just to encourage you to send a little message- don’t be shy, we have a prize that we will randomly award to one of you by April 11th.  The prize is 1lb of Jim’s fabulous coffee over at Fresh Cup Roastery.  So drop us a line and enter to win, you never know, it could be you!

Hope you have a Happy Easter weekend:)

Julie