The House Dressing Company

Written by : Helen McIntyre

Most of you probably have glass vases stashed around your home that your not really sure what to do with. They most likely will come out and get used when you get given fresh flowers……..but don’t just stop there. You can have fun with your vases and instead of just using them for flower arrangements, why not get a little creative!!!

I love the versatility of glass, and the way it sparkles! No matter what filler you put in the glass it will always look great! I happen to have about 4 shelves in my garage dedicated to my “vase collection”, with the majority being clear glass.  I also have all sorts of different items/fillers that I can choose from to accessorize my vases with! I have collected these vases over the years and I always try to find different shapes and sizes to work with.

Glass will always work with any colour scheme or design style you have in your home. The great thing is…you can change the items in your vases seasonally! You can also place them anywhere in your home. I like to do groupings on my mantle, one larger piece on a bathroom counter or a longer shorter vase on a sideboard or down the center of my dining table. These are just a few ways to really show your creations off! Today I’m going to share with you some great ideas for a tropical, beach theme for your glass vases!

Layered Effect

This vase is quite narrow, but very high. This shape makes it ideal for layering. I have put sand as a base at the bottom and added some larger shells on top and then poured in an assortment of smaller shells. Then I finished off with a mini starfish and a tropical plant stem. Its important to put any fine mixture like sand, sugar, salt, mini gravel on the bottom as it will sift through everything if placed on top. This will create an uneven look…You could also use for layering…….mini shells, river rock, coloured gravel, small stones, crushed coral, coloured glass chips….etc…..the list goes on. Use what you have around your house, in your garden or at the beach. Have fun with the different layering combinations!

Nautical Bottle Vases

These Nautical Bottle vases are alot of fun. I wanted to play up the nautical feel of the item so I purchased some rope from a local boating store to add to the vases….I poured some sand in the bottom and shells on top..Then wove the rope into the glass and fiddled with the placement until I liked the position. I love the texture of the rope with the smooth sand! It was so easy!

Glass with more glass!

This long narrow vase is so perfect for placing down the middle of your dining table. I added small candles to this arrangement to show that not only can it be fabulous looking but also serve a purpose! This one is super simple. I used flat round glass stones on the bottom to act as a light, airy, sparkly base. I then placed small round candles on top. An odd number is always best. The starfish adds some height and interest if you feel you need it. The glass stones are so sparkly when the candles are lit! You will love it.

Don’t forget square vases

This square vase is my favourite. This arrangement would look great in a bookcase, on a bedside table or on small entry table…I have mixed small river pebbles with flat smooth white rocks. The sand dollar sprig adds some whimsy to this fresh, calming arrangement. Don’t be afraid to try new materials…..you may play around with the arrangement for a while until you love ! There is no right or wrong way to do it.

Small is great too

If you happen to only have small vases…that’s okay! Use fillers that are proportioned with the size of container. For example these tiny shells are perfect for this small vase…They are able to fit around the candle creating a wonderful, simple display. You could remove the large candle and stick in a bunch of small taper candles into the shells. Use many of these vases out on your patio, when the sun goes down.

I will being sharing my creative glass vase decorating ideas throughout the year, to show you seasonally what you can create! I would love to hear what great ideas and creations you have done with your glass vases.

Have a great Long Weekend!

Written by : Julie Cove

Hey thanks everyone for taking the time to begin visiting our new site and Blog.  It makes it all the more fun for Helen and I when we know you are reading and are being inspired by our posts.  A big thank you to those of you whom posted comments- keep em comin’!  We love your feedback.  Our contest revolved around your comments on our blog.  Anyone that commented was automatically added to our draw bucket.  …….. and the winner of a $50.00 shopping spree at our store is…….. Sue Ball for her comments on Summer solstice & colourful entertaining .  Congratulations Sue!  For comments on Coffee anyone? we have 2 winners who will each receive a 20.00 coffee gift card for Fresh Cup Roastery …. and the winners are…… B. Adams and Vicki Moore!  Congrats to you both!  FYI- since I wrote the post Coffee anyone? I checked back at Fresh Cup Roastery and would you believe that the owner Jim Townley has now added Almond Milk to his menu!! Yippee!  I was over the moon! Now I can enjoy a dairy free latte on the lovely, sunny streets of Sidney!  Thank You Jim!  This is first and only cafe in Sidney to offer Almond Milk as a healthy option for dairy free customers!  If you stop in be sure to let him know you read this announcement and he will be thrilled! 

I don’t know about you but I think winning stuff is soooo fun!  We plan on having more opportunities for you to win so stay tuned and keep on checking in.  If you haven’t already become a registered user,  now is a great time so you won’t miss any of those up coming chances to win and you will be treated to our posts of inspiring topics!

By becoming a registered user of our blog you will receive some dandy benefits! Right off the bat you will be entered in a draw to win a 100.00 shopping spree, you will also receive full colour HTML versions of our blogs with images in your e-mail (vs plain text) and you can choose to receive all or selected categories from our blog contributions such as Current Sales, What’s New, Design Snips & Tips.  All you need to do is click the subscribe button and fill in a few blanks and you’re set.  You can unsubscribe any time or re-select your blog categories at any time as well.  If you remain as a subscriber like you are, you will receive our blogs in text format as per this one.  Either way our goal is to inspire you- it’s our passion!  We hope you are keen to see what we have to share while staying up to date with what we offer in our shop for your shopping pleasure!

Have a great weekend and we will see you back here next week for more inspiration!

Written by : Julie Cove

I absolutely love fresh flowers- they make my day- and bring me energy- All winter I display them in my home and when summer arrives I still can’t get enough!   I soak up the images in my mind but can’t resist an opportunity to capture them forever with my camera.  And what better place than the garden of all gardens- Butchart Gardens.  We are really blessed to live so close to this floral beauty that I am compelled to have a seasons pass to encourage regular visits all year- Most guests of the gardens take planes, trains and automobiles to get there and I only need my shoes to walk me there!  I live so close, I can see their fireworks on Saturday evening!  So with a passion for blooms, especially June blooms, I made my photographic visit.

But snap happy, that was me- 1 miiiiiiillllllion photos later- I couldn’t help myself.  But all along, as I was photographing, I had numerous thoughts as to what I would do with the images which had me taking even more shots!  With todays digital technology it’s absolutely limitless as to what you can create with some excellent photos.  I thought I would share some of my shots on flicker for you to download in case you have a project in mind that these might work for.  I am happy to make them available for you and hope you receive the joy by sharing them or surrounding yourself with some of the images in your own home, even if it’s just a new summer screen saver for your computer which would be lovely!

As I walked thru the June gardens at Butchart Gardens I became more and more obsessed with taking close up shots of textures and bunches of blooms – I’ve been collecting textural images for a few years now- maybe one day I’ll print a book of these images as an inspiration for colours, shapes, and the flavour of environment thru texture.

The more I took, the more I imagined the plethora of uses for these shots – as cards, enlargements, framed in groups as photo walls, wrapped photo canvases, blog images of course, sharing on flicker, grouped as art collages, a bound custom colour photo album, photoshop artistic alterations to these images, colour themed inspiration, and plainly for their exquisite beauty.  I pretended to be Karsh, taking photos from obscure angles up to the sky to take in the beautiful blue in contrast with the botanicals, zooming in on the insects, cropping close to blooms, capturing masses of blooms, and playing with the light.  And to tell you the truth as lovely as my images turned out, I am no expert- I have only taken grade 12 photography and I have a digital SLR (single lens reflex) camera with a wide angle lens and that’s it.  So you too can take lovely shots even with a simple digital camera- the beauty now a days is if the shot looks wrong you know instantly by being able to view your shot-vs having to wait for the lab to develop it.  This is amazing to me as it allows me to instantly try different settings to brighten or darken the shot by adjusting the aperture of the lens and re-shoot the image.  This saves much disappointment upon returning home as you off load your images to your computer.

My recommendations for a successful day photographing your favourite places;

- only take others with you that are also passionate about capturing the beauty- ie invite a fellow photographer, or you will forever be pressured to hurry your shots if your companion isn’t on the same page!  That’s what I did- I took my sister who actually took more photos than I did! and I thought I took a lot!  We also shared ideas of what we thought were good angles, lighting, settings etc.-have an extra battery with you fully charged up in case you burn your first one out- nothing more disappointing that a dead battery-It’s put me in a cranky mood before:(                                                                                                                                                                                                                             -take an extra memory card for your camera in case you reach your cards full quota-if not you will find yourself trying to delete images that you should really view full size for detail and you may lose some good shots for the sake of making room for more.
-leave all unnecessary items behind in the car and have your hands free so you can be really be creative without cumbersome baggage.
-an overcast day with thin cloud cover is ideal for shots and provides even lighting as a full sun day creates very contrasty shots leaving you with very bright image areas with dark shadows that can be tricky to brighten up on your computer-
-avoid shooting into the sun- have the sun at your back and you will end up with much better shots and better lighting.

Once you arrive home be sure to off load your images.  Sort thru the images and remove any that are not successful images. Then make back up copies of them on a labeled disk or thumb drive for future reference and safe keeping.  These steps will avoid disappointment and keep you organized. Then create an on line link for sharing- there are many- facebook is popular for viewing and a flicker account if you wish to share them as downloads.

A lovely website I found for turning some of your shots into unique art for your home is this silhouette site- I am in love with what she does- It’s dead easy too as you just email your images and choose your style and she does the rest and then sends  you the final image- they are affordable and irresistible and make fab gifts for grandparents, or just great images in your home.  I have always loved silhouettes but my images of my kids have come from the scissor cutting gals on main street in Disneyland!  This is a whole lot easier than getting to Anaheim!

Another fun idea is to enter your shots into a contest if you have some real unique favourites.  National Geographic often has a contest and so do the photographic magazines- google photo contests and you’ll be amazed where you can enter- even the Saanich Fair has an array of categories that you can enter!  Maybe we should have a contest?  Hmmm, will have to give this some thought!

I hope you enjoy the shots!  And perhaps I have inspired you to get your camera out and photograph your own garden, your neighbors, head to Butchart Gardens or another local community garden for free!  I would love to hear your thoughts on your favourite places to photograph. Maybe you can even set up a flicker page for some of your favourite shots and leave the link in our comments below so we can all check out your favourite snap shots!! I hope you get snap happy!  Ps. kids love Butchart’s too, and they are adorable to photograph- take a peek at the shots of my 3 yr old Amelia and my 8 yr old niece Alysha- soo0000 cute in matching dresses!

Written by : Julie Cove

It seems like all the rage to “hire a stager” to assist you with preparing your home for sale, perhaps even a bit of a “fad”.  But the honest truth is that it really works.  What I know for sure having been in the design field for 25 years is that many people can not visualize.  What I mean by this is that they can’t imagine a space any other way except for what is right before their eyes.  If your home is over furnished, cluttered or not shown in it’s most pleasing manner a buyer will often overlook it’s potential.  This becomes your missed opportunity.

When you decide to sell your home, since you want it to sell quickly and for the highest price possible, the best way to sell anything is to make your product stand out above all others in your market.

“Coldwell Banker Realty tracked 2,772 properties, ranging in price from $229,000 (U.S.) to $4.8 million, in eight major U.S. cities. It found that while the average home was on the market for nearly 31 days, the typical staged home sold in just under 14 days. And while the average home sold for a mere 1.6% over the seller’s asking price, the staged homes went for a hefty 6.3% more.”

If you are looking to get started try these 5 tips to begin the staging process of your home.

1. First Impressions are key.

You have a very small window of opportunity to impress your buyer.  Making your home look cared for with extra detail will make it memorable.  Consider your front door area outside and inside.  Firstly, clear any clutter outside such as dead planters or recycle bins etc and replace with a fresh new flowering pot or two.  This will instantly score you points with a manicured look.  Secondly, a good sweep or hosing down the stairs or porch (power washing if you have the means) will freshen up the surfaces immensely.  Be sure to cut the grass, trim the hedges and rake those leaves.  If your front door or the surfaces in this area need a paint touch up this is the place to spend some time as it will really be noticed here.  On the inside of the door, wisk away any everyday clutter and place either a fresh healthy plant inside the door or a simple bouquet of fresh or silk flowers on a small entry table.  If you haven’t a table, a larger sized plant can rest on the floor,  brightening a corner while welcoming your potential buyers.  If you have a blank wall a piece of art or a nice print would be perfect here.  Your first impression will now be maximized.

2. De-Cluttering is mandatory!

This not only makes your home appear larger but it allows the buyer to see the actual space.  I have been in some homes that are so filled with stuff you can’t see the walls or find the doorways! I felt rather trapped.  And get this, they were trying to sell it furnished!! I can’t impress this enough. Removing as much as you can from each and every single room is the leading factor in presenting your home for sale successfully.  This can be an overwhelming task, so much so, that some people just can’t be bothered to move houses for all the stuff they have accumulated.  What I suggest is starting room by room with a garbage bag and tossing anything that you can that is broken, trash, old magazines, or not useful.  Then pass thru with another bag for the thrift store and toss anything that you don’t use, don’t love, or that doesn’t fit with your style or your needs.  Your plan B here is to place it in a bag for either consignment or ebay.  Once this is done pass thru with a moving box and pack what you won’t use for now, leaving the bare essentials and a few decorative items.   Aaaaaah….. now the space should be looking pretty good.

3. De-personalizing a must!

This allows the buyer to better imagine themselves living in the home without seeing photos of you looking back at them implying that this is someone elses home vs potentially theirs.  This means that now you need to remove all your family photos and those items that make the home looked too lived in.   This includes personal achievement trophies & plaques, posters, personal products in bathrooms, clothing kept to a minimum in closets, and your kitchen counter favourites like vinegar & oils and spices that clutter the counter.  This may seem a little impersonal for a home everyday but imagine arriving to your hotel room to check in and finding photos of the last guests in picture frames around the room- it wouldn’t feel like your very own room for the night.

4. Re-think Furniture placement

Each room in your home should be purposed accordingly.  What I mean by this is that if you have a 2 bedroom home but use one for a craft room I would recommend setting up the 2nd room to be a bedroom as you will reflect a much greater value and a higher asking price with a 2 bedroom vs a 1 bedroom.  If you leave the 2nd room as a craft room buyers will only remember seeing 1 bedroom and most likely write you off as a contender. This is also true when you are short a room like an eating area.  Some homes only have a counter bar & a distant formal dining area-this can be a draw back for young families who want to sit at a table for dinner everyday.  You can create an area to house even the smallest table and a couple of chairs by eliminating another piece of furniture (say you had a love seat and a sofa- you could switch to a love seat and a side chair). This re-purposes the area and will better suit the needs of a family.  Also be sure to review the amount and the placement of furnishings in each room.  Over crowded rooms make them seem smaller, and misplaced furniture can interfere with traffic flow thru the space.  An example is where you have the main flow cut thru a conversation area.  If you can create a traffic flow that goes around the grouping this would feel much better especially if you were the one trying to relax in this area.  If you are unsure, always get a 2nd opinion and walk thru the space as though you were seeing it for the 1st time to see how it feels.  Finally be sure to highlight key features in each room, and make sure they are not obscured by plants or furnishings such as your fireplace- some people put an array of plants in front of the opening seasonally-fine for your decorative purposes but again the buyer could be looking for a fireplace in a home and it can be easily missed if hidden vs highlighted.

5. Clean, Clean, Clean!

Make sure your home is spic and span!  A properly staged home should be immaculate!  Get to the nitty gritty even with Q-Tips, getting dead flies out of your windowsill and scrubbing in places you might not do every cleaning like baseboards.  Making it presentable is a top priority but even more importantly this gives the buyer a better sense that the home is sound and is in top condition all around without hidden problems (of course one should never camouflage any major  problems which of course must be repaired, not masked) . Fresh air can also be overlooked so be sure that your home is pleasant smelling vs carrying odours from your last meal or your 3 cats and the litter box!  This can be a real turn off.  Air out all the rooms while allowing some windows to provide constant fresh air.  On the other hand don’t use offensive scented plug-in products or sprays- go as natural as possible.

Now if all this has you flying into a tizzy don’t panic!  Our trained expert Helen McIntyre is at your disposal and would be happy to visit your home and assist you with further ideas and suggestions for this daunting process making it a little easier and making your staging project a success.  Our fees are reasonable and well worth what you will gain in the final purchase price of your home.

If you are going to tackle this yourself just remember that anything is possible if you set your intention clearly ie “get the most for my home by making it irresistible” or “sell my home in record time by doing everything that it takes to make it desirable”.  Then make a list of everything that will make your home more appealing and get to work on the list.

My motto is “If there’s a will, there’s a way”!  Take a peek at this video segment I did for Shaw TV here in Victoria for some inspiration.

Happy staging!

Written by : Helen McIntyre

We just received new TEA FORTE yummy tea and accessories at the store! 

Tea is a wonderful, thoughtful gift for so many different occasions:

Personalize your own wedding favours

• sympathy
• hostess
• weddings and favours
• thinking of you
• anniversaries
• birthdays
• new home
• mother’s day
• father’s day
• teacher
• tea lover’s
• baby shower’s
• special friend

I think you get the idea!!

Many happy memories, conversations and laughter happen over a cup of tea! There is definitely something for everyone in TEA FORTE’s extensive collection.

The newest addition to the tea family are the Cocktail Infusers! I’m super excited to try them! They look like an ordinary tea bag and infuse a special blend of natural tea, herbs and spices directly into your spirits. The spirits extract the flavours and colours which swirl into your cocktail!

There are three different delicious flavours!

Lavender Citrus

with lemon myrtle and spearmint

Try a Lavender Pear Martini: 1 lavender citrus infuser, 2 oz vodka, 4 oz pear nectar. pour vodka over infuser and steep to desired strength…shake all ingredients. serve and enjoy.

Lemongrass Mint

with lemon myrtle and spearmint

Try a Lemongrass Gin & Tonic: 1 lemongrass mint infuser, 2 oz gin, 5 oz tonic. add ice and a slice of lemon or lime. (I think this is going to be my favourite)

Silkroad Chai

with ginger, cardamon and cinnamon

Try a Chai White Russian: 1 silkroad chai infuser, 2 oz white rum, 2 oz light cream, 1 oz simple syrup. add all ingredients. steep till desired strength.

Ice Tea is a favourite, refreshing drink, during summer with kids and also adults! TEA FORTE has a special, authentic ice tea pitcher, which flash-chills your tea right in the container. All you have to do is steep your favourite tea in the upper pitcher, then pour the tea over ice in the lower pitcher for immediate use.

Hand blown, heat resistant glass brewing pitcher

Choose from these great ice tea flavours: Pomegranate blackberry, ceylon gold, raspberry nectar and white ginger pear.

Of course I can’t forget to mention the centuries old, traditional tea…….which of course are the most popular.

These are the black, green, herbal, oolong and white teas.

The SAMPLER tins are the best way to introduce yourself or someone else to the wonderful world of tea!

You will be sure to have a favourite tea for everyone when you are entertaining!

I could talk for hours about all the different products and teas….but you will just have to come by and take a peak yourself.

I just love all the pretty packaging. Its so fantastic!  Oprah Winfrey said in her magazine  “If you are a tea lover, this is as good as it gets…”

Rejuvenate someone special with this elegant “tea for one” gift set

Thank you to all the people who have made lovely comments about our new BLOG…. Great feedback!! cheers:-)