The Hillsdale Home Gift Guide

Black Friday (and Cyber Monday) may be behind us, but if you’re like many of us at the Hillsdale Headquarters, you likely still have some shopping to get done. In the grand tradition of holiday gift guides, we’ve decided to put together a compilation of some of our favorite things to give (or get). To put our own spin on the exercise, we’re going around the house to offer a suggestion for each room in the house. Happy shopping!

The Kitchen

So central to the holiday spirit, give the cook or gourmand in your life a gift that will keep on giving. We love Deb Perelman’s Smitten Kitchen blog, and she’s a special kind of genius when it comes to fancy meals and desserts perfect for the holiday season. This year she released her first cookbook, The SmittenKitchen Cookbook, and it’s so full of gorgeous photographs and amazing recipes, it’s already on The New York Times Bestseller List. 

The Bathroom

One of our favorite sites for customized planners, notebooks and stationary is ErinCondren.com. All of their products are custom designed and made in their California studio, and they recently started melding their colorful creations with acrylic materials. Their acrylic boxes and trays are the perfect tools for corralling perfumes, hair products, make-up and whatever else is crowding your bathroom sink or shelves. They are available in a variety of styles, and can be personalized with photos, names and monograms. 

The Hallway

Know someone with a bare hallway or a few empty walls around the house? Anyone who has moved recently likely has this problem to some extent. Jennifer Hill is an American graphic artist who has created a series of prints inspired by the places she’s never been before. There are several dozen options, and the prints come in a variety of sizes, all fully matted, and for a very reasonable price. They can also be customized if the occasion so calls. We’re of course partial to the Louisville print. 

The Bedroom

A throw remains one of our favorite winter gifts, based both on its coziness factor as well as its flexibility. It can be thrown over a chair, a couch or our preference, a bed (especially over a comforter that might be in need of a trip to the dry-cleaner). We like these options from West Elm that you can monogram. The quality and cost breakdown here are hard to beat.

  

The Office

Creatively disguised iPhone chargers are the new hit gift for 2012, and there are some really great options out there. Our favorite though would make the perfect decoration for a desk already cluttered with technology. Substitute another piece of sleek white plastic from the Apple store for a pretty stack of antique books that will amazingly enough charge your phone too! We like this option from Anthropologie, but there are lots of other choices on Etsy.com. 

The Living Room

With holiday entertaining on the horizon, perhaps the perfect gift to give yourself is the sleek Hillsdale Furniture Bardstown Bar, ideal for turning a small corner of your living area into the life of the party. You can turn any nook or cranny into a swanky (and practical) serving station with this simple, space saving piece, constructed of pewter-finished metal and wood in a rich cherry hue. The bar includes space for over a half dozen hanging glasses, eight wine bottles, and a glass platform for additional glasses and spirits. The bar is accompanied by two backless bar stools, with a glossy black vinyl seat covering. Some assembly required.  For details on where     to purchase, please visit www.hillsdalefurniture.com and click on the dealer locator.

We’ll be back in the coming weeks with some more fun thoughts on the holiday season, but in the meantime, let us know in the comments about some of your favorite gifts to give and receive.

 

Coming Soon...Woodridge!

As the theaters fill with moviegoers anxious for this seasons holiday blockbusters, our warehouse is awaiting one of Hillsdale’s coming attractions. The Woodridge Collection is scheduled to arrive at our door in early December, just in time for the holiday entertaining and gift giving.

A blockbuster in its own right, the Woodridge Counter Height Dining is a showcase for Victorian design ideals. The on-trend table is accompanied by elegant non-swivel stools that are adorned with a floral carving and lattice back. For added comfort, the seats are covered with a soft, ivory fabric that echoes the stools floral motif. 

No blockbuster is complete without a supporting cast, and for the Woodridge, the swivel stools and server fit the bill. With all the same elegant design elements of the non-swivel stools, the Woodridge swivel barstool or counter stools add the convenience of a 360-degree turning feature. Not to be outdone, the server enters the scene with two drawers, two cabinets, and an open shelving and wine storage unit making it an ideal piece for special occasion storage and flexible serving. And for an added touch of luxury, the server is accented by brushed pewter hardware, making it a timeless home furnishing.

The Woodridge Collection is available for families and dining room of all sizes, with sizes built to accommodate four, six and eight people. With its elegant, old-fashioned features, it’s the perfect piece to bring home and decorate for the holiday seasons. Turn in your ticket early next month at www.hillsdalefurniture.com, and keep an eye on our Facebook page for more new product announcements! 

Up and Snapping!

The Hillsdale Furniture in-house photography studio is complete! We wrote about the start of the project here (http://hillsdalefurn.blogspot.com/2012/09/after-nearly-two-decades-in-business.html), and after a few months of construction and finishing touches, we’re ready to go. In fact, we've been snapping our own product shots for a few weeks now, and we couldn't be more thrilled about the development. 

Our studio being prepped for
 shooting a new bar set

Here’s a Cliff’s Notes-version of how we did it: The Hillsdale team had 9’ high moveable walls built by a local contractor. They were then placed on casters and were designed so that both sides can be used; all we need to do is spin them around our 20’x20’ studio space. One side has a hanger system to let us use interchangeable chair rail/moulding panels and the other side is plain paint with a baseboard attached. We have several window sections, as well as a bookcase, a French door unit and a pass-thru section to give us a look into a second “room,” allowing us to give our customers a better feel for what the pieces will look like in their actual homes. 

Cheers to you John!

More importantly though, here’s the man who’s taking charge—professional photographer and newest member of the Hillsdale team, John Rott. Save for a six-year break as a studio photographer, his career has mostly been spent as a photojournalist for newspapers. John joined the team after more than a dozen years working at the Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper.  

The final shot of the Bardstown Bar Set.

We’re excited to have John on board, and we can’t wait to see how our visual portfolio develops as a result. Check out our website, Facebook and Pinterest boards to get your first looks at our new photography! 

Rustic Charm

Whether you live in the country literally, or just in your mind from time to time, adding a little rustic charm to your home can be a freeing exercise. Here are a few ways to bring a sense of that laid back, old world style to your abode.

Make peace with imperfection.

Reclaimed, unfinished wood, with its grains, knots and signs of often decades of growth, is an easy and often affordable means of adding a little rural, backwoods personality. Old doors can often make fantastic coffee tables.

Give unexpected elements new uses.

Photo credit: Katherine Wolkoff

Old mirrors are an illuminating design tool. They make natural light impactful, visually open up claustrophobic spaces, and make excellent catch-all’s for a variety of objects—beautiful perfume bottles, or picture frames, for example. Try using one (or a few) under a window as a tabletop. 

Treasure family history.

Photo credit: Katherine Wolkoff

Thrift stores can be a gold mine for inexpensive, vintage frames. When paired with older family photographs, they can pack a real nostalgic punch. Group a bunch together on a single table or dresser for maximum affect. 

Need a quicker solution? Embrace casual beauty with the Hillsdale Furniture Outback Collection. Crafted from high mountain ash solids and some select plywood, the Outback Collection is sturdy and stylish. The timbers are mill cut to give each piece an aged and distressed appearance. The warm chestnut finish is complemented by the natural imperfections of knots, cracks and blemishes, making it easy to make peace with its more charming imperfections. Check out the style in a bedroom collection available with two different beds—a panel as well as a slatted style—along with a dresser, bureau or nightstand. 

Check out more Outback pieces at Hillsdalefurniture.com

We’ve carried the popular Outback Collection into our dining side as well, creating a unique set of pieces around both a trendy counter height table, with four counter stools, and a more traditional height, rectangular dining table, with six chairs. Sideboards and dining room cabinets are also available.

However you achieve the look, be sure not to be afraid to be eclectic. Mix and match, take advantage of thrift stores, and don’t be afraid to wring every last bit of use out of both the plain and most artful objects around your home. 

Share your favorite rustic spaces with us on Pinterest!

Luxury for Less - The Wilmington Collection

Always dress to impress. This mantra should be applied not only to wardrobes, but to homes as well. Everyone should be able to enjoy beautiful interiors they are proud to bring friends and family home to, for the holidays, for the party, for the evening. Hillsdale Furniture is working to make luxury and elegance attainable, affordable, and easy to care for. Our products are designed in-house, and capture the trends, themes and styles popular with high end dealers and designers, at a price point that’s far simpler to stomach. Luxury for Less is a regular series meant to highlight some of our favorites.

Sleek and sophisticated, Hillsdale Furniture’s Wilmington Collection is the home design equivalent of an LBD or sharply tailored suit. Make any room in your house cocktail party-prepared with the Wilmington table and barstools.

 The Wilmington, available in both bar and counter heights, is a collection with serious style.

 The stools are constructed of solid hardwood and feature a 360 degree swivel seat. They are backless and have a lovely cappuccino-hued finish with either a black or brown vinyl seat covering.

 The Wilmington table, though splendid when paired with its matching stools, will stand just as fine on its own should a special event necessitate a little more space. Also made of solid hardwood, the table is a spot to gather for good conversation over a glass of wine or casual meal.

 

Both the table and chairs also have that effortless and easy-going style that make them easy to dress up for any occasion—centerpieces, table settings and chair drapes or garlands would be right at home with the Wilmington Collection. 

At Hillsdale Furniture, we make elegance attainable. For more information on the Wilmington Collection, please visit www.hillsdalefurniture.com. For more ideas on how to integrate our furniture into your daily life and special occasions, check out our Facebook and Pinterest pages.