The Family Table

  As the technology age continues to encompass every aspect of our lives and the lives of our children, a resurgence of the “Family Table” has emerged. The call to unplug and engage has begun to echo through many homes, and nowhere more than at the dinner table.

  Growing up I remember arriving home from school and being greeted by wonderful aromas of pot roast, fried chicken, or joy of joys taco night! I would change out of my school clothes, wash up, and migrate to the kitchen to help or as mom said, “hover”. Once dinner was ready we’d fill our plates and gather around the table. It was during that time when we all talked the most as a family, unloading the stresses of our day or sharing funny stories. We laughed a lot during our family dinners so when we left the table we had not only nourished our bodies but also our souls. That is the magic of the family table.

  Even now, though my brother and I are grown with children of our own, we still love gathering around that same table. Though its years of use are showing, that old table still stands always making more room as the family grows. It’s the memories of those family meals that we hope to pass down to our own children and what better way to start than with the perfect dining table.

  Quickly becoming a tried and true favorite for Hillsdale Furniture is the Hamptons dining table. Made of solid pine, this table will stand the test of time giving your family years of joyous dining. The round top pedestal table will comfortably fit six with the leaf and four without. With a classic, weathered pine finish this table will transition through years of family dinners.

So let's slow down, unplug, and gather together at the family table.

To see more great dining collections visit www.hillsdalefurniture.com.

Autumn Arrangements

Fall is upon us! It’s time for football, back to school and trick-or-treaters, and we couldn’t be more excited at Hillsdale Furniture. As we get our homes (and in a few cases, our cubicles) in shape for the season, we wanted to share a few ideas with you for bringing autumn inside.

Pick up a little faux foliage from your local craft shop on the cheap, and use it year after year to add an autumnal touch to your bookshelves, mantels and tablescapes.

Add old-fashioned chalkboards or chalkboard paint to the seasonal décor to get in the back to school spirit. Use it for family menus, reminders and spooky Halloween-inspired drawings.

Pick up a few white, or ghost, pumpkins this year instead of (or in addition to) the traditional orange favorites. They bring a sophistication to fall décor that’ll stay relevant all the way through Thanksgiving.

Mason jar sconces are a simple and fun DIY project for fall. Using twine, suspend mason jars from cup hooks in the ceiling and fill with cinnamon sticks, faux foliage, candy corn or pine cones, depending on your preference. Replace with holiday ornaments or candy canes once the season changes.

Change slipcovers over furniture for a simple color change. Colorful slipcovers can quickly and inexpensively add color to any room.  Slipcovers can be formal or casual depending on the weight of the fabric and color. Decide on which fits your décor, and consider formal dining room chair slipcovers, as well.

We’re so excited about what fall has to bring this year, and we hope you are too. Got any favorite fall decorating tips? Share them in the comments or on our Facebook page! 

Empty Nesting

The children have flown the coop. But only for a few months here and there. Design conundrums abound, but this is one parents of college-aged children can prepare for ahead of time, and handle with aplomb when September rolls around.

How do you reclaim a teenager’s bedroom when they’ve moved into a dorm room, and yet maintain its comfort and coziness for holiday and summer breaks? Hillsdale Furniture has a few ideas. 

Creative display for photos

Unique display for childhood keepsakes

• Remove any wall posters, concert memorabilia, bulletin boards (and save in a box) or any other piece of bric-a-brac that clutters. Keep framed family and friend photographs, a (single) stuffed animal and/or a trophy, award or diploma—small, classic, nostalgic pieces that will ensure your child still feels at home when they arrive. 
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Try a new coat (and color) of paint. A shiny new coat of paint can refresh and rejuvenate a room as typically “lived in” as a teenager’s. It will also present an opportunity to try on a new color or two that might guide future design changes. 

• Create a reading nook. Comfortable little corners to read and study in are something both your new academic and guests will appreciate.

Try out new convertible furniture options that are getting more and more stylish every day. Here are a few our Hillsdale favorites:

The Solano Desk

Create a quick and easy workspace perfect for a sleek laptop. Utilizing a small corner of your home, this desk can fit unobtrusively into a bedroom. It’s available in a medium oak or cherry finish, and can double as a lamp or display table. 

The Springfield Daybed

This is the modern solution to transforming a teen’s bedroom into a sophisticated, comfortable reading or guest room. It’s available in brown or white, in easy to care for faux leather. The optional matching trundle offers even more space for sweet dreams or surprise guests.

Take advantage of the months between now and Thanksgiving to give that temporarily-empty bedroom a much needed facelift. For more information, please visit www.hillsdalefurniture.com. 

Ready for our close up!

After nearly two decades in business, Hillsdale Furniture has had its picture taken quite a few times. Our beds, dining room tables, desks and entertainment centers have all had their moments in the spotlight, and since we are constantly designing new pieces, we've enjoyed our fair share of photo shoots.

Until this year though, all of those shoots have taken place in independent and outside studios, where our products were shipped, assembled and dressed to impress. This winter though, we brought the operation back home. Hillsdale is in the process of constructing our very own, in-house photography studio where our products can be prettied up for their portraits. This will allow us to take more and better pictures, on an expedited schedule, and get visuals of new products to our customers even faster than before.

Check out these shots of the construction project, happening right in our Louisville, Kentucky office warehouse:

Check back in later for pictures of the finished studio, and to meet our new Hillsdale Furniture photographer!

Labor Day Living

The kids are at school. The pool is closing up. The grill is getting just a little worse for wear. The dog days of summer are nearing their inevitable end.  But we do get one final hurrah! A long, Labor Day weekend to soak in the sun (and sunblock) one final time, and enjoy that annual holiday weekend gift that is the Labor Day Sale. 

Indeed, nearly all of your favorite retailers are going to be pulling out all of the stops this weekend, enticing you with 10-20-50% off the last of their summer merchandise as they attempt to clear the floor for new autumn offerings. Take advantage. Online shopping giant ShopItToMe.com ran an analysis on ads for various holiday sales in 2011, and found that Labor Day shopping usually boasts the biggest discounts.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

•         Spring and summer clothing get heavy discounts as fall and winter collections are headed for the rack. Hate shopping for bathing suits? Give it a go this time of year when they’re cheap and you won’t have to worry about wearing them for at least nine months.

•          Appliances often get steeper discounts than normal as new models usually come out in fall, ahead of the Christmas season. It’s a great time to look at slightly older models of favorite electronics.

• 
              Things like grills, fire pits and outdoor furniture that aren’t big in the winter will be steeply discounted.
  
  

•         Don’t be afraid to shop around. Harness the power of the internet and spend a brief five minutes taking a look at the various price tags of the same item across a slew of retailers. 
  
  
  ·         Search for coupons. Aggregator sites like RetailMeNot.com catalog discount codes and can equal big savings for key purchases.
  
  
      
  
  
   Furniture retailers also like to get in on the action, including a few that carry Hillsdale Furniture products. 
  
  
  Want to check in on a few in your area?
  Use our Retail Locator, which can be easily accessed at http://www.hillsdalefurniture.com/Retailers. 
  
  
  Simply type in your zip code or location, and we’ll let you know exactly where our products can be found 
  in your neighborhood.
  
  
  
  
  Enjoy the Labor Day weekend!
  
  
  
  
  

Back to School

In honor of back to school—the kiddos get started early here in Kentucky—we’re talking about the special pieces that create spaces where children can live, play and learn. One of our favorites is the Universal Junior Loft Bed, where children can quite literally study hard, AND play hard.

 Elevated to provide either play space or storage space, the Universal Junior Loft Bed is a fun and creative addition to a kid’s bedroom.  The loft has bookshelves at both ends to provide ample storage space for new textbooks, model planes and rock collections.  It also offers a removable fabric curtain that creates a playhouse in the space below the bed (for when imaginative adventures take center stage) and a removable desk with stool to create a study area (for more serious scenarios). If you are limited in space, the accompanying Universal Youth Dresser fits conveniently under the bed.

 Get your children refreshed and ready for the new school year with a unique new bedroom piece that could just get them as excited about homework as they are about play dates.

 

For more information, please visit www.hillsdalefurniture.com.  

Greetings from Mississippi!

Hillsdale Furniture has flown south for a few days, and we’ve taken up residence at the Tupelo Furniture Fall Market, taking place in Mississippi from August 16-19. We’ve been here before, but this year we’re especially thrilled about moving into our own, much larger space. We’ve expanded from about 1,000 square feet of space, to 2,500, and this will allow us to display a lot more of our new product lines.

To take full advantage of the new showroom, Hillsdale will focus on a new line of solid wood dining and bedroom sets, now available and shipping directly out of our 300,000 square feet distribution center in Louisville, Kentucky. Also new to the line-up, and making appearances at Tupelo, are a new line of upholstered beds and daybeds, as well as new wood and metal bar stool designs. These new pieces will appeal to a wide variety of design aesthetics and retail price points.  Here’s a quick preview:

Park Avenue Dining Set

This beautiful new dining option features a classic, rectangular trestle-style dining room table, and either 6 or 10 accompanying ladder-back chairs. The entire collection is made of solid, cherry-hued hardwood, and will give a warm, contemporary welcome to any dinner party. 

Montgomery Daybed

Bold, sleek and yet space conscious, the Montgomery Daybed has a lot of style for such a compact piece. Designed in a luxurious, dark brown bonded leather, with a pull out trundle bed, the Montgomery is the design-conscious answer to creating second, third or fourth bedroom areas in the modern home. 

Rowan Stool

Elegant and feminine, the Rowan Stool resembles an antique piece of jewelry made turned into something a little more practical. With its arching back and center panel inspired by mother of pearl, the Rowan adds a touch of classic beauty to the dining or bar area. The Rowan features an ivory-covered 360 degree swivel stool, and is available in both bar and counter heights. 

Come visit us this week in Tupelo, and we’ll have a lot more to show.

Hillsdale Furniture can now be found in Building 4 of the Tupelo Furniture Market, in space 4051.