Previously Terrie and I shared some of our online wish list with you. If you’re house lovers like us, it probably didn’t surprise you that items for our home were big on our lists. I personally prefer to shop for accessories and furniture rather than clothes – perhaps because it’s easier for me to find a good fit! 

One of the things about receiving gifts for your home is the wonderful memories they create.  In addition to adding beauty or functionality, they  are lovely reminders of wonderful friends and family…visual stimulus for thinking about them for a moment each day. 

Cindy’s Home Gift Memories

This wonderful Italian vase was a housewarming gift from my good friend Lesley.

This fabulous Italian pottery vase adorns my living room coffee table.   I received the vase as a house warming gift from my friend Lesley when she and her husband, Dick, first came to visit.  When I look at this vase each day it’s a reminder of the friendship we’ve nurtured since high school.  Just like the vase, we’re showing our age some (believe me - it’s been a few years since high school!) but we’re still functioning and standing strong. 

Terrie gave me the lacy metal lanterns from her previous accessories shop.

The display cabinet in my bedroom is topped with these lacy decorative lanterns Terrie gave me from the accessories shop she previously owned – and I remember touring her shop for the first time when I look up at them.  Beside them stands a statue I packed all the way from China (you can buy them here easily now then but back in the ’90′s not so!) – it reminds me of my trip to Asia as well as reminds me of the Chinese green tea in my kitchen cupboard that Terrie sent me after her trip to a tea farm when she and her husband visited in China a couple of years ago. 

This art is a statement about friendship I received about 15 years ago from my good friend Martha whom I met when we lived in Alaska.  Since then it’s hung in each of the 4 homes we’ve had since Alaska.  It starts “So many friendships they come and they go, but you are a friend for life I know…” 

Carla sent me lucky bamboo during a not so lucky time and it's grown over the years, as has our luck!

A growing testament to friendship, I received this Lucky Bamboo several years ago from a woman who worked for me when my family was hit hard with a string of bad luck/hardships that included my husband breaking his back.  Carla now lives in another state but I think of her daily when I see the bamboo. 

A gift from my husband for my vanity in our new house - even before it was done!

My husband bought these glass vessels for my dressing table when we were building our new home.  I know – he has good taste!  They remind me daily of how we created this home together – starting with finding a piece of land and now enjoying the beauty that shelters us. 

These are only a few of the gifts that are displayed around my home.  Behind cupboard doors are gifts of wine themed dishes, canape spreaders, napkins, wine stoppers and other lovely utilitarian items born of friendship and love that we use often. 

Home Gifts for the Holidays

So if you’re looking for a gift for a friend or loved one – it doesn’t have to be a sweater or earrings or something trendy and glitzy (although those can be fun too). Take to heart where or how they live and what you might give them to support and enhance their life day-to-day.  For inspiration use the links in the “Shopping” tab at the top of our site.  They provide an easy armchair shopping trip – and you can stay in your jammies! 

And, of course, don’t forget you can help someone create a home they’ll love by giving them a Your Decorating Hotline Gift Certificate.  We’ll work closely with them in your name to help pick just the right color, help arrange their furniture, or even talk with them personally.  

Helping someone enhance their home – the place that supports and nurtures them – now that’s a gift! 

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