2 days only Saturday, June 3rd and Sunday, June 4th
Our 32nd Anniversary Sale is Finally Here!!!
Hurrah!
This is the best one yet – Don’t Miss It!
It’s Finally Here!
Category: DIY
2020 Retail Stars Home Accents Today
I am so excited and honored to have received this award for 2020
and for the 2nd time no less!
Read about the 2020 Retail Stars chosen by Home Accents Today
The article gives some background on the list of 50 finalists and some brief descriptions of each business.
The finalists come from across the United States…
although the only one from New Jersey is The Whistling Elk!
I am on cloud nine right now!
The Whistling Elk – A 2020 Retail Star!
The Whistling Elk has been named one of the 50 best
home furnishings retailers in the country for 2020!!!
This is such a wonderful honor especially in the current business environment!
Find a Way to Enjoy The Moment (Staying Home)
Right now I m sitting in the sun which is streaming in through my slider…I have never done this before shockingly !!
The Corona Virus, horrible and beastly as it is, has forced me to stop working 24/7 and slow down and take a little downtime.
I have worked my whole life. Even when switching jobs I didn’t take time in between. Since opening my own shop 30 years ago I have worked the whole time between 6 and 7 days a week. Sure, I took some amazing ski vacations over the years (at Vail my favorite) but even then I fretted about being away from my business.
Now don’t get me wrong, this virus is a terrible, terrible, terrible thing and I am distressed that people are sick and dying. They are in my thoughts and prayers every day.
But this “stay at home” order is in some ways a gift that I never asked for and never would ask for. However, now that I’ve got it I am wholeheartedly enjoying it for the gift that it is and for what it is worth. I would never have taken time for myself.
For the first time in my life I have no income stream…none in the forseeable future and can’t even imagine how this will all end…but right now the sun is warm, I have nowhere to go, nothing pressing me, and I feel as though God has given me time to rejuvenate, to plan, to rest, to rethink everything, to enjoy the moment! I will trust that he has plan and meanwhile I will not allow this gift to go to waste.
Plus and Minus
I put together a list this morning of projects that need doing.
I filled an entire sheet.
I posted it and every time I walk by it I think of something else to add. There are some plusses to being stuck at home.
Some of the things on the list have been on the back burner for months and perhaps years!
I have decided to make sure that I pick something on that list to complete every day…with that in mind I literally could stay home for a quite a while.
Well, that will take care of some of the time I have on my hands…
I have already discovered this morning that my mind is still creative and fertile…teeming with ideas…mostly how to improve and take my business to the next level…new things I want to do, plans I want to put into action.
It’s almost scary. Maybe, just maybe, that is why when this is over our economy is going to go nuts….we will all have this pent up creativity and desire to go full steam ahead.
Some things with regard to my business I have already implemented in this new free time I have found myself blessed with.
Minuses, of course, we all know. We miss each other, we’re a little scared and we can’t wait for it to be behind us. And, it’s hard stop from eating! 😉
Stay safe, my friends.
Barbara
In Times of Stress It’s Good to Have Something You Enjoy Doing
It’s a stressful world right now.
I am always glad that there are certain activities that
keep me busy when stress is in the air…
Painting is one such enjoyable and therapeutic activity.
What is Yours?
2020 Retail Stars Home Accents Today
I am so excited and honored to have received this award for 2020
and for the 2nd time no less!
Read about the 2020 Retail Stars chosen by Home Accents Today
The article gives some background on the list of 50 finalists and some brief descriptions of each business.
The finalists come from across the United States…
although the only one from New Jersey is The Whistling Elk!
I am on cloud nine right now!
Mark Robert’s 2019 Santas, Fairies and Elves at The Whistling Elk
Enjoy our little Mark Roberts Video!!
Mark Roberts 2019 Collection of Santas, Fairies and Elves are adorable and available now at The Whistling Elk.
They are a top gift on our 2019 Holiday Gift Guide…Get Yours Today!!
THE WHISTLING ELK 2019 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
Our 2019 Holiday Gift Guide
Throw Blankets
Beautiful, soft, cozy, colorful, elegant and a fashion statement for your home. You must have at least one! Ours come in almost every color imaginable. Wrap yourself up in one! And give one to all your friends and family! You will be a hero.
Maison Berger (Lampe Berger)
A big favorite. An air purifier that perfumes the air you live in! Beautiful and a real workhorse too! You will love it…no open flame…and scent all thru your home.
Made in France with that special oohlala elegant scents that only the French can do! There are also candles, reed diffusers and mist diffusers–you can have it all!!
Sorrelli Jewelry
A family owned company that is all about sparkle! An extensive collection is available at the shop and we constantly run specials…come see what the latest deal is! And a hint to all you men out there…this is a winner!
La Vie Parisenne Jewelry
Gorgeous jewelry by French Designer Catherine Popesco. Antique molds are used to create this line of 14k gold plated and swarovski studded collection! A must have or a must give!
Mark Roberts 2019 Christmas Fairies and Elves
If you don’t have one you will want one. The 2019 Collection is beautiful as usual and well appointed as ever. They will make you smile (or else). For 26 years a special Christmas offering from The Whistling Elk.
Sloane Fine Tea Merchants
Did you know there was something known as a Tea Sommelier? Well there is and this line of fine teas was created in Toronto by a Tea Sommelier who is also a trained Perfumist (is that a word?) Delicious and amazing to both your scent and taste! You need to try the Heavenly Cream…it’s divine!!! (hahaha really)
A Girl With A Pearl
These are the real thing. Need a really special Gift…this is it. Baroque Cultured Freshwater Pearls…beautiful. Different styles and price points. A must have for the woman in your life! Hint, Hint.
Club Bags
The best little bags ever. They hold your phone (quite comfortably) and have a zippered pocket for your valuable stuff….like lipstick, money $$$, etc. And did i mention that they are good looking? Well they are quite fashionable!
Michel Designworks
Going Somewhere? This company makes Great Hostess Gifts…beautiful, festive and beautifully packaged. Great price points. Foaming handsoaps are the best! But there is more…so much more.
The Whistling Elk is loaded with great gift ideas and decorations for your home. Your Go-To shopping place…Stop and See for Yourself! This little list is just the tip of the iceberg 😉 Trust Me.
New Introductions at The Whistling Elk This Summer
It’s August! Oh No!
I need to squeeze every bit of summer left out of August!!!
It’s been a good summer though with lots of things happening at The Whistling Elk.
We have brought in a lot of new products and there are more coming this Fall.
New and in stock right now…
MICHEL DESIGN WORKS
A beautifully packaged line of everyday fragranced products that are fabulous for hostess gifts! The Foaming Hand Soaps are probably my favorite but there are quite a few other items to choose from.
The bar soaps are large and the packaging tempts you want to keep them wrapped. The Soy Candles come in beautiful boxes that you will want to save for keepsakes and everything smells amazing...there are many many scents!
The Hand and Body Lotion contains, of course, Shea Butter and there is also luxurious Shower Gel.
These products are all priced from $11 to $17 so they are perfect for small token gifts or dare i say…stocking stuffers.
But that is not where Design Works stops….they also have gorgeous kitchen aprons, potholders and tea towels…pillows and scatter rugs! And, a complete line of melamine platters, plates, bowls and other serving pieces that are colorful, lightweight and,of course, unbreakable!
You will love this line and we are stocked now with more coming for the holidays!
MAISON BERGER
Maison Berger is introducing about 80 new products this Fall. They are expanding the AROMA Collection and introducing new Diffusers and Soy Candles.
I LOVE the Aroma Collection…
the scents are complex yet pure – so nice!
There are New Scents and New Lampes and Gift Sets just in time for the holidays. We are the largest retailer of Maison Berger in New Jersey so you will always find a huge selection of fragrances and lampes every day. Maison Berger makes such a great gift for everyone, the gift sets are so reasonably priced and now Maison Berger has included a new larger free sample of scent with each gift set….We love Maison Berger!
Of course we still have all the beautiful, classic home furnishings and accessories that you expect from us! Come see us soon!
29th Anniversary Party at The Whistling Elk June 1st at High Noon!
Well, it’s that time of year again when we celebrate
The Whistling Elk Anniversary. Our 29th!!!
Chester is a wonderful place to be in business and I love all my customers…some of whom have been shopping with me for the entire 29 years!!!! Amazing and humbling!
We are having a big party on June 1st from noon til 7 pm.
There will be lots of specials, and even some really, really spectacular specials…so save the date and don’t miss it.
Bring a friend. We have a free gift for our first 50 customers.
The big event of the day is our SORRELLI TRUNK SHOW.
This is a gorgeous new line of jewelry that we just started to carry at The Whistling Elk.
It partners beautifully with our La Vie Parisienne so you can layer everything! There will be a fantastic discounts on both lines. Come prepared to be “sparkling” upon leaving!!!!
There will be champagne, and some goodies to eat from Maria’s Coffee Shop….and something special from The Sweet Spot Bake Shoppe….be the first of 50 customers to find out…
Feel Lucky? You will get the chance to draw for our many prizes.
See you on June 1st from Noon til 7 pm!
The Doldrums of Winter
Yup, it’s the doldrums of winter yet again. Everything feels slower in January but that is really not true. During and just after Christmas in the shop you are already planning like crazy for the coming year.
In January I always make the trek to Atlanta to shop for Christmas 2019….and for Spring goods that I may have missed when buying in the Summer/Fall for the Spring….confusing but you must do things ahead if you want the best for your customers! Market is always an amazing whirlwind.
This year my take away from the Market is that COLOR IS BACK! and Vibrant Color at that! This is wonderful from a design standpoint. It will, however, take some time for this to transfer in a big way to the retail market. Design trends always occur on a curve….slowly up – then strong for awhile – then slowly down and out…..so expect the grey hues to start drying up.
My other reaction to Market this January is that the manufacturers are feeling positive about the economy so they are stepping out of the comfort zone and bringing in more exciting designs…this has been missing from Market for the last several years – and the change is more than welcome!!! You will love the new fresh variety!
Color in the market was strong in tabletop goods, paintings and artwork, and fabrics! It made my heart beat!
So now that I have made buying decisions for Spring, some Summer/Fall and Winter 2019 I am eagerly awaiting orders to ship in…this is the exiting part. Selling off the old merchandise (translating to some great deals for my customers), taking in the new purchases and reorganizing the shop to showcase the new looks.
So, long story short, the Winter is really a busy and fun time in the shop!
2018 Mark Roberts Fairies
Well, last week the Mark Roberts Fairies arrived on the scene! As always they are adorable. We have a selection out now for your viewing pleasure!
This year Mark has introduced some new elves and they are beautiful! They have weighted feet so they can stand alone anywhere which makes them even more fun. Lots of great detail!
There are a couple of girl fairies again this year…this is Joyous Christmas and she has the most amazing skirt!
They are out now! Come and see and choose yours!
LAMPE BERGER BECOMES MAISON BERGER
Lampe Berger has a new name!
M A I S O N B E R G E R
and is going to be introducing a lot of new products!
When I go to the Home Accessories and Gift Show in July
I will be visiting Maison Berger and will see all their new products!
I am excited and actually can’t wait.
Maison Berger is also celebrating it’s
120th birthday!
Mondays at The Whistling Elk
Wishing you a Happy New Year!…and reminding you that The Whistling Elk is
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK…for your shopping convenience.
Mondays from 10:00 am til 4 pm
Tuesday thru Sunday from 10:00 am til 5:30 pm
Mondays are especially good days to shop us – you can beat the weekend crowd and jazz up a dreary Monday by coming in for casually elegant home furnishings and accessories!
At the Whistling Elk you will find all the finishing touches that make a house Your Home at affordable prices…accent furniture, lighting, artwork and mirrors!
You will also find thoughtful gifts! In addition to Lampe Berger Paris there is Bedford Cottage Throws, exquisite French Jewelry, Sloane Fine Teas and much more! And don’t forget we sell Paint Couture…a fantastic choice for creating amazing furniture and cabinet finishes.
I have just returned from shopping for 2018…
There are lots of great new gift items, accent furniture, artwork, rugs and more! It was so much fun finding great pieces for you!
So if you love a European style that is casually elegant you will love the shop.
So come by any day….and don’t forget MONDAYS! Start your week off right with a visit to THE WHISTLING ELK.
We are in our 28th Year in Chester of bringing your style, beauty and affordability!
2017 is Fast Drawing to a Close!
As 2017 draws to a close, I would just like to say how grateful I am for all the wonderful customers who frequent my shop!
It has been another wonderful year! And I am enthusiastically awaiting the beginning of my 28th year here in beautiful Chester NJ…in another couple of weeks I will be heading to Atlanta to shop for merchandise for 2018!
I will be forever grateful that I chose Chester to be the home for my collection of casually elegant home furnishings and accessories….
Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday season!
The Whistling Elk is Sponsoring a Lampe Berger Special for Mother’s Day
It’s a perfect time to try a Lampe Berger at The Whistling Elk!
We have lots of beautiful lampes to choose from and when you purchase one you can get a tripack of 3 fragrances for 50% off!
There are two different tripacks to choose from … one has fresh scents: Fresh Linen, Lemonflower and the international best selling fragrance Ocean Breeze!
The other tripack includes New Orleans (one of our best sellers), Orange Cinnamon and Vanilla Gourmet!
Get yours while supplies last.
Moving Can Put You in a Funk
Well, I sold my home and moved to a new one. That is a pretty short sentence but it says a lot and the whole process put me in a funk….so much work! I feel like I fell asleep in March and woke up in August…sigh…
But I am done with that…The Moving Funk is over NOW!
I love my new home, it’s relatively “put together”…at least as much as I plan to do until I live there a little and see what is what. Meanwhile the shop waits for no man….and fall is coming! That means that lots of trucks are rolling in with all kinds of great merchandise and the shop is brimming with wonderful pieces.
Art arrived yesterday, lots of it! Here’s a little sneak peak…
Last week my fall clothing line arrived and it is spectacular! Lots of great fabrics and styles and lots more leggings this year!
Our Lampe Berger is STOCKED…and there are many new gift sets at great values and some beautiful new lampes!
People are always asking me “Does your Home look like this”
…They ask this when they are standing in my shop amidst the furniture and home accessories that are displayed in The Whistling Elk.
I usually just shrug off this question because I have never really thought much about it – until recently…you see I just sold my home. A short few words but a lot of meaning!
Taking stock and packing I realized just how consistent I really am…there is a resemblance in that I really love to be surrounded by beauty. I guess if I am one thing…that is…Consistent !!
I have lived in my home for 28 years…it feels like a part of me. It always felt good just to be there. Over the years I have brought home pieces that I loved and integrated them into the mix. Some things came and went while others I cannot imagine parting with ever.
My list of belongings reads like a list of the companies that I have done business with over the years in the shop.
I have a J.M. Paquet sofa…they are out of business now being one of the ones to go early in 2008. but the sofa lives on and when the time comes I will have it reslipcovered yet again. Its so comfortable and I still love it so it will go with me to my new home.
My Habersham buffet is another piece that I love. It makes me happy every time I just look at it. It houses my grandmothers dishes which will be going to my niece for safekeeping. The buffet though goes with me. The savonnerie carpet is from Feizy…and it was chosen because…well, I just fell in love with it.
I love this room and have spent many, many hours here! The mantel I bought when a 1890’s home in New Brunswick was demolished. It was a wreck all chipping and dirty. I took my hand sander and sanded all the dirt and loose paint off and then had it attached to the wall.
Since I have always wanted to live in an old fieldstone house I mimicked that with the faux painted fieldstone wall on which that mantel is mounted. I loved this look and am sorry to leave it behind. I guess I will have to paint a new wall!
Another favorite room is the Master Bedroom…and Master Bath off of it…
I purchased a really crummy pair of shutters and nailed them to the wall on either side of a large window and it created just the right look to go with the Dutch Caribbean bed. I cannot remember the name of the company that this bed came from but it is solid hand carved mahogany.
The beautiful painted lingerie chest fit just perfectly in the corner of the room…it’s shape is what makes it special. It’s rounded across the front. It came from RH Home…they were a California company which is also gone. Sadly.
The walls I faux painted to resemble my take on old crumbling Italian walls…and you can’t see it in the picture but on the wall at the foot of the bed is a huge 5 foot x 4 foot picture of a hotel on Lake Como Italy which I have to say I loved waking up and seeing every morning. Perfect way to start the day!
The Linen Press next to the bed is an antique piece from England circa 1880…my niece will be picking up this piece tonight and it will go to live in her bedroom. It came from a company called ARK Antiques which is also out of business…so many great companies over the years have come and gone. Sadly our economy is not good for small business these days.
I really got fanciful with my master bath. The Alma Slade draperies are chenille and were perfect with the colors in the Nourison carpet. But my favorite piece is the Danish Vanity from ARK Antiques…circa 1910. So pretty! And of course I just had to have a little vintage chandelier in there…Right? Absolutely!
I have a thing about old doors and I managed to get my fix with that too in the dining room where I leaned two heavy old French doors to flank a 3 panel screen…an oil from Andrew Kolb & Sons depicting a hillside village in Italy. That’s the only non-bling (Stone County Ironworks) chandelier I own over that table!!! I always meant to hang some crystals on it…
So I guess this is my tribute to my pretty little home that I am leaving behind. I will miss it. A little place always filled with light from all the large windows. But I am also so excited to start over and to what I am going to create next!
Those Pretty New Things Are Arriving!
Shopping for the store is a lot of fun but I have to admit it is even more fun when the merchandise actually starts to flow in and you open everything up and feel like you are getting presents!
This week a bunch of cute little chandeliers arrived! They are small so are good for powder rooms or as pendants over a table or island….all sparkly and pretty!
A lot of vintage pieces showed up last week….I love the soft colors!
There is so much more! You have to come visit…and of course there is more coming!
The Whistling Elk 
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