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On the corner of Burrows Avenue West and Broadway in Melfort. (Submitted photo)
Home & Design

Liliidae – helping to make your house a home

Jul 24, 2023 | 11:41 AM

Operating for only eight months before getting shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic was not part of our business plan as we opened the doors of Liliidae Home & Design on August 12th of 2019. Learning to run any kind of business is hard work and a tumultuous learning curve. Doing it while all rules of how to do business went out the window, made us scramble even more, along with every other business – not only in Saskatchewan but across Canada and I’m sure the rest of the world.

(Submitted photo/Liliidae Home & Design)

But who knew this event would shine good luck over us? We gained traction fairly quickly since everyone was starting to pour their money into renovations of the homes they were now stuck in. The desire behind our brick-and-mortar store was to make renovating on the prairies a bit easier by giving people access to a wider selection of quality products. We’ve run a construction company for several years, and when finishing homes, we’d see people head to Saskatoon for the products they wanted, and we got thinking “Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a place closer to home that offered all these products in one location?”

A snippet from our own experience, taken from our blog:

“When it came turn for our own build, we were (like everyone else in rural Saskatchewan) on the road to the city to look at EVERYTHING…. Trying to make it to every single place we wanted to go to in the SAME DAY (and squeezing Costco in there too, of course!) …. Dragging along four small children….. If you’re from rural areas, you know what I’m talking about…. If you’re also a parent of small children, you know even better what I’m talking about….

We’re looking at flooring… tug tug…. Mommy, can I have a snack… (I was prepared for this)

We’re looking at tile… tug tug…. Mommy, I have to pee…. (10 minutes later another kid also has to pee even though they didn’t need to when I asked the first time we made a bathroom trip)

Off to fireplaces…. Tug tug…. Mommy, can we be done now….

And when it wasn’t tugging and questions, it was running like crazy people through the showrooms. SO frustrating. Everything considered, they did good, they were only 3-5-7- and 9…. We couldn’t really blame them, after all, they’d sat in a car all day….. But still…. stressful….”

(Submitted photo/Liliidae Home & Design)

We have had lots of people through the doors since we opened. What we’ve been part of are anything from smaller projects like furniture placement, paint selections, and one-room design to full-home down-to-the-studs renovations. Most times we exceeded people’s expectations and sometimes we fell utterly short. We have had to decide what kind of business we wanted to be, what products are worth people’s hard-earned money, and have parted ways with suppliers that didn’t meet our standards.

I’m not going to lie; it’s been a tough mountain to climb, and we’re still climbing. As a business owner (and any person, really) we have to remind ourselves of the successes, the happy clients, the people who love their homes again after having worked with Liliidae. It’s so easy to focus on the negative, the people for whom we fell short. But the negatives aren’t what propels anyone into the future. We learn from our mistakes, yes, but we keep going boosted by the success we have had. Being able to celebrate 4 years in business and still be going strong feels like success, and we’re celebrating with some SERIOUS sales!

(Submitted photo/Liliidae Home & Design)

What used to be an old auto repair shop has been transformed to a modern design shop, so make sure you stop by our cute corner on Burrows Avenue West and Broadway in Melfort. We have a ton of products for any home build or renovation, and we offer installation with what we sell. We have excellent service and give our best advice to homeowners feeling unsure what the best product is for them in the ocean of options. It’s no joke to embark on a project big or small and we’re here to make that process less stressful for you.

(Submitted photo/Liliidae Home & Design)

See more of what we do on our website www.liliidaehome.com and follow along in our day-to-day on Instagram and Facebook.

*This article was submitted to northeastNOW’s commercial content division.

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