By Julie Schmale

Our Story…

This post is not as informative as our other ones. But if you’re at all curious about how we got started, keep on reading! This post will let you in on Liliidae’s story, the reason we exist and why we picked the name we did.

I am one of the founders -sounds fancy- but all it means is that I was one of the two people thinking out loud “wouldn’t it be nice if we had somewhere in town to get all these things!?”

My husband is a local contractor in our rural little city, and whenever he builds a home for someone, he sends them to all his different suppliers in “the big city”. 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 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….

Building a house or renovating is stressful enough in itself. You want everything done right, you want it all to go together, you want to be able to imagine it all before you start installing… there are a lot of decisions to make -now add in travelling 2-3 hrs every time you go to suppliers (or you’re returning samples that you loved in the store, but hated when you got it home), add in tired children who’d much rather be running free, add in your wonderful husband who no longer cares (can’t really blame him either). He thinks you’re overthinking everything -yeah right!!

So stressful…..

So, back to my hubby and I thinking, “wouldn’t it be nice if there was ONE place where you could get everything!?” A place where we could collect everything from this supplier and that -where people could go and pull together the things they like.” Anything from paint/cabinets/flooring/hardware/ wallpaper/tiles/counter tops/fireplaces and whatever else we can fit in there!

Tadaaaaa -The idea of Liliidae was born…

At some point in the process, we approached Jess Houston of Freckled Interiors to see if she’d want to come on board as store manager. Without our knowledge, she’d been considering her future and thought this was a good fit for her. She was already assisting people looking to update/renovate/ or build, so the idea of having everything in ONE place just makes that so much easier to do. She was a gift from above, no doubt about it! She brings so much to the store -and already had the same heart and vision we did ourselves: To serve and help people in their project, however big or small.

So, what do we call ourselves?

There were a few thoughts on names…. In the end, we liked the idea of “Liliidae”. It’s the sub-class of the Tiger Lily (or Western Red Lily), which of course is Saskatchewan’s provincial flower. The name came from the idea that we all desire our homes and spaces to stand out and be beautiful -but not so much that it no longer fits or suits our lifestyles. And that’s what the tiger lily is to us. Its beauty stands out, but it belongs, it’s at home here in the prairies -just like we all are.

The whole process has been very exciting and nerve-racking at the same time… we’d all look at each other “are we seriously doing this?” “are we crazy?!” But here we are….

Just DO IT!

Somewhere in my research I came across a saying that went something like this: “In business adventures it’s not so much whether your business fails or succeeds -because giving it a try is success in and of itself.” And I really took that to heart. (Brace yourself, this is going to sound super cheesy) Even if it all fails -we still have each other. And that applies not just to us, but to anyone venturing into new territory -even if we fail, as long as we still have our family, our friends, God, we’ll be OK. At the end of the day, relationships are what’s most important.

So be brave and courageous. Step into your own adventures. Go for that dream! If you see that there’s something you can do to fill a need…. Just DO IT!