Armoire a Cadeaux

A friend of mine once told me about her mother’s “Armoire à Cadeaux.”  I was surprised with the term, given that she is not French (although being from Ladue Missouri, she probably has some French running through her veins). But I loved the concept of a closet filled with gifts for the “je ne sais quoi” events that inevitably pop up during the year.

At the time, we lived in “the big house” and had a profusion of closets which even I had a hard time filling.  So I decided to turn one of the extra closets into our own Armoire à Cadeaux, and it was quickly my favorite room in the house.

There were open shelves for miscellaneous gifts, and drawers filled with boxes, and wrapping materials, all neatly stacked in their own boxes.  You’d think I was an expert wrapper (not!), from the rows of multi-colored ribbons, hanging from bobbins and begging to be used.  There were stacks of wrapping papers, bags and tissue, all neatly stacked and organized by holiday.  And there were sturdy scotch tape holders, sharp scissors and bows for special occasions.

I never took a picture of my armoire, but these remind me of the look, so suited to the OCD side of my brain:

Little secret: I love dowels, the more, the merrier! Just like this image from Leilani-Smiths-clipboard-on-Hometalk.jpg
Ahhh the organization here just makes me happy! Image from The Container Store, Elfa

Fast forward a couple of years, and the home armoire is a distant memory, a luxury that I will never have again as we seem to downsize year by year, moving up in the world to higher and smaller spaces (we’re up to floor 40 right now) sacrificing essentials, like  the armoire a cadeaux,  for luxuries like arousing sunrises and dramatic sunsets.  With Huff Harrington Home, I’ve cheated a little and traded in the home armoire for the best armoire à cadeaux imaginable, and the kind of wrapping station that I only dreamed of back in the old day.  Best part of all:  It comes with a team of expert wrappers!

Expert Huff’ington Elves, wrapping up a storm

Although it’s a sorry day for you if I’m the one wrapping your gift, I do know a good wrap station when I see one, and what we have at Huff Harrington makes my heart sing!  We spent months selecting the prettiest tissues and boxes we could find and handpicked a wide variety of ribbons that work beautifully with the platinum colored boxes.  We have a team of elves who take pride in the presentation and do everything they can to make your gift giving more enjoyable.  And as we head in to gift giving overdrive (it’ll be here before you know it!) we offer the stress-free service of taking your orders over the phone and having them wrapped and ready for you to pick up any time later in the day.

My armoire a cadeaux couldn’t hold a candle to the pretty wrapping done by the Huff’ingtons

If you’re thinking about an armoire à cadeaux, you’ll want to fill it with some tried and true gifts that will work for any occasion … and keep over time.  Here are the kinds of (affordable) gifts that I put in my armoire before I was lucky enough to have a store-full:

For the Hostess
Everyone loves our <a href="https://blog.huffharrington.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/The-blanc-on-table.jpg" target="_blank">tea scented candles from Paris</a>. They can be wrapped beautifully or just ask for a ribbon around the box. It’s makes a handsome gift, as is!

Girl friend

One of our favorite gifts ever, the <a href="https://huffharrington.com/collections/for-her/products/leather-keyrings" target="_blank">O Ring leather key chain</a> (that you can wear on your wrist, or won’t get lost in your bag!). Don’t take it from us … ask Hoda, on the Today Show!

Sister

Everyone is raving about our <a href="https://huffharrington.com/products/european-square-sham-pillow-cover" target="_blank">new sheets from Paris</a>. There’s too much to say about them here, but what a great gift! If you can’t spring for a whole set, she’ll be thrilled with a pair of shams.

Mr. Handsome

Perfectly unisex and equally handsome, this perennial best-seller <a href="https://huffharrington.com/products/swell-marine-bottle" target="_blank">Swell Bottle</a> is a natural for your armoire a cadeaux. (Allison picks the colors for us and she has THE BEST EYE!!)

Little Bitty

You never know when you may need a <a href="https://huffharrington.com/collections/for-baby/products/huggie-bear-belly-blanket" target="_blank">huggie</a> for a precious wee-one, and we’ve got just the right soft touch for every future prince and princess.

Welcome New Neighbor:

We’re in love with these cool wavy melamine bowls. They’re lightweight, reasonable and so cute as is … or you can really blow away the new neighbors, and fill them with your favorite fruit or candy.

Book Club:

You can’t go wrong with some cheese servers like these. Tie a ribbon around them and wrap them with a pretty dish towel!

And if your armoire a cadeaux won’t fit a wrapping station, or you (like me) are slightly wrapping challenged, let the Huff’ington experts do the heavy gifting!  Our team of elves will give your gifts that extra zhush that will make you and your gift’s recipient happy.     If wrapping is the cake, and the ribbon is the cherry – we at Huff Harrington, are all about dessert!

Huff’ington Elves doing the heavy gifting!

So now you know.  The real reason I downsized was to get a bigger armoire a cadeaux ! So if  you downsize too — and lose your armoire a cadeaux — I know several people who are more than willing to help!  Let’s keep them busy.


Ta ta,

HH


P.S.  And pssst … don’t forget to call or email us with your order, and we’ll have it wrapped and ready for you to pick up by the end of the day (you can even specify your ribbon color).

Wrapped and ready for delivery to your car!

 

Meet Anne + Meg

What happens when two committed Francophiles, art lovers and design junkies get together over a bottle of red wine? A fine art gallery with a little je ne sais quoi is born, followed a few years later by its home furnishings and décor sibling.

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ABOUT HUFF HARRINGTON

What happens when two committed Francophiles, art lovers and design junkies get together over a bottle of red wine? A fine art gallery with a little je ne sais quoi is born, followed a few years later by its home furnishings and décor sibling.

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