Our Story
The House Warmings story began with one home: that of Michele & Leon Hatziioannou.
While Michele and Leon were looking to furnish their home for their growing family, they were challenged with finding good quality, stylish & comfortable furnishings. With Leon’s approaching retirement from the CFL and the growth of their family, the young couple saw this as the perfect opportunity for a lifestyle change to start their own business. And so, in 1995, House Warmings was born: offering custom high quality home furnishings.
Since then, both the business and their family have grown-with the result being three wonderful children and a trusted family business they can be proud of. The introduction of Michele's Interior Design Services propelled the business to further heights, resulting in the opening of their beautiful showroom on Speers Road with lighting, drapery, rugs and custom furniture lines, many of which are proudly Canadian companies.
In 2020, their business expanded once again when their daughter, Claire opened the sister store to Housewarmings: a lifestyle boutique called Homebody right next to their original Lakeshore location. Although the story began with one home, we've been honoured to have shared our mark with your many homes since 1995.
Thank you for inviting the Housewarmings family into your own homes for nearly 30 years.
Est. 1995
House Warmings opened it doors in downtown Oakville with a small store offering custom made wood furniture and home decor and two years later moved to Lakeshore Road, tripling their size. As their little suburb of Oakville grew, so did the business, with a demand for Michele’s keen eye for interior design services gaining a loyal following over the years.
Est. 2020
In 2020, Michele & Leon’s daughter Claire followed in her parent's footsteps and launched the sister store to Housewarmings right next to that very place where it all began: 176 Lakeshore Road. Appropriately named 'Homebody', this lifestyle boutique offers fashion, jewelry, footwear, accessories perfectly blended with interiors & gift ideas.
The first piece Michele ever bought...
The first piece of furniture Michele ever bought was with Leon as young newlyweds: an antique bench made from what was once a church bench and an organ pew. It still sits in their front hall of their home to this day so many years later.
Michele believes that if she had to choose what every home needs it’s a mix of things both old and new. Whether the something old is a piece of art, family photographs, a beloved blanket something old gives so much life to the space. There is always a way to infuse the old with the new without it feeling dated or stuffy.
Michele fondly recalls that her own parents’ home was filled with antiques. Weekends as a family so often involved going for a drive and stopping at an antique store, often taking home a newly found treasure. Her mother would sand these pieces down, lovingly refinishing them herself.
She credits her mother for instilling in her a love for beautiful spaces. It strikes her that she always grew up in a beautiful home- her mother taught her that every room could have style, no matter the size.
To this day, her mothers’ home is still filled with so many of those treasures, mixed with an archive of House Warmings pieces from over the years.
The most meaningful piece in their home.
When asked to choose the most meaningful piece in her home, Michele first thinks of her kitchen table: a piece from the early Housewarmings days- just over 25 years old.
Appropriately named ‘The Luke’ for the artisan who built it, the legs are each hand carved. That table is where memories were made and where her own family still gathers. In the early days, it was a bestseller and its style has never dated, with many customers affectionately referring to their own ‘Luke’ over the years.
Next, she thinks of a blackboard in her kitchen, originally intended to have a rotating quote for her family that she would erase and replace with another each month. The first quote shes chose was one of her favourites: “Life is lived around the table”-Anthony Bourdain. He passed not long after she’d added this quote and she hasn’t had the heart to erase it since.
It strikes us that in many ways, the Luke table and Anthony's words represent Michele's philosophy around home design-she wants to know how each of her customers wants to live in their spaces. Spaces and furnishings that bring your people together.
