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We are a family first and product designers second.
Saratoga Home was inspired by our journey as a family and a desire to bring a little bit of our heart into your home.
Inspired by a trip with our 2-year old son to Saratoga, California, “Saratoga Home” was born out of our family’s desire to create unique home decor designs that make a house feel like a home. We proudly began our business journey back in 2016 with the launch of our party ice bucket under our sister brand, “My Amazing Ice Bucket.”
The following year, our business and our household grew together as we welcomed our daughter into our family. We were so proud that a year of early work mornings and weekends were finally starting to pay off. Customers loved our ice bucket, orders grew and we set our sights on growing our product line.
With our growing list of family and work responsibilities, finding spare time in the day to work on Saratoga Home - amongst the hours vacuumed up by commuting, day jobs and bedtime routines - became like finding a needle in a haystack. Months of frustration eventually led John to trialling a 4am start to the work day and the habit has stuck to this day! We have learned to cherish the early morning as a time for reflection and focus on creating amazing products while the kids are sound asleep.
With our work/home balance more in check we saw a big shift in our business the following year. 2018 saw us design and launch 3 more products under the Saratoga Home home decor brand: hanging storage bins, farmhouse-style salt and pepper shakers, and a cute planter pot with tray set. We had made a huge leap from 1 product to 4. We were on a roll!
John was often traveling internationally for work while Melissa tirelessly worked the home base caring for our 2 young children. New product samples were rerouted to hotels for John to check and relay details back to Melissa. Together, we were making it work. But the journey was not without its hiccups.
A “small” labeling mistake on the newly launched products meant that customers ordering planter pots were receiving storage bins and vice versa! After pulling all of the products from Amazon to a third party warehouse, relabeling, creating new online listings and resending the product back in—phew!—we were ready to relaunch. Thankfully, the product relaunches went extremely well and new customers to the Saratoga Home brand discovered and loved our new designs.
With our small home business growing and after much deliberation, our family took a deep breath as John made a big leap. He left his full-time corporate job with great benefits to work in a part-time corporate job. This created more time for our family and our brand. We were getting closer to realizing our dreams! This year also saw not one, but two Saratoga Home rebrands, the result being the packaging you receive today when you purchase any of our home products.
A further focus this year was the development of more products and working on better staying in stock.
Well we all know what happened in 2020, right? Covid-19 grinded sales to a halt in March and John was quickly furloughed from his aviation industry part-time job. He spent his early mornings pacing outside in the cold late-winter temperatures trying to piece everything together.
After the first few weeks of shock as people started getting sick across the world, the stock market collapsed, and mass layoffs occurred, many turned to the convenience of buying online. Things quickly turned around for us. Stuck inside, it turned out that everyone wanted to beautify their homes.
With all this newfound time, we spent much more time together making family memories indoors—baby shark dance parties, puzzles, and probably too many snacks in retrospect.
This year also saw us launching three more products - the farmhouse napkin holder, canisters for kitchen countertop, and our newly designed rustic sponge holder. This time we got the labeling right.
To cap off a wild year, we welcomed our third child to the world in late December! So a year that began with fear ended with great joy.
Today Melissa and John are both working full time on the business with now close to 20 products featured in homes, stores, and restaurants throughout the USA and Canada. Our farmhouse decor items have been featured on broadway sets, the TV series JAG, and even a Miami Dolphins party!
We never tire of creating new designs that will lend your house the warmth and comfort that is unmistakably “home”. Stay tuned for many more new products on the way!
Want to get in touch? We’d love to hear from you. We’re just an email away at hello@saratogahomeonline.com.