Get It While It's Hot

We’ve all heard it by now – this weekend is going to be a scorcher. Yuck. However, there is a breath of fresh air on the horizon: Saturday, Aug. 2nd and Sunday, Aug. 3rd, DC’s Mid-City neighborhood is hosting its 9th annual Dog Days of Summer Sidewalk Sale. The event, which started out as way to “celebrate the heat,” says Mid-City Business Association intern Seth Blume, and the notorious emptiness of DC in late summer, and grew into “something that is really looked forward to” by a growing number of the city’s residents. Most of the neighborhood’s shops will be offering discounts on their wares, which run the gamut from antique to new, funky to modern, and bargain to high-end. However, all of these shops are most definitely cool – something you’ll be grateful for with the weekend’s rising temperatures!

Here’s a short list of some of our favorite home stores in the area (which runs from 7th to 17th streets and from W to P streets in Northwest DC).

Owner Daniel Velez of the 10-month-old and much-discussed Greater Goods, which sells environmentally friendly home products and can also fill your eco-friendly contracting needs, says the store will be serving refreshing summer drinks along with surprise sale items.

Charlie’s Soap. (We love the old-fashioned packaging.)

Both Timothy Paul stores are offering sales: the Carpets + Textiles location (which stocks rugs, linens, furniture, and lighting) will take 15 to 40 percent off the entire rug inventory, while all the merchandise at Bedding + Home (carrying tabletop items, linens, home accessories, and accent pieces) will be discounted 15 percent. (Select items will be 20 to 30 percent off – even better!) The stores carry everything from “worldly vintage pieces and textiles” to “organic linens made in L.A.,” says Manager Brooke Loewen. Their inventories are united by the aesthetic sensibilities of owners Timothy and Mia Worrell, marked by “a love of color and texture,” the “found and the old,” and an affinity for “neutral, contemporary clean lines.”

The vibe at Timothy Paul.

The Garden District has outdone itself – the interior store is taking 25 percent off all plants and pottery, and 50 percent off all clearance items. The exterior store, not to be outshined, is discounting all plants 50 percent and all pottery 30 percent. “We have a lot to clear out,” Manager Sarah Vasil says. “We’ve got to turn over a lot of stuff” to make room for new seasonal items.

The Garden District’s exterior shop

Miss Pixie’s Furnishing and Whatnot is taking 20 percent off the store’s entire inventory – an excellent deal, says Owner Pixie Windsor, “because our prices are really good already.” We agree! Domino blogger Nick Olsen swears by this lovely eclectic shop, with pieces dating from the late 1800s to present day.

A five-piece garden dining set, available at Miss Pixie’s.

Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams’ annual clearance sale just happened to fall on a weekend when all of its neighbors were having a sale, too! The sleek, transitional (“comfortably in the middle of traditional and contemporary,” says Assistant Manager Page Collins) furniture and lighting store is offering up to 70 percent off select stock items and discontinued floor samples.

Arabesque Mirror

You could also head over to Vastu to take advantage of an offer they only make once a year – 15 percent off any new custom upholstery orders, in addition to markdowns on select floor samples. The refined shop specializes in “warm” or “comfortable” modern, offering upholstery, casegoods, shelving, tables, and lamps – plus full residential and commercial decorating services. The store also doubles as a gallery space that features work by local artists.

A penthouse on 14th street decorated by Vastu.