The 2016 North Iowa Home & Landscaping Show in Mason City, Iowa is coming THIS WEEKEND! It runs Friday, March 4th through Sunday, March 6th. You can find the hours and details on their website: http://northiowahomeshow.com/
My husband and I went to this Home Show several years ago when we were new homeowners, and gained some unique and cool ideas from it. Unfortunately we weren’t at a place where we were ready to actually tackle any projects, I mean except bringing home a new baby and all that; but nothing in terms of remodeling or landscaping.
So it was fun to go in 2015 and get a fresh perspective and new ideas when we were at a place of actually being able to implement them.
3 things that really surprised me about the 2015 North Iowa Home and Landscaping Show:
- The way the styles in home décor and landscaping have evolved and the new technology that has surfaced within the appliance industry.
- The SIZE of the show. My goodness this show has really grown in size! I don’t remember it being in two buildings the last time we went, I mean maybe it was, but I was still impressed by the magnitude of it all!
- The variety of vendors. From pillows, to kitchen knives, to local farms, to flooring, to gutters. to landscaping, and MORE! There was something for everyone!
I have an obsession with kitchen gadgets so I ended up watching a Cutco Knives demo & of course ordering a set of knives. At first I thought they were ridiculously overpriced, but several more seasoned women came up while I was watching the demo and told me how much they loved their Cutco. They were really passionate about them too! Some of them had owned them for 20 years or more and said they were still in amazing shape, or have only been sent in to be sharpened (free of charge) once!
I thought they were worth giving a shot, and I was told I could send them back if I didn’t love them. Well, it’s been a full year and I can say without a doubt they were worth every penny!
Cutco for the win!
We were able to admire the displays set up by a couple of different Landscaping businesses.
Eastvold Landscaping is local to us, and we are familiar with their brilliant work from seeing it at friend’s houses and around town. One of these days we will go from admiring to actually owning a glorious patio and fire pit area in our back yard.
There are seminars offered at the Home Show on various topics throughout the 3 day event. We had our toddler with us last year, so we skipped out on that, but I did hear bits and pieces as I walked by and WISHED I was attending a seminar with a notebook and pen in my hand! They share so much helpful knowledge. I checked over the seminar schedule for this year and the one on “Kitchen Design Disasters” by Linda Forthmann sounds interesting to me. I know my husband would like any that have to do with nature or outdoors.
McCloskey Appliance is where we’ve purchased all 10 of our appliances from and always refer our friends to. Their dedicated service after a sale is what has kept us as customers for 12 years!
Direct TV and Dish were onsite to provide estimates and also had a sweet giveaway going.
Kramer Ace Hardware was grilling up some good eats at their booth. Unfortunately I had just had my wisdom teeth removed 2 days before the show, so I wasn’t able to sample anything; naturally Mr. Awesome sampled enough for the both of us!
There were construction businesses handing out goodies. Our favorite was the one with the pink hardhats because it meant our toddler stayed entertained a little bit longer and we could do more browsing!
My husband found a fellow homeschooling dad who runs a farm that we’d love to take our kiddos to this summer.
The booth I spent the most time at, besides Cutco, was Dynamic Designs. If you follow my facebook page you know we’re in the market for new flooring. I need to stop into their store to see all the options, but I was quite pleased with the number of samples they had on hand to peek at.
You can get a full list of the exhibitors that will be there this year to get an idea if they have what you’re looking for. My guess would be that they will!
If you’re thinking of going this weekend, be sure to fill out the short form & print off the discount coupon from the North Iowa Home Show website. The admission is super reasonable, but who would pass up a coupon to save a little money? Not this girl!
If you have any questions (or comments) please post them in the comments section and I’ll do my best to help you!
I was in not compensated for this post. I’m in no way affiliated with the North Iowa Home Show. I just wanted to share my experience and encourage you to attend because I really believe it’s a great show!
I have missed this two years and a row. I need to make it a point to go next year!