Meet Home Goods Goddess Christine Dimmick
by Kimberly Rae Miller
Christine Dimmick, Founder and CEO of The Good Home Co., started her career as a Fragrance Designer fifteen years ago in New York City. With a deep love of cooking and a keen nose for utterly perfect scents, it was a natural melding of these innate talents that led Christine to start developing her own hand-made scents, soaps and creams in her kitchen. In 1995, The Good Home Co. was born – a line of luxurious, yet truly effective home cleaning products that incorporate divine, high-end scents that rival even the most prestigious French perfumers. It's no surprise that celebrities such as Brooke Shields, Pamela Anderson, Queen Latifah, Oprah, Ginnifer Goodwin and more, are fans.
This summer, Christine began her newest venture, with the opening of The Good Home Co. Flagship Store, located in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood. The store, an ultra modern, yet charmingly nostalgic escape is the first fully branded The Good Home Co. retail environment. Here customers have the thrill of customizing their own home fragrances at the first and only potpourri bar in NYC, while being transported to far off destinations through the heavenly scents that linger throughout the store.
A true creator, Christine graduated from Parsons School of Design. In 1998, she found time to pen Home File: A Realistic Decorating Guide For Real Life, which she received many accolades for. With roots in Ohio, Los Angeles and New York, Christine currently lives in New York City with her husband and son.
When we think of style most of us think of the contents of our closet, how important is it to put that same energy into styling your living space?
It is just as important in my opinion – and should be instinctual. Your home is your sanctuary and whether you entertain and love to have people over – or if you prefer to be alone and it is only you who sees the paint colors, it still should be a place you love to be in, and of course smell great!
What considerations should people make in styling their living environment?
Each person/room will have its own considerations that you need to decide on before styling or decorating.
We all start with a vision or an idea and from that you work in your priorities. Currently I am re-doing my son's room. He is graduating from a toddler bed – to a big boy bed. The room is not large; however we have 14 ft ceilings. Since I live in NYC, have a 3 ½ year old and a very busy lifestyle, my top priorities/considerations are function, durability and am I maximizing my space. To maximize the space I am looking at loft beds with space underneath for storage or playing. Now I just need to find a bed that is durable to withstand his energy!
Must haves for every home?
Scent. A room is just a room – no matter how beautiful. Once you add the right scent, a room becomes an experience. The idea of fragrance can be daunting and to some unappealing, so I use the word scent – which tends to conjure up pleasant memories such as a field of wild flowers in the summer, instead of the first floor of a department store where the perfume scent is overwhelming to most.
What goes into your product design process?
First and foremost is quality. You can have a great idea, but if it doesn't perform as expected, promised or hoped – then it does not make it to our shelves. I test and approve every product myself. Then I pass it on to others to test and get feedback. Over 90% of our customers are repeat buyers – which is quite impressive. There are many copycats out there, some who are much, much larger than us. However our customers know our quality and go out of their way to buy our products – some for 15 years.
Favorite Five in the Five Boroughs?
Apartment 48. Like walking into a friend's fabulous apartment in Paris. A great place to find a gift for anyone.
Pearl River Mart. Got $20 bucks? Head to Pearl River and walk out with a bag full of goodies – which you will USE! I buy my sons bento lunch boxes here, all of my food storage containers, good luck charms for my store and a wool blouse that looks like it is yohji Yamamoto. My son and I can spend half a day here easily and is often a rainy day excursion for us.
Chelsea Marketplace. Another great place to bring my son and we can both be amused. Great food everywhere you turn, you can buy food for dinner and also shop at the recently opened Anthropologie or Postman Book store. Was my first choice in location to open up our Good Home store – but alas our lease went to the book store.
ABC Carpet and Home. They always have something fresh and interesting due to their amazing buyer. I love to go in at Christmas time. It is magical and they have the "realist" Santa you have ever seen.
Moomah. A café for Mom and Dad and a crafts store for your toddler – you will spend like 50 bucks, however you may actually get a meal and a conversation in with your partner or friend while your kids are entertained. The owner Tracey is awesome and you could go alone and chat with her for hours!
