What is your greatest fear when it comes to decorating? What makes your stress level climb and maybe even makes you loose precious hours of sleep?

Well I don’t know about you, but for me I used to be somewhat neurotic… First I had a huge fear of making a mistake. Then it was the fear of “is this what people my age ought to have in their home“? And how about the budget anxiety, the nagging feeling of not being able to afford this or that but not wanting to eat any longer sitting on milk crates?

Then something happened… I don’t know if it is the fact that I turned 30 (and then 35) or if it was the birth of my eldest daughter, but somewhere in the past few years a shift happened and all my fears disolved. I realized that there were no Keeping up with the Joneses, that I could stretch my budget miles further if I was willing to look, wait, and use some elbow grease.  I screamed to the world: “Who cares what others think of my home! We LOVE our home and that is all that counts”. OK I did not scream (what would people think), but I sure thought exactly that though.

Well despite the fact that this home here is not ours (I still have yet to make decent non Instagram shots of mine), it reminds me of all the values I hold dear and of the fearlessness that one has to show in order to create a home that truly reflects who they are… in a modern vintage way.

xoxo

v.

Damask & Dentelle, your “Little Black Book” of Québec’s more than 1500 decor addresses. 

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source: Micasa Revista

It is not too often that I get to meet someone with such great sense of personal style in my own backyard! I entered Maryse‘s house last week and was immediately taken aback by the great display of vintage finds and quirky collections.

What a treat that was! Of course, I did not have handy my camera so you will pardon my Instagram pics (which I find adorable nonetheless when we consider the fact that they have a vintage tint themselves). I guess Maryse must have thought me to be very rude, as I asked her if I could visit the whole house before I had even taken my coat off. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do I say…

Her home is a 1930 something Montreal brownstone construction, in the lovely neighbourhood of Rosemont. She infused victorian charm throughout the home with simple tricks and a great choice of soothing colours. In the kitchen, the baby blue counter (which would be the first item on the “to change list” for many) is the focal point of the decor. Paired with butter yellow walls and a large wicker suspension, the room feels like a summer kitchen on a Georgia Plantation house.

Same lovely scenario in the bedroom where feminine curved and accessories are used in a very contemporary way. Everything here has a purpose and is carefully curated! As the owner of Pigeon Atelier, Maryse comes across vintage finds daily and therefore would have a slew of occasions to make her home appear cluttered. “It is a constant work of editing and changing items in my home, so I get to enjoy my finds without feeling overwhelmed” she told me.

I mean how crafty is she? She ripped the fabric off two lampshades to create this funky bedside lamp. The skeletal structure is modern and current, with the whim of centuries past. I absolutely have to try this DIY myself sometime soon!!

Now let’s not forget the man of the house. Maryse’s boyfriend get to also have some space and a say in toe home’s decor. In the double size  living room, one area is dedicated to his passion for music, with a comfortable club chair in which to lounge while tuning his instruments. These two really are well matched… I mean look at the vintage Epiphone Amps he has!

Like the drummer to a band, the floors are the foundation of décor.

These days, the possibilities are (almost) endless for flooring; materials such as hardwood, cork, linoleum, carpeting, natural stone, porcelain, vinyl, and area rugs abound. So what are my tips on choosing a floor that’s right for you?

Figure out where it’s going: Although plush carpeting is soft under foot I think we all agree to the fact that it is not best suited for the bathroom. (Yuck!) By the same token, a room that receives a lot of sun will be better suited for either tile or wood flooring as the sun will fade the carpet over time.

Go with the flow: Too many different floor choices in a home will hinder on the home’s feeling of continuity and flow. Try instead to delineate specific areas within an open floor plan space with area rugs and furniture.

Check the size of the space: Lighter floors are more suited to a small space making it appear larger and more spacious. The reverse is also true, dark floors will make a large space with high ceiling seem cozier.

Consider your lifestyle:  Do you have an unconditional love for your dogs? Do you have children or do your wear high heels inside the home? Priorities, ladies!

Find your mojo: Let’s face it, there are a lot of choices when choosing flooring, making the process seem particularly daunting (and costly in case of mistakes). Don’t worry! You probably have already done most of the legwork without even realizing it.

Are you a neo-traditionalist, an eclectic, a mid-century modernist, or a shabby-chic chick? Most of what you already own should point you in the right direction. Then, check magazines, both paper and online, as well as blogs (like this one right here!) to get inspired and find ideas that work.

Images: Decorpad, Masika Wa, Desire to Inspire, Midsummer Interior, Skona Hem

Note: May 10th, I first wrote this blogpost for Sweetspot.ca as part of the Design Groupie blog. Since the website has been shut down last week, I wanted to offer you its content for years to come… right here, in my own home.

Act 1:

Sitting at her desk, our intrepid design groupie suddenly stands, opens the window and leaps… to the balcony screaming:

D.G.: “I LOVE WALLPAPER!!!!!!!!”

Act 2: 

After being yelled at by the neighbouring suites, our design groupie got some sense into her to get back inside and sit back down at her desk and declare her love for all things wall related to her loyal readers instead.

D.G.: ” I love wallpaper, really I always have. I remember the wallpaper that was in my nursery (from photographs seen in recent years of course) and it was off white with large green and red apples all over it. Very Scandinavian in essence. When I was 3, I hit my ballerina phase and had an all pink bedroom with Laura Ashley wallpaper to match the curtains and duvet cover (again as attested by photographs seen in more recent years). When I was 8 I renounced all associations to my princess years and entered my blue phase… with again a off white Laura Ashley wallpaper with tiny lavender blue flowers all over it. To my mother’s best design advice, I also had the matching bedspread and curtains in contrasting blue and tiny white flowers fabric.”

Act 3:

All this reminiscing has given our design groupie a massive thirst so she gets up and fetches a glass of green juice (aka: Pond Scum) that is supposed to be great for you but that really looks awful. Hey… the lengths at which she is willing to go to for bikini season.

(not a very exciting act… it is an author’s movie, you know)

Act 4: 

As she sits again…

D.G.: ” After the childhood years came the experimental teenage years…during that phase I changed the decor of my bedroom every year for 6 straight years. The thickness of the paint on the walls must have been quite impressive. I painted sunflowers as a headboard once (my peace & love phase), then it was a mural of a surfer on a huge blue wave (my Point Break phase), then I had 4 walls of 4 different colours (I hesitate between my confused or my Lego phase)…During what seems today like forever, I left wallpaper aside for 6 full years.”

Act 5: 

Fast forward on the College years, the innumerable apartment changes and the hummm suspicious boyfriends.

Act 6: 

Our design groupie is now a mother of 3 lovely munchkins, always well dressed and never dirty, with good manners and excellent dental hygiene (again… let’s focus on the fact that this is a movie and that I should not let the facts spoil a good story!)

D.G.: “As time have passed, and my disgust for green pond scum juice has not, I have rekindled with my love for wallpaper. From the powder room to the bedroom and all rooms in between, it still fills me with joy to see the effect a repetitive pattern has on the dynamism of a room’s decor. ”

And they lived happily ever after.

The End…

sources: The Style Files, Norske Interior