I can’t believe it’s been two and a half years since we moved into our little carriage house! When we bought it, we thought it only needed a fresh coat of paint and once that was done, then we’d move in, but, alas – we had a major flood the day after we moved! I’ll save that story for another time, but let’s just say that after that incident we were forced into major renovation mode for over a year which put our decorating goals on the back burner.
Not only did the flood push back our time to enjoy our new home, it also had an impact on our décor budget because we suddenly had to invest in a new roof, instead of new furniture. Do you feel our pain? That’s why I was happy when Urban Barn approached me to do a collaboration with them, in exchange for furniture. I hadn’t heard of Urban Barn before, but I was pleased to learn that they are a Canadian company and I was even happier to find that they had a few items that fit with my vision for our living room-dining room transformation.
Let me show you what we had going on in the space before I tackled the makeover. All the furniture that we had moved into the house prior to the flood, was from my former apartment. My style was a mix of vintage and antique furniture that I had acquired over the years as a single woman who likes pretty things. My boyfriend called it “Granny-style”, but I didn’t exactly agree, although I did purchase the nineteen-foot floral area rug from a Grandmother on Kijiji who was moving from her apartment into a home for the elderly. The granny comparison did eventually motivate me to sell that rug and that is also the subject of a future blog post.
Although I loved that floral rug and it worked marvellously in my artsy apartment in Old Montreal, it didn’t quite cut it in our new space. Since our living room is also our dining room, I envisioned creating two spaces out of the large room by swapping out the large rug, for two smaller rugs. I found the Heirloomrug on Urban Barn (and a very similar rug here) vintage enough to suit my taste and yet modern enough to give the room a less-busy look. We were also using two of my dining room chairs in the living room temporarily, so the first thing I looked for at Urban Barn were arm chairs that would go well with my antique couch. I ended up selecting the Churchill Host Chair for our living room because I found it was the best fit with the couch. The Churchill chairs are actually meant to be used at a dining table, but I think they look great in our “new” living room. What do you think?
Because of the flood, we had to replace all the hardwood floors in our bedroom and in the living-dining room. I was never fond of the red maple that was there when we bought the house so I was happy to be able to replace it with a more rustic-looking silver maple from Quebec. I thought this choice was also a great way to honour the history of the carriage house because the carriage literally would have been parked right where our living-dining room is today!
We had the built-in custom made to add storage for all the china that I’ve inherited from my grandmother and my boyfriend’s mother. This room had zero storage, as it was basically just a garage for a horse carriage, with servants living in the rooms that are now our bedroom and kitchen. The shelves are bare for now because I plan on styling them for one of my upcoming projects.
The statue of Saint Clotilde (patron saint of: queens, brides, widows, adopted children and those in exile) came with the house when we bought it, but is not original to the house. I will tell her story one day!
About Urban Barn: The Canadian furniture and home décor company was founded in 1990 by Rick and Craig of Brandon, Manitoba. Shortly after, Québecois Sébastien Fauteux, joined the team as creative director. The name came from their first store in Vancouver – a beautiful space with rustic wooden floors and a barn-style door. Even though it was located in a busy metropolitan area, it had the feel of an old barn. Hence the name, Urban Barn. There are four Urban Barn locations in Quebec: in Boucherville, Brossard, Quartier DIX30 and Vaudreuil-Dorion. And, in a few months, a new location in Laval.
And what better brand to do my first home décor collaboration with since I am living in an old carriage house that is also in a very busy urban area!? You can watch the makeover of my living room-dining room in the video above. In my next article, I’ll show you how I decorated for the holidays!
This article is sponsored by URBAN BARN. Opinions are my own.
