For the past two and a half years, Lauren MacLean has treated her Montreal apartment as a canvas of expression—a place where she feels encouraged to trust and tweak her eye for design. To glimpse into her space, which tens of thousands of Instagram followers do, is to see an almost dreamlike setting of her own making. Sunlight streams in from a window encased in detailed molding, illuminating colorful furniture and casting shade on smooth tables. A built-in bookcase and an architectural fireplace are showpieces in themselves, but they’re also a backdrop to fanciful artwork and ceramics. Everything has been meticulously chosen, down to the flowers that bloom on a private patio outside. “There is something to be said for becoming your own muse and really listening to your own intuition,” she says. “We are so fortunate to live in a time where we have endless inspiration at our fingertips, but that can bury our internal instincts on what we really connect with.”
“This was a corner that I could never get right,” Lauren says of the dining nook. “So when I let go of the idea of a traditional dining room setting, I considered different shapes and scales to fill the space.” Putting together a smaller table, upholstered accent chair, and fabric bench from Leanne Ford’s collection at Crate & Barrel ended up being the perfect fit. A linen throw from Cultiver covers a side chair.
Sylvie Li
When Lauren first moved into this apartment, which is a hideaway of two identical rooms comprising about 700 square feet, she was also trusting her gut. MacLean was originally living in a studio directly across the hall, and whenever the previous owner left the front door open, she noticed its potential. “I would catch glimpses of the stone mantle and herringbone floors, which was enough for me to daydream about how I would design a place like that,” she remembers. “So when the chance came up to move, I jumped on it.”
As an anchor to the living room, Lauren’s sofa has evolved over time. “We have a wonderful designer in Montreal, Élément de Base, that makes furniture with slipcovers,” she says. “It’s a beautifully structured sofa, but I was looking for a new tone in the room. So with a new slipcover I was able to give a second life to it, until I find my next dream sofa.” A coffee table from Prunelle furniture sits on a West Elm rug.
Sylvie Li
Now is probably the time to point out that Lauren’s impressive foresight didn’t automatically come with ethereal surroundings. In fact, the original apartment was kind of a dump. When she wasn’t working a day job in IT, she was scrubbing and painting every surface herself. “I remember crying the first couple of days thinking, What have I done, how do I turn this around?” she says. “I made my way through the worst part, and then I realized that there was no better way for me to make it feel like my space.”
“Putting my Endy mattress on the floor accentuates the scale of the room, forcing that juxtaposition between low pieces against high ceilings,” Lauren notes. The bed linens are a mix of Arles Studio, Hay, and H&M Home.
Sylvie Li
When the rooms were ready for furniture—with the living and dining area in one, her bedroom and office in the other, and a kitchen and bathroom to the side—Lauren originally went bold and rushed to complete the space. She picked out bright pieces and a traditional dining set, and wrapped up the move-in phase fast. But after a while, her home didn’t feel like her. “Over time, I started to prefer my palette to be softer and full of textures,” she says. “I learned to take away the pressure of a timeline and wait for what really feels right. It’s important to me to evolve with my home now and not define it as a start and finish.”
Lauren made the glass table to display trinkets, and it’s covered with soaps by Seem Soap, a Lex Pott Twist candle, a Mesut Ozturk pink vase, and a green candle holder by YYY.
Sylvie Li
An IKEA mirror sits beside a mantel displaying a vintage bust and a lamp by Léa & Nicolas.
Sylvie Li
She swapped out her dining set for a smaller round table accented with a curved chair and bench, all found at Crate & Barrel. Nearby, a slipcover made a familiar couch feel like new, and she paired it with a faux marble coffee table that could play off the luxurious feel of the surrounding light fixtures and pillows. “I have yet to fall in love with a new accent chair, but what I do really love is the look of draped fabrics, specifically linen, as it falls so well,” Lauren notes. “So I used two linen throws to drape over the chair.” That same laid-back approach continues into the bedroom, where a mattress sits on the floor beside a glass table filled with ever-changing objects. It looks casual and cool, but it’s also styled just so to suit Lauren’s mood.
“It was a tired room with old white paint throughout, so as a facelift—due to limitations on being able to do major improvements—I chose a dark, moody color since it’s the one room in my place where I had the chance to do that look,” Lauren says of transforming her kitchen with Benjamin Moore's Galápagos Green paint. She also painted over the original patterned laminate countertop with a glossy cream paint.
Sylvie Li
“It can be easy to underestimate, or not even be mindful of, the impact color, scale, and lighting have on a space,” she says. “Even moving around a piece of art on the wall shifts color, and adding lighting changes perspective.” Lauren’s approach to design fits the moment, since so many of us are currently staring at the same furnishings in self-quarantine with either boredom or restlessness.
On the mantel, a vase from Anthropologie stands centerstage while an artwork by Anna Mörner leans agains the wall.
Sylvie Li
Lauren prefers to figure out how to reuse her things rather than buy new, unless it’s absolutely needed, and she designs fresh layouts by doing what she calls “visual prep.” She’ll trace out dimensions and move pieces here or there and back again. When everything is in a preferred place, she’ll step back and appreciate her work—finding comfort and control in this dance of change. “I’ve learned that there is so much freedom in trying different things,” she says. “I wouldn’t call it an unsettled feeling, as if nothing feels right. It’s more about appreciating the fact that I can change as I go, and continue to feed the loving relationship I have with my home. It’ll never be static.”
Lauren turned an IKEA wall-mounted kitchen cupboard into a living room console by adding wooden legs to the unit. It’s topped by a vintage lamp her mom found at a garage sale and artwork from HerMust.
Sylvie Li
A table, bench, and chair from Leanne Ford’s collection for Crate & Barrel create a unique dining corner.
Sylvie Li
材料说明：
Willy white plaster pedestal bistro table by Leanne Ford for Crate & Barrel, $799, crateandbarrel.com
Kink vase by Earnest Studio for Muuto, $269, danishdesignstore.com
Artwork by Lysa Jordan, lysajordan.com
Bingo stool by EQ3, $152, eq3.com
Été pillowcase by Amanda Borberg for HAY, $25, us.hay.com
- 转载自：Architectural Digest
- 语言：English
- 阅读原文
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发表于 2020-8-3 21:31:02
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