Whistler Retreat With Cozy Corners
This Whistler home is all about unplugging from the hustle of the city with playfulness and tactile materials to promote the return to the analog: magazines, painting, games, making music…
It needed just the right balance to create cozy mountain cabin vibes for weekends away. And with the great bones of the house we focussed almost exclusively on furnishing with only the most minor renovation to the interior architecture.
Curating the furniture with more casual forms was the starting point: open-backed Benson Tokyo dining chairs, the tufted Patricia Urquiola Husk sofa and instead of a coffee table Le Corbusier’s LC14’s dovetailed boxes that can be easily reconfigured.
Then the finishes: wools, saddle leather, chestnut and walnut all with natural and matte finishes to allow the patina of a well used home to add character.
The hues have enough saturation to be playful yet muted to be warm and welcoming, like an embracing hug.
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Location
Whistler, Canada
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Project
Minor Renovation & Furnishing
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Client
Private
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Photographer
Ema Peter
When we couldn’t find just the right console for the dining room, we designed our own, in a textured metallic powder coat to absorb and reflect the right balance of light, and hold all sorts of things to have on hand for planned or impromptu gatherings.
The warmth of the existing wood ceiling was amplified for its mountain cabin reference by using architectural and decorative lighting. And Light’s Spotlight Volumes pendants over the dining table cast light both up and down while wall sconces line the walls uplighting the rich wood ceiling.
"When we couldn’t find just the right console for the dining room, we designed our own"
Kelly Reynolds
Our client’s brief was inspired by Guillermo del Toro’s film “The Shape of Water”
Our client’s brief was inspired by Guillermo del Toro’s film “The Shape of Water”
Saturating spaces with deep rich colour and then layering furnishings with a variety of texture and materials helped us transform the house without doing a major renovation.
It was an exercise in amplifying the good parts and shifting focal points to interesting and heirloom quality furniture, art and accessories.
Some spaces are less prescribed – to allow ritual and ceremony to respond to the moment. Tea + ever-changing rainforest views.
This room is also used for yoga, meditation and reading so easy-to-move furniture allows the space to adapt.
Some spaces are less prescribed - to allow ritual and ceremony to respond to the moment. Tea + ever-changing rainforest views.
This reading nook was designed around our client’s love of the Womb Chair – designed by Eero Saarinen in 1948.
We wanted to extend the enveloping nature of the chair to the bookshelf and wall, to make an incredibly cozy corner, true to Florence Knoll’s original request of Saarinen: something “to really curl up in.”
The Calke Green wall and dark ash Stick Shelf System were a response to our client’s brief inspired by the rich hues in “The Shape of Water”.
The classic batman (all black) Eames Lounger was the perfect juxtaposition to Omer Arbel’s shelving and our client’s collections / cabinet of curiosities – spot the Gameboy…
This unique space has a hushed feeling to it – the perfect spot to take a moment for a bit of quiet, with a book or to sip tea, surrounded by words and objects that have meaning and memory.
