Lorraine Ouimet and Alan Prater are humble people. Although Lorraine is a successful personal trainer and Alan is a well-known jazz musician who has toured with the likes of Michael Jackson, they both prefer to live what Lorraine calls “the simple life”. “My life is minimalist - I need to have kind, happy people around me, people who are grateful for what they have. I need to have good healthy food, a glass of wine once in a while and little chocolate every day!”
Their new apartment in Lachine, Montreal suits this philosophy to a tee. “We’re two blocks from the water”, she explains, “across from a beautiful park with these giant trees that flow and dance in the breeze.” Lorraine says Alan used to often cycle to Lachine in the years before they moved, but she had not explored the area much at all, despite being a native Montrealer. “When I moved here and I started walking all along the banks, I found a couple of special spots, flat rocks where I can sit for hours with a book! I couldn’t believe you could sit right on the water here in my city and I never knew!” she continues with obvious enthusiasm.
Both Lorraine and Alan are committed vegans and care deeply about the impact they have on the world around them. It was this commitment to living ethically that led them to Artemano. “We like to know where our food comes from, to go right back to the source”, Lorraine explains. “How often do you get to do that with your furniture? Know where it’s made? That’s rare.”
Besides the ethical commitments that Artemano makes, Lorraine also loves the organic look and clean lines of the furniture. One of her favourite spaces in the apartment is her bedroom, which she designed as a personal haven with Artemano pieces.
“My husband is a musician and he has his retreat - a little recording studio that’s really his sanctuary, and I wanted my own. The bed is very minimalist. Beyond that I just have a dresser and my bedside tables. It’s my little private oasis.” To create a meditative atmosphere Lorraine decided to paint one feature wall in bright turquoise, the exact colour of the ocean in the Cayman Islands, one of her favourite places.
“Last year I was so lucky, I went to the Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos. I swam with wild stingrays in the middle of the world - right on the equator. It was the most exquisite experience of my life.” She continues, “The water is like liquid crystal. You can see underwater for miles.” Lorraine took a photo of the bright turquoise of the ocean from that memorable day into her local paint store, where the clerk was able to match the exact colour for her feature wall. Now, the wall serves as a daily reminder of the natural beauty that surrounds us in the world, and why we should be grateful for it. “I guess you could say my bed is kind of like my boat, made from beautiful pieces of healthy, organic wood.”
If a love of nature is one of the things that brings Lorraine and Alan together, music is surely another. Alan, who is originally from Florida, has an extremely successful career as a band leader and trombonist, touring the world with Michael Jackson, working with the O’Jays and performing regularly at the Montreal Jazz festival. It’s natural then that most of the couple’s friends are musicians. Although Lorraine has yet to host a dinner party at her new place, she chose her beautifully rustic table with that idea in mind, and that the housewarming meal will be worth the wait. “I would really love to have all my friends over to break bread at my special table,” she says happily, reflecting once again that life’s simple pleasures can often be the most satisfying.
