Style blogger Julia Mateian knows a thing or two about style. The Montreal native started her fashion and lifestyle blog three years ago while a Master’s student, and in the years since she has cultivated a popular following as well as launching an online fashion store Shop the 26th Look. http://www.shopthe26thlook.com/. She teamed up with us for a refresh of her downtown Montreal condo.
Like many bloggers, Julia combines work and home life, operating out of her downtown Montreal condo. “I work from home, so it’s no surprise my surroundings are super important to me,” she explains. The space suited her needs perfectly when she moved in five years ago, but as her business developed, so did a desire to revamp the space and make it work harder for both day-to-day tasks and evening entertaining.
Before
A longtime fan of Artemano, Julia worked with in-house designer Marianne Séguin to realise her vision of a warmer, more functional home. They started with the biggest statement in the room, the table. “I really wanted to update my table,” says Julia, “and I loved the fact that Artemano has a lot of wood furniture, but I like to mix and match, so I was nervous about having a big wood piece.” In fact, the table was the first thing Julia saw at the Artemano store, and she fell in love with it right away. “It’s the perfect combination of wood and metal. It’s modern but not cold, and I do all my work there. I use it for photo shoots for the blog, and it’s also my desk and my dinner table.”
Julia loves the scale of the piece, which is much larger than her previous table, but still fits in the room without dominating. “Before, I had a glass table because I wanted something light as the living area is kind of small. But when I got the wood piece it made the room look twice as big.” “We really wanted to make a big impact in a small space - to help define the space,” explains Marianne. “Julia was a little scared to mix woods together, and I wanted to show her it was possible.” Marianne played with the idea of contrasts to create a feeling of warmth in the room. “I wanted to use darker stained woods as a contrast to the more natural colors, for example the table paired with the dark wood bench,” she says.
Above the table, Julia and Marianne decided to replace the girly chandelier with an altogether more modern piece - a single decorative lightbulb that hangs from the ceiling. Now when Julia has friends over she can create a more intimate dinner party mood through lighting.
After
In the lounge area of the space, Julia first wanted to replace her existing cream couch, and she chose a grey wool sofa from Artemano. But once it was in place, Julia and Marianne decided that the two couches complemented each other, and so they both stayed. “ I love having my friends over, so I love that I now have enough seating for them!” she laughs. Marianne continues “In the living room, we were interested in adding some organic elements, like the round coffee tables and the grey wool couch. Using circles makes the room feel a little more dynamic, and breaks up the straight lines, while still feeling modern and simple.”
To complete the room, Marianne moved the former metal coffee table against the wall to use as a TV stand, and removed the corner desk to make room in favour of a clothes rail that Julia can use to plan collections for her online fashion store. “I had a desk in that corner for 5 years and I never used it,” says Julia. “Now, I can have people over to see pieces from my fashion collection without having to go all the way to the warehouse, it’s great.”
From a more functional workspace to a cosy, welcoming living room, Julia could not be happier with the result of her condo makeover. She was delighted that changing only a few pieces of furniture could totally transform the ambience of the room. Her favourite aspect of the new revamped pad? How Marianne was able to convince her that using well-chosen pieces on a larger scale than the furniture she had before could actually make the relatively small space look bigger. “I would never have thought that all these big pieces would fit in my apartment, but it’s so perfect!”
Before
After
Before
After