News — English

The word Home means so many things to so many people: A place to escape the world. A place to welcome the world, such as our friends, our family, our lovers, our pets. A place to store the things we need.  A place to make space for oneself, away from the noisiness of the outside world. Home is the mast of our ship. From the safety of our homes, we can dream about the next trip, the next job, the next challenge. Home is where we try on versions of ourselves that we are not ready to show the outside...

At nineteen years old I stood on the rooftop of a “pensione” in Florence, Italy looking at the buildings across from me. I stared at a plethora of crooked, colourful, weathered, wood shutters that prevented the late afternoon sun from entering the dwellings of those who lived across from where I stood. It was late June and I could feel the humidity stick to my skin. I stared in amazement because even though the sight before me was aged, damaged and flawed, all I saw was beauty.  Via designsponge.com That moment will be etched in my memory for as long...

Establishing Roots 2012 Shimon Finkelstein travels with a group of friends to an all-inclusive resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica.    2014 A family vacation leads to finding Jake’s at Treasure Beach. Shimon is drawn to this spot “one of nature’s jewels” in Southern Jamaica. It possesses natural beauty and a rich history. Sally Henzell the wife of Perry Henzell, the co-writer and director of “The Harder they Come”, Jamaica’s first motion picture staring Jimmy Cliff, developed the area into what is now 30 cottages, villas and suites. Journey May 2015  Shimon and his wife, Ellie, visit the original house, located...

I have a scar over my left eye and a chip in my front tooth that I’ve never bothered to fix, partly because I’m lazy, and partly because I believe our imperfections are as integral to who we are as the most perfect parts of ourselves. I know they’re not for everyone, so scars are also a way of filtering out people who care too much about perfection. So what draws me to Artemano’s pieces is what they are not. They are not overly manufactured. The wood is not overly tamed, smoothed, polished. It emanates Somewhere Else, and seems to...

Photo courtesy Julien Laperriere Thirteen years ago, South East Asia captured Montreal-based television hostess, Geneviève Borne’s heart. When a Cambodian friend suggested they travel there together, Geneviève jumped at the opportunity. “I spent three weeks living with her family.  The Angkor temples remain one of the most beautiful sites I’ve seen in my life,” she told me in a recent tête-à-tête at our Montreal boutique. Since, Geneviève has remained drawn to the region. Lucky for her, as a documentarian for the television travel channel, Évasion, and as an ambassador for World Vision, she returns year after year.  And to this...