My Houzz: Thrifted Finds Invigorate a Montreal Artist Couple's Loft
It has a factory past, but this Canadian home's creative look is anything but assembly line
Laura Garner
May 11, 2013
Fourteen years ago husband-and-wife mosaic artists Mike Minnis and Emily Stoger faced perhaps one of their largest blank canvases ever: an empty 1,500-square-foot industrial workshop in a former textile factory lit by buzzing 8-foot-long fluorescent lights.
By combining their creative minds, the couple turned the drab space into a cool loft that bursts with colorful energy. Turquoise furniture, repurposed pinball table artwork and side-of-the-road finds have created a comfortable home not only with tons of character, but for tons of characters. "Whether it is a Halloween party with 60 artists fully dressed up or a rockabilly band, we have the space to accommodate," says Stoger.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Mike Minnis and Emily Stoger
Size: 1,500 square feet: 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom
Location: Plateau neighborhood of Montreal
That's interesting: Now housing musicians' and artists' studios, this loft building was once an old textile factory, and the couple occasionally finds industrial sewing needles in the wooden floorboards.
By combining their creative minds, the couple turned the drab space into a cool loft that bursts with colorful energy. Turquoise furniture, repurposed pinball table artwork and side-of-the-road finds have created a comfortable home not only with tons of character, but for tons of characters. "Whether it is a Halloween party with 60 artists fully dressed up or a rockabilly band, we have the space to accommodate," says Stoger.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Mike Minnis and Emily Stoger
Size: 1,500 square feet: 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom
Location: Plateau neighborhood of Montreal
That's interesting: Now housing musicians' and artists' studios, this loft building was once an old textile factory, and the couple occasionally finds industrial sewing needles in the wooden floorboards.
Minnis and Stoger, shown here, are both mosaic artists who create large-scale public installations out of cut glass for their company, Mosaika. With their projects taking them away to various cities for months at a time — their next project is an art installation by contemporary artist Chuck Close — the couple needed their home to feel like a invigorating landing base.
Before Stoger moved in with Minnis, the loft was one large, open space, painted entirely in industrial white, with a small kitchen and bathroom. Before he built the bedroom space, the loft was so large that Minnis and his friends played floor hockey in it.
The 1960s turquoise sofa was a lucky find on Craigslist, sold to the couple with a similar chair in perfect condition. They purchased the large metal frame above it at a store's closeout sale. During the day it's a piece of artwork. At night the couple pulls down a screen from behind the frame onto which movies and hockey games are projected. Though the fireplace is new, the couple painted the pipe behind it black to make it look like an authentic wood-burning stove.
The blue lamp came from an estate sale across the street from their loft. It is made from a plumbing valve painted blue and now sits on a vintage television set found on the side of the road.
Fireplace: Reno Depot; pendant light: Fillsta, Ikea
The 1960s turquoise sofa was a lucky find on Craigslist, sold to the couple with a similar chair in perfect condition. They purchased the large metal frame above it at a store's closeout sale. During the day it's a piece of artwork. At night the couple pulls down a screen from behind the frame onto which movies and hockey games are projected. Though the fireplace is new, the couple painted the pipe behind it black to make it look like an authentic wood-burning stove.
The blue lamp came from an estate sale across the street from their loft. It is made from a plumbing valve painted blue and now sits on a vintage television set found on the side of the road.
Fireplace: Reno Depot; pendant light: Fillsta, Ikea
Large fluorescent lights once covered the loft's ceiling and were the first thing Minnis removed. The couple gradually added vintage and used pendant lights and freestanding floor lamps.
Minnis bought the retro curved floor lamp at the Salvation Army 15 years ago for $50 Canadian. “It’s perfect for a loft space," he says. "In a regular apartment, it would just be too huge.”
Checkered pillows: Stockholm, Ikea
Minnis bought the retro curved floor lamp at the Salvation Army 15 years ago for $50 Canadian. “It’s perfect for a loft space," he says. "In a regular apartment, it would just be too huge.”
Checkered pillows: Stockholm, Ikea
Minnis and Stoger found many pieces at estate sales and vintage shops and through ads for secondhand furniture, such as the bright turquoise chair that matches the sofa.
A collection of vintage thrift store mirrors lines the entryway wall.
A friend gave this Esa Niema tapestry to the couple.
The kitchen is small but functional. "We like that everything we need is within reach," says Stoger. Instead of investing in expensive renovations for the kitchen, the couple has come to embrace its naturally unfinished look, which they've accentuated with stainless steel appliances and colorful kitchenware.
The kitchen originally had a drop ceiling, which was removed to reveal wooden beams. With hooks added, the ceiling now operates as functional storage and artistic display for colorful mugs, "which helped to distract from a partially renovated room," says Stoger.
"Kitchens these days all look the same to me. A cookie cutter kitchen just wouldn't be us," she adds.
Minnis designed and built the curved countertop out of leftover mosaic pieces. Originally covered in white melamine, it had to be re-covered after a party left “octopus-like designs out of alcohol stains," he says.
The couple found the dining space's vintage phone booth in the garbage, a throwaway from a movie set. “It took four guys to actually be able to lift it and bring it here — we are never moving it. It’s going to stay in this place forever,” says Stoger.
Finding furniture that didn’t look too small beneath the loft's 12-foot ceilings was the biggest design challenge for Minnis and Stoger. Realizing that loft spaces are best suited to oversize furniture but unable to find anything on a larger scale, the couple instead broke their space into zones.
Pendant light: Knappa, Ikea; retro radio: Teac; dining table, chairs: Value Village
Pendant light: Knappa, Ikea; retro radio: Teac; dining table, chairs: Value Village
The teak coffee table was once a drop-leaf dining table found in the garbage. Stoger and Minnis sawed the legs down to make it shorter and used the drop-leaf table to make a shelf.
The Eames chair was a hand-me-down from Stoger's father. The art above the chair is the top of a pinball machine. "We’re planning on turning the rest of the pinball machine into a table,” says Stoger.
Chair: Eames, Herman Miller
The Eames chair was a hand-me-down from Stoger's father. The art above the chair is the top of a pinball machine. "We’re planning on turning the rest of the pinball machine into a table,” says Stoger.
Chair: Eames, Herman Miller
Minnis set up his DJ equipment near the living room, where it's a big hit at parties.
Stoger inherited this 1980s dollhouse from her mother.
Minnis built walls to create an enclosed bedroom. Large furniture pieces also help set the space off from the rest of the loft.
Plenty of natural light makes this corner ideal for the couple's office space. Salvaged Ikea bookcases hold Minnis' ever-growing vinyl collection.
Stoger found this retro teak dresser on the street. The top of the dresser was scratched, so she and Minnis rolled on wood-grain contact paper. A driftwood tree trunk found in a river north of Montreal sits on top.
The couple bought these storage lockers at the Salvation Army many years ago. Stoger notes that industrial items such as these have made a comeback and are now quite difficult to find secondhand.
See more photos of this home | Show us your creative loft
See more photos of this home | Show us your creative loft
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http://www.perfectpicturelighting.com/antique-brass-lights-for-picture-frames.php