Canadian Houzz: Secondhand and Handmade Treasures Make a Charming Home
This rental home in the suburbs of Canada is given a personal touch with plenty of creativity and imagination
Isabelle Clement and Alain Menier of Montreal, Canada, downsized from their modern penthouse to a dilapidated two-storey duplex apartment with an unfinished basement, a trusting landlord and plenty of potential. Clement and Menier transformed their rental with DIY charm. The couple stripped the kitchen, removed a wall to open up the space and replaced cabinetry. They also insulated the basement, turning it into a cosy space with a room for Clement’s 17-year-old daughter, a finished bathroom and Menier’s home office.
The couple did all of this while watching their budget, making good use of secondhand finds and discovering creative ways to save money – including bartering for some of the work through Facebook groups, offering a weekend in their mountain chalet. Looking around the living room, Clement says, “Aside from the piano, there is nothing in this space that cost over $100.”
The couple did all of this while watching their budget, making good use of secondhand finds and discovering creative ways to save money – including bartering for some of the work through Facebook groups, offering a weekend in their mountain chalet. Looking around the living room, Clement says, “Aside from the piano, there is nothing in this space that cost over $100.”
AFTER: Tearing out the wall was a dusty and laborious job, but it dramatically opened up the space.
All of the furniture in the dining area has been salvaged, including chairs that a wedding rental company was about to throw away, and that are still marked with the company’s info. Clement’s friend Edith Tremblay gave her the portraits on the wall. The Sciolari chandelier was an online find.
Table: Renard Flare; wallpaper: Empire Wallpaper
All of the furniture in the dining area has been salvaged, including chairs that a wedding rental company was about to throw away, and that are still marked with the company’s info. Clement’s friend Edith Tremblay gave her the portraits on the wall. The Sciolari chandelier was an online find.
Table: Renard Flare; wallpaper: Empire Wallpaper
The fireplace between the living room and dining area is one of Clement’s proud finds from an online classifieds site.
AFTER: The kitchen’s revamped design centres on a 1950s Hotpoint stove. Clement wanted to keep the kitchen palette to pastel pinks and greens, but it eventually grew to include more colours.
The upper cabinets are old factory drawers hung on the wall. The lower ones once stored medical equipment and are placed side by side and topped with a Formica table, which was cut in half to be used as the benchtops. The couple chose a small, discreet Frigidaire refrigerator that blends into their kitchen; they keep a larger one in the basement.
To the couple’s delight, they found hardwood floors while removing the original flooring, and had them sanded and varnished.
The upper cabinets are old factory drawers hung on the wall. The lower ones once stored medical equipment and are placed side by side and topped with a Formica table, which was cut in half to be used as the benchtops. The couple chose a small, discreet Frigidaire refrigerator that blends into their kitchen; they keep a larger one in the basement.
To the couple’s delight, they found hardwood floors while removing the original flooring, and had them sanded and varnished.
Clement stapled bright floral needlepoint works to plasterboard and used it to cover the inside of the upper cabinets. “All my styling is removable or interchangeable,” she says. “I can take it out and clean it easily.”
The kitchen island is a lab table they salvaged from a local high school. The thick thermoplastic top is indestructible. There are still names from students who used it in the past scribbled on the sides and bottom.
The lamps above the island were made by a friend, Hubert Soucy, who also helped Clement develop the kitchen concept.
The kitchen island is a lab table they salvaged from a local high school. The thick thermoplastic top is indestructible. There are still names from students who used it in the past scribbled on the sides and bottom.
The lamps above the island were made by a friend, Hubert Soucy, who also helped Clement develop the kitchen concept.
The pantry cabinet was created with doors that Clement found. She stuck wooden rulers on the sides to give it personalised style.
A local wallpaper shop that Clement had worked with gave her carte blanche to choose a wallpaper for her new home. The original hallway looked dull. The new wallpaper highlights the wooden doors perfectly, giving the space a fresh look.
Wallpaper: Empire Wallpaper
Wallpaper: Empire Wallpaper
The piano in the living room is visible from the hallway entrance. Clement found the deer statues at Village des Valeurs, a Quebec thrift shop, and fell in love them. They are part of one of several themed collections she has grouped throughout the house.
Clement pauses for a break in her ‘boudoir chinois’, the couple’s nickname for their guest room. Clement turned this room into a workspace and storage room for herself after her daughter moved to a bedroom in the basement.
A shelving unit was created by cutting two coffee tables in half, stacking the four pieces and then attaching them to one another to serve as shelves. The wall is filled with Chinese-inspired paint-by-number paintings, giving the room its name.
The bed in the master bedroom is another secondhand find. It was custom-made by a couple who later split and were selling it for a fraction of the original price.
Clement painted the secondhand nightstands and wallpapered the walls. She decided to mismatch the blinds when she couldn’t find enough for both windows. The yo-yo quilt was made entirely by hand. Clement purchased it via a classified ad.
Clement painted the secondhand nightstands and wallpapered the walls. She decided to mismatch the blinds when she couldn’t find enough for both windows. The yo-yo quilt was made entirely by hand. Clement purchased it via a classified ad.
The backyard space leads to a terrace and garden the couple built. They added a sunshade for hot summer days. The sheds seen here belong to the neighbours, but Clement has another shed accessible from the alley where she stores some collectibles.
Russell Woodard spun fiberglass patio furniture: 1stdibs
Russell Woodard spun fiberglass patio furniture: 1stdibs
“I like walking into a house and feeling that everything is personal and tells a story,” Clement says, pictured here with Menier in their colourful kitchen.
TELL US
What’s your favourite feature of this mix ’n’ match Montreal home? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
TELL US
What’s your favourite feature of this mix ’n’ match Montreal home? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
Who lives here: Isabelle Clement, founder of blog and boutique De la Ruelle au Salon; her partner, Alain Menier; and her daughter, Emmanuelle, 17
Location: Montreal, Canada
Size: 65 square metres; 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom
“I love everything textile,” Clement says, adding that she likes to mix pieces that don’t normally go together: “It creates a certain harmony.” Most of the items in this room were found in secondhand markets or given to her by friends. Clement is always on the lookout for handmade or secondhand items in bright colours.
Needlepoint chairs: Anne-Marie Dion; lamp: Amulette