Carrie MacPherson's dining nookCarrie MacPherson for The Globe and Mail
Carrie MacPherson, who writes and photographs for Zurbaines.com, her own French-language lifestyle site, has lived for the past two years with her schnauzer in a formerly derelict Old Montreal apartment that she renovated with the help of her father. The 38-year-old Saskatchewan-born art lover adores the view of the canal that can be seen through the windows in her dining nook. The colour scheme is soft and the space is filled with art, much of it made by MacPherson herself. "I host fancy brunches here with china, champagne flutes and flowers," she says. "It's my special corner, where I entertain my favourite guests."
The blue walls
"I decided to paint one wall this light aqua colour that used to be the colour of my business card. I don't know the name of the hue because I bought the paint five years ago for my previous office and only had enough left for the feature wall in this apartment."
The chairs
"The chairs are antique. I bought them at a second-hand store. I got all four for $40. The cushions are made of silk."
The art on the wall
"Most of it is Polaroid image transfers that I did. Some are of friends. I've mixed them in with two illustrations by a Quebec artist that I traded a portrait session for. I wanted the wall to look like a mini-gallery, with different-sized frames."
The tablecloth
"It's a remnant of hand-printed fabric that I bought at the textile factory in Ribeauvillé, Alsace. It's my favourite thing in the room because it's a souvenir of the trip, which I took with my mom. It's also a work of art."
The curtains
"There's a green opaque and slightly shimmery curtain on the window closest to the table and a transparent, thin blue curtain on the other. I purchased them at an interior design outlet store called Accents en Ville."