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Apartment Therapy Application

This is my application for freelance house tour creator for Apartment Therapy!

Chantal's Playful & Artsy Montréal Apartment

Name: Chantal Tardiff and a cat named Sue
Location: Montreal, Québec
Size: 1,500 Square Feet
Years lived in:  8 months

This bright and spacious apartment is a delightful mix of old and new. It still has all its original features from the 1920’s such as plaster walls, crown moulding, natural wood trim and big doors. Recently the bathroom and kitchen were renovated so it has all the benefits of the new with the cachet (charm) of the old. Undeniably an extension of Chantal’s personality, it’s easy to get lost in her collections of curiosities and vintage finds. Pops of colour compliment the gallery worthy art collection exhibited throughout the apartment.

An accomplished interdisciplinary artist, flight attendant and recent industrial design graduate, what attracted Chantal to buy this place was that she could settle in right away. She repainted the walls and injected colours into every room. Light fixtures were updated to bring back some of the vintage feel and make it more her own and as well as more design oriented. Contrary to many apartments of its era in Montreal, it has an incredible amount of space and storage.

The dining room is a clear favourite, originally an exterior balcony it was enclosed by the previous owners. The original exterior windows are still in place and help bring light into all the attached rooms. It’s the perfect spot to start the day and stays flooded with natural light until sunset. It’s also the place for epic dinner parties with entertaining lots of friends. The hard part? Getting the guests to leave!

Apartment Therapy Survey:

 

My Style: Playful and personal, a collection of mementos or things I've made or things my friends have made. I don’t take myself too seriously so its pretty fun and casual. 

Inspiration: Colour, I like to have fun with colours, and again I think that comes from my art background. I’ve always been attracted to paintings that have bright vivid colours. A pop of colour makes the room more playful and joyful to be in. Also vintage shopping, secondhand stores, magazines, the clashing of new and old together provide further inspiration

Biggest Challenge: Sound proofing, before this place I lived in a detached home and it’s an adjustment living somewhere where I can hear my neighbours. Also keeping Sues cat hair off the velour furniture! 

What Friends Say: Everyone loves this place!

Biggest Embarrassment: It’s a work in progress, I'm still trying out different things in every room. One night before a party I was switching out light bulbs in the dining room to find the ones that cast the best mood and glow.

Proudest DIY: The furniture that I have made or assembled from found pieces. In my bed room theres a dresser I made out of old lockers and caster wheels. There’s also an old library card catalogue from a library that i turned into a bedside table.

Biggest Indulgence: My maple syrup can collection! I’m inspired by the everyday object, how collections of things we look at everyday can be really interesting if assembled in large numbers. I have been collecting the cans you can find here in Quebec for a few years. There is something really soothing about the red white and blue label. It reminds me of my childhood and having crêpes with syrup for Sunday breakfast.

Best Advice: Make it personal. You can look to magazines or Pinterest and take those elements that inspire you and make them your own. You don’t want it to be too perfect because I find itlooses that personal touch that makes it uniquely yours.

Dream Sources: I travel a lot for work and have the opportunity to see many places. I usually can’t afford a lot of the things I see when I travel but I take away a lot of inspiration. For example traveling in Japan and Germany, they are countries that are very organized, have very clean lines and a lot of simplicity. One of the things Im trying to change in the way that I decorate and live is to eliminate excess and finding homes for the things I want to keep.

Apartment Therapy Resources: 

Paint Colours:

  • Origins Benjamin Moore - Anthracite Slate (Dining room)
  • Origins Benjamin Moore - Cape Breton Blue (Kitchen)
  • Sico - Ice Cap (Guest Room)
  • Sico - Pegasus (Bathroom)

Entry / Coat room:

  • Plaster walls: Original 1920s
  • Coat hooks: Salvaged wood and hooks (Renovators Resource)- By Chantal
  • Bicycle art: Montreal artist Raymond Biesinger http://www.fifteen.ca
  • Thanks for nothing art card: Rachel Collyer

Living room:

  • Accordion: 1920 Horner accordion - inherited from her grandfather
  • Cat painting: C.Tardiff Original
  • Shelf: IKEA
  • Sofa & Chair: The Hudson's Bay Max Home, maxhome.us/
  • Icebergs: C.Tardiff Original
  • Wooden stacking blocks: C.Tardiff Original
  • Small deer & fox print: Esty (Ottawa artist Drew Mosley)
  • Cat print on news print: Gift - Montreal artist
  • Saskatoon pennant: Second hand shop
  • Red horse & rider small print: By Chantal and hand stitched based based on Muybridge photograph
  • School house light fixture: World Imports through Home Depot

Guest Room:

  • Heart poster: Made for a photoshoot backdrop - by Chantal
  • Bed spread: Made by her mom from 2 double sheets
  • Bedside table: Repurposed lockers found at Dartmouth Demolition, Nova Scotia - by Chantal
  • Ceiling light fixture: IKEA
  • Bear Painting: C.Tardiff Original

Master Bedroom:

  • Bed side table: Repurposed found library card catalogue - by Chantal
  • Dresser / clothing storage: Repurposed lockers found at Dartmouth Demolition, Nova Scotia -by Chantal
  • Bear painting: C.Tardiff Original
  • Bedspread: IKEA
  • Curtains: Left by previous owners
  • Crossed fingers photograph: Halifax artist

Dining room:

Kitchen:

Bathroom:

  • Matches: V de V
  • Art: Australian artist - James Stewart - Old friend that I met at an ashram
  • Vase: Old milk bottles inherited from my grandfather
  • Flowers: Jean-Talon Market
  • Hand towel: IKEA

Art room:

  • Drawing table: Welded it in art school
  • Pink arms photographs: Chantal Tardiff original, Heath Matheson was the photographer
  • Shelves: IKEA
  • Easel: Stolen from art school (my teacher said I could since tuition is so expensive)