ELLE DECORATION Canada

(spring /summer 2024) Last fall, I acquired a wooden cabin on the shore of a lake, north of Montreal. I'd been toying with the idea for a very long time. The little house, built more than 40 years ago, needed a lot of TLC. So I jumped headlong into a major renovation project. Today, aside from the four walls, the roof and the rustic stone fireplace, not much of the original structure remains. And since I was starting everything over at zero, or almost, I also decided to take on the challenge of accomplishing it all while producing zero waste (or almost). In short, I wanted to renovate my small piece of paradise in the most environmentally responsible way possible. And I was pleasantly surprised to discover that in 2024,…

Glass Act SHOP CANADA Clara Jorisch has taken her seat in design circles one chair at a time. After her first ingenious creation, there was another, and more are on the way. Our new fave, the unique, somewhat dreamy Melting Glass, makes our hearts melt. Blending sturdiness with delicacy, the Montreal designer used UV glue to connect the asymmetrical glass sheets of the seat and the backrest to the four irregularly shaped blown-glass legs and spine. Whether it's an everyday chair or a work of art fit for a museum, that's up to you to decide. But it wouldn't be out of place alongside the Ombré by Germans Ermičs, Shiro Kuramata's Glass Chair or Cini Boeri's Ghost. — (Around $11,000, clarajorisch.com) AM Chair Way to Heaven With summer finally on…

ELLE DECO DESIGN “Vancouver is like nowhere else. It's a merging of different cultures, scenery and lifestyles.” — Robin Esrock, Vancouver-based travel writer Toronto is home to 2.7 million immigrants, who make up almost half (46 percent) of the total population. This cultural diversity is a key element of the city's creativity.…

There is more life in a piece of dead wood than in a living tree. In fact, in a forest a microcosm of organisms populates, even attacks, seemingly inert matter. So much so that a decomposed tree becomes a breeding ground for its colleagues. Even once it's dried and freed of its inhabitants, wood continues to evolve, break, expand and contract. Until it is perfectly sealed, it continues to absorb or release moisture in perpetual balance with its environment. For adoptive Ottawan Pooja Pawaskar, wood is now an obsession, a vehicle for reflection and a form of expression. Born in India into a family of hot-tempered engineers, Pooja was still a little girl when she observed her forebear—a carpenter, joiner and model maker— working with his hands. “My grandfather was…

It was glass at first sight. When he learned about a program offered by Espace Verre, in partnership with the Institut des métiers d'art du Cégep du Vieux-Montréal, Jérémie St-Onge decided to become a glass blower. A somewhat unconventional trade, to be sure, and pure happenstance led him to it, but he maintains that “it found him” as much as the other way around. Having begun his studies in 2014, he then left them behind, preferring to gain expertise by practising the art instead. After working for various studios—including Baba Jaga, in Quebec's Eastern Townships, which specializes in producing pieces for lighting designers, like Lambert & Fils—he ultimately decided to start his own brand. Thus was born Verre d'Onge, in 2019, which he launched with his business partner, Flor Amélia…

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