A Corner of My Own

Most of you know that I moved into a larger space back in September and it’s taken a few months to really get settled. The process of moving from a condo into a house can be time consuming - and expensive. You suddenly need to find furniture to fill the newfound space that your exorbitant rent provides (thank you, Vancouver). You also realize that your condo furniture is now not quite to scale. Ah, so many learned moments.

After months of searching and finding the right pieces for both inside and out (yes, we now also have a yard and a large patio which meant adding outdoor furniture to the already extensive shopping list), I was nearly done. The only outstanding spot was this weird corner in the master bedroom that seemed empty and not very functional. Although it’s not necessary to fill every empty space with things, I really did yearn for a small bit of real estate just for me. A spot where I could curl up with a good book (I haven’t read a decent novel in a long time!) and enjoy a cup of tea.

I yearn for those quiet moments where I could just sit, breathe and reflect. In a house where nearly every area was accessible by children, the need for an exclusive space was greater than ever. So I decided to make this odd space functional and create a reading corner. 

What I then had to decide was what furniture to place there. That was the fun part. Would I get a chair? A side table? Perhaps a floor lamp and maybe even a throw… oh the choices! But figuring out where to shop for this furniture was another dilemma. We had already spent so much purchasing pieces for the rest of the house that I definitely had to watch my budget. I didn’t want to do the typical trip to IKEA as I didn’t want to sacrifice style and quality. 

I had recently learned that Structube opened a store in Vancouver and I was interested in paying a visit. I discovered Structube initially during my last trip to Montreal (where the company is based) and I remember liking their style, selection and most of all, price. I figured that if there was any retailer where I could pick up a gorgeous chair for the room, fitting my style and price, this place could be it.

I headed to Structube in South Granville, which I learned was their second Vancouver store, to check out the merchandise. I had decided that the anchor piece was going to be the chair, and to build everything else around it. It took a while for me to decide which chair I liked. I spent hours pouring through the Structube website looking at all options and then narrowed it down to two. I knew that once my choices were narrowed, I could make the final decision in person at the store. 

And that’s exactly what I did with the help of their sales team. They spent a good chunk of time with me, answered my questions and were very good to leave me alone when I needed to test out the chairs and talk through the options with my boyfriend. Deciding on an armchair might seem like a trivial matter but not when it is the focal point of the reading space. It needs to be both functional and stylish - at least for me. And it came down to a matter of aesthetics. While I loved the midcentury lines of the Tory chair, I also fell hard for the Laurens chair - a contemporary take on the French wingback chair. 

To complete the vignette, I also needed a floor lamp, a small side table, a full-length mirror, an ottoman and a throw to round out the look. The sales team was great and offered a number of options and even the ability to review my choices on a large TV screen while sitting on their sofa! 

I found everything that I was looking for in one shop, which is very rare for me. The prices were so reasonable and I could get everything delivered at my house through a single delivery. 

So what pieces did I end up getting? You’ll have to find out in my next post!