Kelly Deck Goes Shopping In Vancouver

Top Vancouver interior designer and media personality Kelly Deck shares great + affordable sources for stylish things for your home.

Kelly Deck has immersed herself in the spirit and lifestyle of the West Coast design community. When she opened her interior décor boutique on Vancouver’s Main Street in 2002, she began a successful foray into homes and backyards, developing a design presence that champions the integrity of coast living and the importance of design.

Now the director of Kelly Deck Design in beachside Kitsilano, her full-service interior design firm specializes in private residences. Her ideas have gained national reach through her Globe and Mail column The West Coast Way; her HGTV series, Take It Outside; and her appearances on Urban Rush, CityLine TV and Breakfast Television.

Kelly Deck’s 5 free, cheap or worth it things to see, do or buy in Vancouver

GATHER handmade treasures for the home and DIY ideas at poppytalkhandmade.com. This Vancouver-based blog is one of my daily indulges; I never miss the chance to see what designer or inspiration they’re offering. They’re wonderful for promoting local and online craft markets—the perfect place to find exclusive gifts and homewares at an accessible price. visit poppytalkhandmade.com

TREK out to Knight and Kingsway for the best South Indian food I’ve had in Vancouver at House of Dosa on Kingsway. Introduced to me by a close friend with a knack for finding great food in “ugly” places, this little restaurant doesn’t have great ambience, but it serves a mean Indian-style crêpe for under $12. House of Dosa, 1391 Kingsway

COLLECT vintage treasures. When our art budget is skinny, we shop at local thrift stores like Wildlife Thrift Store and Sellution Vintage Furniture for vintage doilies, plates, books and the like. Then we frame them in all-black frames or shadow boxes, or in the case of vintage books we fold them to create book art and use plate stands to hang them on the wall.
Wildlife Thrift Store, 1295 Granville Street; Sellution Vintage Furniture, 3206 Main Street

INDULGE in a great wall mural, like the motifs offered by the New York-based wallpaper company Trove, represented exclusively at Mint Interiors on First Street in Vancouver. Trove wallpapers have a painterly quality that makes them seem more like art than wallpaper. My favourite is “indi,” a motif of sparrows fluttering up towards the heavens.
Trove, www.troveline.com; Mint Interiors, 1805 Fir Street, www.mintinteriors.ca

CREATE art with your kids or just buy something arty. There’s nothing better than “kid art” on display in the home. Erin Boniferro’s store Collage Collage is all about getting creative—especially with your kids (or in my case, your friends’ kids). Either way, you can pick up a sweet locally made treasure or register your favourite little person in 12-week workshops given by local artists.
Collage Collage, 621 Kingsway, collagecollage.ca

Photo: Courtesy Kelly Deck Design