In the world of design, furniture and flooring go hand-in-hand. Together they define an interior space with shape, texture, colour and utility. If you choose one with the other in mind, the right combination can make for a very flattering space. But you need to find the right flooring and the right furniture…
Finding flooring is no problem of course — at Floorscapes we have you covered. But to find the perfect furniture you need to seek out a great retailer… one who offers variety, character and quality. At Floorscapes we’re lucky to share a building with such a place: it’s called Consignment Gallery and it has all three traits in droves. Teaming up with the gals there, we created some vignettes to illustrate the effects of different furniture and flooring combinations. Check it out.
What is Consignment Gallery?
Simply put, CG is a furniture retailer that mostly carries consigned, one-of-a-kind pieces. But that description doesn’t do them justice: they’re more like curators, and their inventory is more like a collection. Their pieces have a sense of history and personality. One walk around their vast and varied showroom will show an eclectic and tasteful mix of Modern, Victorian, Artisanal and Antique pieces.
Having some unique and varied furniture in your home is important. It gives your space a sense of individuality and history and makes you feel like you belong… or it belongs, depending on how you want to think of it. Offering many such unique pieces, it’s not surprising that CG has a large clientele with many customers who visit regularly. They have something for everybody and their customers feel at home there. One customer recently remarked after returning only four weeks after her last visit, that there’s so many new pieces it “looks like a brand new store.”
Tradition & Vision
Of all the great staff at Consignment Gallery, Marvie and her daughter Kathryn are the movers and shakers of the place. Marvie founded the company 20 years ago on a hope and a desire to provide for her family as a single mother. What started as a modest showroom space on Centre St., (featuring much of her own furniture to get the ball rolling), has become the 19,000 square foot showroom and longstanding consignment tradition that CG is today.
The place has such a great atmosphere, it’s clear that the kind and generous spirit with which Marvie founded the place has remained the entire 20 years. Kathryn, Marvie’s daughter and soon to be owner, has great vision for CG. Having worked there on and off since the age of 12, she cherishes what her mother built and she intends to preserve the CG ethos while distilling the collection down to the best pieces, eventually offering it all for sale online.
Furniture & Flooring Work Together
One sunny afternoon in May, Marvie and Kathryn let us pop on over with some of our beloved Area Rugs. We perused their showroom for furniture, vases and paintings, (there were so many gems choose from!). When we decided on a couple of sets, we swapped and subbed and had a lot of fun creating some eccentric vignettes. Here’s a couple of our favourites.
Check out the first vignette. Many elements are combining here to make this little room scene work. First, there’s a variety of styles. The regal armchair and the Victorian table are adorned and eloquent. They hark to an era of European design marked by craftsmanship and discreet ornament. The painting and the Area Rug on the other hand are Modern. The painting is an abstract spin on Russian peasant art and gives the scene its pop of colour while the Rug throws striking extensions onto a traditional floral pattern, nodding to the Victorian armchair. The vase and the mirror frame are wooden and they contribute natural textures to the scene. All in all, the rug ties the pieces together with its neutral colours and its use of both a traditional floral pattern and a modern graphic.
The scene depicted in the second vignette is fun and whimsical. It reminds me of the furniture in Alice in Wonderland: the curved lines of the table, the bright black and gold arcs on the upholstered chair and last but not least, the old school clock. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Mad Hatter sitting on the chair, leaning back and blabbering about his clock, eternally stuck at tea time. The Area Rug contributes a deep, tye dye like blue to the scene, adding a sense of dreaminess. Colour-wise, the blue also offsets the yellow of the chair and the wall, making for a pleasing combination, which is accented by the subtle teal vase in the top left corner.
Conclusion
We consider ourselves lucky to be neighbours of Consignment Gallery. Not only are they genuinely good people, but their collection is tasteful and packed with hidden gems. And most importantly of course, they’re so close by that we can conveniently meander over there after work to scout out the next find for our own homes!
When looking for a nice combination of flooring and furniture, come check out our showrooms (Floorscapes & Consignment Gallery), conveniently placed side by side on 58th Ave SE.
Written by guest author Eric Osborne.
