IT’S A COLOURFUL LIFE

IT’S A COLOURFU LIFE L

A designer ’ s love of colour, texture, and mid-century and modern furniture brings singular style to her home.

TEXT MARIE-HÉLÈNE GOULET AND KATHLEEN DORE PHOTOGRAPHY DREW HADLEY STYLING VALERIE GILBERT

“The first thing you see when you come in the front door is this amazing colour. I could wrap myself in it, ” says designer Karine Matte of her dining room. “I did a test patch first and asked my husband [Danick] what he thought, and he said,

‘Well, it’s peach. ’ I said, ‘It’s not peach; it’s faded terracotta, ’” she says, laughing.

“But truthfully, he loves it because he feels its effect. ”

A prized mid-century credenza and a photograph of the Palm Springs, Calif., house where Elvis Presley honeymooned gives the room a Rat Pack meets Cali vibe. “I love the Southwest, ” says Karine. “We always go to Palm Springs when we’re in California.

DESIGN, Karine Matte, Matte & Glossy. LIGHT, West Elm. TABLE, IKEA. BIRD, Zone. Terra VASE, Anthropologie.

K

arine Matte has a lot of energy. While some of us kick back at night streaming the latest releases, she ’ s more likely to be painting a mural on her basement wall. “I change my decor a lot, ” says the Quebec designer. “My home is my laboratory. There ’ s always a project of the week happening. ”

The house in Vieux-Longueuil, Que., which she shares with husband Danick Trahan and son Louis, 11, is a midcentury treasure that Karine fell for at first sight. “It was a carbon copy of my grandparents ’ place. I fell in love with its energy, ” she says. Dotted throughout, appropriately, is her collection of mid-century furnishings mixed with modern pieces. “I try to mix periods, textures and colour – it’ s rich and compelling, ” says Karine. Colour is a bit of a cause célèbre for the designer.

And – bonus – the easiest way to get colour is paint, which is so simple to change. For this serial decorator, that’ s key. Over the years, the dining room, for instance, had three incarnations (from grey to blue to green) before its current warm faded terracotta. “You know, I actually feel that colour, ” says Karine, her enthusiasm palpable. And she wants everyone else to have that experience. “I want people to know that we need to feel colour –we need to see it and feel beauty at home. ”

“I WANT PEOPLE TO REALIZE, ESPECIALLY WITH THE PANDEMIC WE’VE EXPERIENCED, THAT COLOUR IN OUR HOMES HAS SUCH A GOOD EFFECT ON OUR WELL-BEING. ”

THIS PAGE Much-needed storage space for winter hats, mitts and boots was added in the front hall, where a colour block of yellow fights off the mid-winter blues like a burst of sunshine.

Hallway storage BOXES, IKEA. TILE, La Tuilerie. OPPOSITE Lime wood planks grown locally and milled on an antique saw create texture and warmth on the living room wall. “When it’s snowy and everything is white outside, and you have that warm wood inside, it brings a lot of good feelings, ” says Karine. The rug was originally in son Louis’s room when he was a baby, but Karine “can’t get rid of it. ” She still gravitates to its colours, which pop up throughout her home.

ARMCHAIR, SOFA, IKEA. RUG, HomeSense. TABLE, Urban Barn.

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LIVE PLANTS

Glass-front shelves were a natural choice for Karine, a born collector, who swears by her philosophy that if you display what you love, the arrangement will work. She has tips that are more pragmatic, too. Karine creates volume by placing objects of the same colour – like the encyclopedias – together. She arranges other books by size, preferring a gradual slant instead of rigidly grouping by the colour of the bindings. “Plus, my husband has a collection of books from the 1890s to 1920s, which are beautiful, ” she says. With objects, Karine mixes shapes. To keep it cohesive, all her shelves are themed. “We have a wedding theme, for example, which has the vintage salt and pepper shakers that were on our table, the cake topper, and a vintage jewel box. ”

“MY BEST ADVICE FOR STYLING SHELVES IS TO INCLUDE OBJECTS THAT MAKE YOU FEEL SOMETHING. FOR ME, EACH OBJECT IS A MEMORY. ”

ABOVE The fire-engine-red hand chair brings happy memories to Danick. “The Gogo Lounge on Saint-Laurent Boulevard in Montreal was his second home back in the day, ” says Karine. “When it closed, the owners gave us one of their legendary chairs. ”

White and grey cabinetry in the kitchen creates a neutral buffer zone between the colourful dining and living areas in the open-concept bungalow. The upper cabinets had been Shaker-style (exactly the same as the grey cabinets), but their white finish had turned an unsightly yellow over time. Karine had new costeffective melamine cabinet doors wrapped in a white satin vinyl (the company coated the case units, as well), for a sleek look that marries well with the grey Shaker. Says Karine, “I hesitated to mix door styles, but I took a risk and I like it!” She painted the pendants to bring added oomph over the island.

CABINETRY, PENDANT

LIGHTS, IKEA. CABINETRY RESURFACING, Wrap My Kitchen.

“WHEN THERE’S A LOT OF COLOUR GOING ON, YOU NEED A NEUTRAL ELEMENT. MY GREY AND WHITE KITCHEN IS A NEUTRAL BRIDGE BETWEEN THE LIVING AND DINING ROOMS. ”

During the initial pandemic lockdown, Karine turned to creative endeavours to alleviate anxiety. In the primary bedroom, she painted a happy golden yellow arch behind the bed, which had the added effect of revitalizing the painted wood headboard. “The curves of the headboard and the addition of cobalt blue paint makes the piece look like Mexico, my favourite country, ” she says.

Arch PAINT, India Yellow 66, Farrow & Ball. LIGHTS, Luminaire Authentik. PILLOW, BEDDING, West Elm. HEADBOARD, Aube Design. ART, Anthropologie.

“MEXICO IS A COUNTRY I LOVE, SO WHEN I’M IN OUR BEDROOM AND MY DRESSING ROOM, I FEEL LIKE I’M ON VACATION. ”

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ARCH SHAPE

ABOVE LEFT & BELOW Karine turned a spare bedroom into her own private dressing room. An oversize wallpaper print of tropical blue leaves and an image of the famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo pay homage to the country that stole Karine’s heart.

“MY SON ASKED FOR A BLACK AND WHITE ROOM, BUT I SNEAKED IN COLOUR WITH ACCESSORIES AND SMALLER FURNITURE. ”

OPPOSITE Louis surprised his colour-loving mom by asking for a black and white room. “It’s ironic, ” she says, laughing. She complied with emphatic, bold patterns and –because she couldn’t resist – a dose of brilliant colour here and there.

BED, RUG, ARMCHAIR, IKEA. POSTER, Society6. ACCESSORIES, Simons.

RIGHT “I thought it was such a boring space, ” says Karine of the hallway leading to the bedrooms. “I felt it should be an area of transition, one that makes you want to go and explore the rest of the house. ” The teal doors and ceiling did the trick. “I didn’t like the old doors, but I didn’t want to throw them out, so by painting them this bright colour, you notice the colour first and not so much the style. ABOVE One tiny window in the entire basement was a sore point for Karine, who decided to bring the outdoors – southwestern-style – downstairs with a mural she made with leftover paint. “I wanted something dynamic, ” she says. The pristine mid-century credenza is a curbside find. “I was shaking when I saw it!”

TURNTABLE, Urban Outfitters.

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