It’s Personal

Building a sanctuary with Brenda Brix

WORDS BY MYAH JUNEAU PHOTOGRAPHY SUPPLIED

Wherever you spend quality time with loved ones, find peace at the end of a long day, or make the most out of family game nights, your home is your sanctuary and a reflection of your inner well-being.

Transforming a house into a home doesn’t come naturally for everyone, but for Brenda Brix, owner and creative director of AMR Design, it's what fulfills her. With an extensive background in science, residential interiors and drafting, she envisions a project long before it’s been transformed into a living space that fits each client’s lifestyle.

Brix leaves no room for uncertainty during the initial consultation. With over ten years of interior design experience, she preaches the importance of individualizing each redesign in which she gets involved.

“When we first meet with clients, the first hour is just sitting down and getting to know them. We want to know their habits, how they cook, how they bake, what their morning and evening routines are, any sports that they play, and [relevant details] about their family. It's a very intimate process.”

Finding a designer with similar values and tastes is essential for achieving your desired result. “A lot of designers have a certain niche, and that's great,” she says, “but most of our people come to us because they want a really personalized experience.”

This is why research is the first step to finding the designer that suits your lifestyle. Brix, who meets most of her clients through referrals, enjoys working with people who are familiar with her work and procedures.

“I see lots of people hiring contractors and builders without doing research. It ends up being a bad experience for them,” she says. “It's so important to take that initial time to find the right people, and to make sure that you understand what you're getting into.”

An investment in a home should be long-lasting and sustainable. While it’s easy to get on board with short-lived microtrends, Brix encourages clients to invest in timeless furniture, and accent with throw pillows and smaller elements that can be swapped in and out, throughout the year. Brix says this technique is personal but also “classic enough that it lasts longer,” making it difficult for people to presume the decade in which the home was built.

According to Brix, long gone are the monochrome beige walls and minimalistic interior furnishings. Instead, brighter colours will illuminate our spaces this summer, and textured fabrics will stimulate our minds. Elements that accent and act as feature pieces will be unique and timeless.

Brix revisits the homes she’s restored to follow up and discuss any requested adjustments. “At the end of the project, we always want to make sure they can walk inside and just exhale to let everything go.”

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