Choosing What Makes Your Home You
December 21st, 2010 10:12 AM
No one just says nice things about Take Me Home Décor. They all rave!
Of course, it is Alison McDonald’s seasonal open house, and there are a lot of long-time, very loyal customers here.
Many here on this Friday afternoon in October have seen the growth of her store over the past five years, from when it was just a tiny room at the front of a light-industrial building on 15th just east of Pemberton in North Van.
And everyone here is enjoying the treasures she has assembled in a series of rooms that now re-create a whole home taking up the entire cinder-block space – not completely covering up the old drab interior but simply overpowering it with the designs and details of decorating beauty.
As Alison greets the flock flowing through Take Me Home Décor, chats with them and introduces them around, you can feel the shop becoming a home of friends.
There are younger moms and older grandmothers, apartment dwellers and house owners. All the customers are women. (When husbands do come in, there’s a place for them in the “living room” with a TV and male-oriented magazines. There’s Alison’s knowledge of what their wives would like. And there are gift certificates…)
The women mingle and chat, inspect and discuss the furniture and furnishings. Whenever there’s a question about any item in the shop, Alison has the details – not just price, but also where it came from, where it’s placed and which nearby pieces best complement it. And she seems to recall what each customer has taken home in the past – the styles they like and the directions they’re taking in their homes décor.
“People come in here as a break from their day,” says one customer. “There are always new pieces to look at, and a chance to see friends.” Adds another, “She (Alison) knows how I’m decorating my place, and she’s helped me find just the right things – from furniture to ornaments – as well as helping me figure out the basic plan for my décor.”
Sometimes, when a customer recognizes that a current furnishing isn’t working to reflect her life in her home, it may end up for sale at Take Me Home. “If it’s right for the shop, I will buy it, and if it’s not we’ll talk about other places that may want to buy it.” Alison says. “When I do purchase from my customers, there’s always a discussion about prices, so there are no surprises when they see the price that it will be selling at.”
It is Alison McDonald’s sense of design and amazing capacity for detail that has enabled the growth and success of Take Me Home Décor. Of course, it has helped that she’s found knowledgeable staff -- some former customers. And it may also be key that along the way the business has become a site for socializing as much as a place to purchase from her collection.
“There’s no pressure to buy, but there’s such a wide range I always seem to find something that fits my place, or the perfect gift for someone,” says one well dressed woman. “It may be a big high-end piece or sometimes just a little ornament for two dollars.”
Building on these strengths, the shop will soon be expanding its services. Alison, with talented staff members Rose, Jan and Lori, is launching an interior design and decorating practice. They will be available to go to a customer’s home and work with her to identify the look that reflects her life, and help her choose the colours, fabrics and furnishings that will make that a reality.
The new design studio will be an additional room inside the Take Me Home Décor “home.” And it will also be joined by a “sewing room.” Soon you’ll be able to find Rose Albrecht, a former customer with extensive experience in fabric work, at work at an industrial sewing machine, creating custom items such as drapes and other textile furnishings.
For Alison McDonald, there’s a lot of work to make this all happen. Arranging the collection to best display the treasures she’s found. Running the business. Making new friends and taking time to help all the customers who have become almost like family. But for her, it seems, none of this is a chore. It’s her joy.
Her life seems to be perfect preparation for Take Me Home Décor. Raised in Winnipeg along with five sisters, Alison was always collecting and arranging… A favourite picture shows her at three years old aligning selected rocks in her back yard. She grew up in an atmosphere of achievement -- her mother helped her dad through law school, and after dad grew a successful career, mom got a university degree when most people are retiring… and recently was named Winnipeg’s Volunteer of the Year. Alison’s sisters include a doctor, a lawyer, a farmer and two successful business owners.
After marrying Doug, Alison and he raised two daughters who are now headed toward university. She worked for an antiques dealer for many years, and in her spare time single-handedly designed and built a one-room “home” in her backyard. (It won an award and was featured in Canadian House & Home and Better Homes & Gardens magazines.)
Although busy with his career helping doctors learn how to use lasers and other high-tech surgical equipment, Doug finds time to help Alison occasionally at Take Me Home Décor – he’s serving wine and appetizers at the open house, happily (if not entirely comfortably) being just about the only guy in the place.
Inside Take Me Home Décor there is more than just a huge, uniquely arranged assortment of beautiful furnishings and decorations. There is a sense of place and a sense of identity. And you can see how customers are utilizing Alison McDonald’s knowledge and skills to create homes – by slow renewal or sudden revolution – in their own images. They’re not just adding babbles and trinkets, but developing their living spaces as integral to their lives.
Take Me Home Décor has become a sparkling “home” inside a dull building, and is now growing to take that elegance out into customers’ homes. And the women who meet and shop here are fashioning their homes with décor that speaks to the beauty they want to bring out into the world.
Take Me Home Décor is open 11 to 5:30 Tuesdays to Saturdays (or by appointment) at 1175 West 15th St. in North Vancouver. 604-990-4688 or takemehomedecor@shaw.ca
Copyright North Shore Magazine Issue Dec 06 - Jan 07
Of course, it is Alison McDonald’s seasonal open house, and there are a lot of long-time, very loyal customers here.
Many here on this Friday afternoon in October have seen the growth of her store over the past five years, from when it was just a tiny room at the front of a light-industrial building on 15th just east of Pemberton in North Van.
And everyone here is enjoying the treasures she has assembled in a series of rooms that now re-create a whole home taking up the entire cinder-block space – not completely covering up the old drab interior but simply overpowering it with the designs and details of decorating beauty.
As Alison greets the flock flowing through Take Me Home Décor, chats with them and introduces them around, you can feel the shop becoming a home of friends.
There are younger moms and older grandmothers, apartment dwellers and house owners. All the customers are women. (When husbands do come in, there’s a place for them in the “living room” with a TV and male-oriented magazines. There’s Alison’s knowledge of what their wives would like. And there are gift certificates…)
The women mingle and chat, inspect and discuss the furniture and furnishings. Whenever there’s a question about any item in the shop, Alison has the details – not just price, but also where it came from, where it’s placed and which nearby pieces best complement it. And she seems to recall what each customer has taken home in the past – the styles they like and the directions they’re taking in their homes décor.
“People come in here as a break from their day,” says one customer. “There are always new pieces to look at, and a chance to see friends.” Adds another, “She (Alison) knows how I’m decorating my place, and she’s helped me find just the right things – from furniture to ornaments – as well as helping me figure out the basic plan for my décor.”
Sometimes, when a customer recognizes that a current furnishing isn’t working to reflect her life in her home, it may end up for sale at Take Me Home. “If it’s right for the shop, I will buy it, and if it’s not we’ll talk about other places that may want to buy it.” Alison says. “When I do purchase from my customers, there’s always a discussion about prices, so there are no surprises when they see the price that it will be selling at.”
It is Alison McDonald’s sense of design and amazing capacity for detail that has enabled the growth and success of Take Me Home Décor. Of course, it has helped that she’s found knowledgeable staff -- some former customers. And it may also be key that along the way the business has become a site for socializing as much as a place to purchase from her collection.
“There’s no pressure to buy, but there’s such a wide range I always seem to find something that fits my place, or the perfect gift for someone,” says one well dressed woman. “It may be a big high-end piece or sometimes just a little ornament for two dollars.”
Building on these strengths, the shop will soon be expanding its services. Alison, with talented staff members Rose, Jan and Lori, is launching an interior design and decorating practice. They will be available to go to a customer’s home and work with her to identify the look that reflects her life, and help her choose the colours, fabrics and furnishings that will make that a reality.
The new design studio will be an additional room inside the Take Me Home Décor “home.” And it will also be joined by a “sewing room.” Soon you’ll be able to find Rose Albrecht, a former customer with extensive experience in fabric work, at work at an industrial sewing machine, creating custom items such as drapes and other textile furnishings.
For Alison McDonald, there’s a lot of work to make this all happen. Arranging the collection to best display the treasures she’s found. Running the business. Making new friends and taking time to help all the customers who have become almost like family. But for her, it seems, none of this is a chore. It’s her joy.
Her life seems to be perfect preparation for Take Me Home Décor. Raised in Winnipeg along with five sisters, Alison was always collecting and arranging… A favourite picture shows her at three years old aligning selected rocks in her back yard. She grew up in an atmosphere of achievement -- her mother helped her dad through law school, and after dad grew a successful career, mom got a university degree when most people are retiring… and recently was named Winnipeg’s Volunteer of the Year. Alison’s sisters include a doctor, a lawyer, a farmer and two successful business owners.
After marrying Doug, Alison and he raised two daughters who are now headed toward university. She worked for an antiques dealer for many years, and in her spare time single-handedly designed and built a one-room “home” in her backyard. (It won an award and was featured in Canadian House & Home and Better Homes & Gardens magazines.)
Although busy with his career helping doctors learn how to use lasers and other high-tech surgical equipment, Doug finds time to help Alison occasionally at Take Me Home Décor – he’s serving wine and appetizers at the open house, happily (if not entirely comfortably) being just about the only guy in the place.
Inside Take Me Home Décor there is more than just a huge, uniquely arranged assortment of beautiful furnishings and decorations. There is a sense of place and a sense of identity. And you can see how customers are utilizing Alison McDonald’s knowledge and skills to create homes – by slow renewal or sudden revolution – in their own images. They’re not just adding babbles and trinkets, but developing their living spaces as integral to their lives.
Take Me Home Décor has become a sparkling “home” inside a dull building, and is now growing to take that elegance out into customers’ homes. And the women who meet and shop here are fashioning their homes with décor that speaks to the beauty they want to bring out into the world.
Take Me Home Décor is open 11 to 5:30 Tuesdays to Saturdays (or by appointment) at 1175 West 15th St. in North Vancouver. 604-990-4688 or takemehomedecor@shaw.ca
Copyright North Shore Magazine Issue Dec 06 - Jan 07
Photos
