Western Living Magazine
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The new shop-within-a-shop at Inspiration Furniture stocks statement-making home decoreverything from beetle sculptures to pink velvet sofas.
If someone isnt listening carefully as you've describing a visit to the new Kare showroom, they might assume youve been on safari. Exploring the 4,000-square-foot space last weeka shop-within-a-shop at Fairview's Inspiration Furniturewe encountered a giant golden tortoise, a paint-splattered life-sized horse statue, a gaggle of iridescent tabletop fibreglass llamas and a stag head (faux, of course; repurposed as a candelabra, of course).
But when you run a furniture and accessories business with the tagline The Joy of Living, It's only natural that the décor is going to run a little kooky. The German brand, led by founder Peter Schoenhofen, gleefully produces a menagerie of quirky animal statues, oversized art pieces and velvet-draped sofas in extroverted palettes. In short, Kare is a maximalist's dreamand a sharp departure from the modernist BoConcept and Inspiration Furniture offerings on the other floors of the shopbut that's the way Inspiration Furniture's Steen Skaaning likes it. We thought wed see it all, and then we walked into Kare, he says, recalling stumbling by chance into one of Kare's flagship shops on a trip to Europe. Everything in the store was a conversation piece. We walked through it three times and didnt see it all.
The over-the-top aesthetic is a far cry from the typical soothing West Coast modernism of Vancouver, but while homeowners and designers might not be quite ready for a full-room commitment to Kare's candy pink sofas and green-and-gold pony-hair rugs, there are hundreds of statement piecessay, a mirrored armoire or a tasteful golden beetle sculpturethat could make a bold addition to an otherwise neutral space. It may not fit into an average Vancouver home now, but we're excited to bring that fun and energy back to the scene,” says Skaaning.
The DetailsKare at Inspiration Furniture1275 W 6th Ave, Vancouverkare-design.com
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