Julia & Bruno’s Colorful and Airy Home
Name: Julia Vallelunga & Bruno Gariépy
Location: Montréal, Québec
Size: 1,000 square feet
Years Lived In: 1.5 years; Owned
Julia is the founder and editor of À la Mode Montréal, a blog about décor, fashion, trends, travel and day-to-day life. Since the beginning of 2014, À la Mode Montréal has its own online store that offers a selection of beautiful handmade objects by international designers.
Two years ago, Julia and Bruno were looking for a duplex with a small backyard they could renovate. They had a crush on this one. They love the family friendly neighborhood and the division of the rooms (the open concept of the living/dining room). They integrated some family furniture (marble tables, stereo), some travel finds and lots of colorful objects to the décor. The space is airy and bright.
Apartment Therapy Survey:
My Style: Colors on a white background
Inspiration: Travels, textiles, flea markets
Favorite Element: The open area: living room, dining room and master bedroom. We also just finished decorating the baby room. We are expecting a boy for November and we like the feel of this new room.
Biggest Challenge: Storage. When something new comes in the house, something has to leave!
What Friends Say: They love sitting at our dining room table. It’s spacious. We host many dinners and we like that people feel at home.
Biggest Embarrassment: Our old bathroom. It’s the last room left to renovate. We’re a taking a “reno break” but we’re hoping to renovate it before the end of the year.
Proudest DIY: Our dining table. We wanted a big dining table but we didn’t have a lot of budget. We found an old conference table with nice metal legs but a cheap countertop. To add character, we glued wood boards that we sandblasted and stained.
Biggest Indulgence: An Acapulco chair. To be honest, we never sit on it, but we like looking at it!
Best Advice: A room at a time! When buying a house, it’s easy to start renovating everything at the same time. We took our time and wanted to live in the house before taking big decisions.
Dream Sources: Vintage furniture stores and flea markets in California and artisan markets in South America.
RESOURCES
LIVING ROOM
• KIVIK couch; Ikea
Thanks, Julia and Bruno!
• HOUSE TOUR ARCHIVE: Check out past house tours here.
• Interested in sharing your home with Apartment Therapy? Contact the editors through our House Tour Submission Form.
• Are you a designer/architect/decorator interested in sharing a residential project with Apartment Therapy readers? Contact the editors through our Professional Submission Form.
Updated daily with fresh tours full of photos for you to pin & enjoy!