Triple Play
STORY WALTER FRANCZYK PHOTOGRAPHY CLINT SPALDING
Robin Wood likes to inspire people. As general manager of The Cutter’s Edge, she creates furniture showrooms that stimulate ideas and take the guesswork out of designing homes. Bedroom displays, for example, are furnished complete with dressers, benches, bedding, artwork and rugs.
“Everything they need to create the full look,” she says. In her 15 years with the family furniture business, The Cutter’s Edge has grown from a single store and manufacturing shop in a century-old barn to four modern retail locations. With each expansion, she designed the showrooms. “It’s just something I love to do. I love to learn. I love to explore. I love to develop things and I like change,” says Robin, who studied biological sciences in university. “I also do a lot of buying for the stores. My style and interests grew and developed with the business and became what it is today.” She now offers her skills and advice to individual homeowners and businesses. Her team will travel to people’s homes for design consultations.
A homebuilder who visited the company’s new 13,000 sq. ft. Huntsville store was so impressed, he asked The Cutter’s Edge to design and furnish three different Devonleigh Homes model homes. Robin and Lindsay Cowan, the company’s Muskoka showroom manager, collaborated on the project, with free rein on all interior aspects, from millwork to paint colours.
A two-storey, three-bedroom home was designed as a modern chalet in 1,715 square feet of living space.
“This house has a more rustic vibe, but we didn’t want it to look like a lodge or cabin, but more of a contemporary take on rustic, using stone, wood, iron and leather throughout. Our aim was to bring a chalet feel into a modern subdivision home without creating an inorganically rustic atmosphere,” Robin says.
Sharp geometric elements contrast with rustic pieces to create a transition between provincial and contemporary, evident in the entryway mural, living room ceiling beams, bathroom tile work, art and rug accents in the dining area. While lighting and most art tilts to the modern end of the spectrum, the content of the art features woodsy elements such as canoes and wild game to evoke a chalet feeling. Plenty of textiles weave into the modern rooms to create the aura of a retreat – rich distressed leather sofas, fur pillows, wicker baskets and fuzzy throws all serve to enhance the perception of a chalet. A loft bed in the third bedroom allows flexibility for families of five.
This two-bedroom, 1,392 sq. ft. bungalow was planned as a place where emptynesters could envision leaving their family homes in the city and downsizing to a refined and sophisticated space.
“Our mission for this home was to demonstrate that modern houses need not be cold, but can still be very comforting and instill a sense of sanctuary,” Robin says. Modern geometric aspects in lighting fixtures, wall millwork and rugs were warmed with a hint of rustic at every turn. While dining chairs and upholstered living room furniture are quite modern, warm leather adds cosiness for balance.
Transitional pieces of artwork that lie between contemporary and country were carefully chosen to warm spaces that otherwise felt nearly industrial. Wood stains in a spectrum of cool-to- rich hues, but with uniform saturation in all the pieces, tie rooms together. The basement suite was transformed into an airy haven by adding soft blue touches and plenty of lighting to compensate for the lack of windows and natural light. A beam and built-in shelving divide the lounge from the games space to create two separate functioning spaces for entertaining. Diane Frederick and her talented team at Ferndale Trim & Doors provided architectural millwork, including all shiplap, in all three homes.
Serenity with a hint of nautical is the theme for this 2,340 sq. ft. two-storey, four-bedroom home designed with families in mind.
“We chose soft and light colours with touches of Polo Blue to elevate an otherwise muted colour palette. Throughout the home, the foundation for each space is a crisp
white – from the walls and ceilings, to the countertops and lighting fixtures,” says Robin. To warm the serene white space with a pretty and inviting ambience, Robin and Lindsay chose subdued wood accents in the kitchen stools, dining room tabletop, and many of the bedroom furniture and accent pieces. For serenity in communal spaces, they used white furniture, such as the dining table and upholstered pieces in the living room. “Our aim was to maintain the family feel,” says Robin. “To achieve this, we added hints of blush and navy to the smaller bedrooms and sprinklings of homey accents – cosy pillows and throws to create a welcoming feel.”
From top to bottom, each home was furnished with rugs, art, furniture, dishes, textiles and accessories from The Cutter’s Edge. A family friend forged the custom- designed ironwork. The company handcrafts its beautiful wooden heirloom furniture at a manufacturing facility in the Almaguin Highlands. “We do as much as we can in our own shop and we have other cabinetmakers that help us out as well,” Robin says. “We have so much flexibility with our products that if we want to change colours, alter sizing, or change the design to match a specific style, we have full freedom to do that so that our designs are custom fit for each home.” The company’s blend of time- honoured woodworking methods with sophisticated contemporary design caters to traditionalists and trendsetters alike. OH
