How to shoplift ideas – Montreal edition

The weekly micro-decorating newsletter * Issue 10 of 13, SS24 *
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Window shopping is the gateway to a permissible form of theft: lifting ideas from store displays to give your home a new look. We've studied how to do this back in October, and again in March, and now that I'm in Montreal for the summer, it's worth giving the topic another go.

Let's peek into five windows that recently made me slow down and take note.

Boutique Factorie

Boutique Factorie is an indie clothing shop with an eye-catching way of displaying its wares. Instead of pulling together outfits and dressing up mannequins, they place crumpled up pieces on a long low table:

It has a startling effect, like a flashback to an especially heavy laundry day. Once you spend a bit more time looking, you realize the intention behind the disarray. The fabrics are gorgeous, and this unorthodox presentation showcases their tactile qualities, their colours and patterns, far better than a standard, posed tableau:

The chic dishevelment matches the devil-may-care fashion gambits of the crowd along avenue du Mont-Royal. Capturing this effect in your home is a matter of using textiles with finesse. On your sofa, try mixing throw pillows with covers that deliberately don't match. The combos may excite you more than a carefully contrived scenario. Try dressing the foot of your bed with a throw – and actually throw it into place. The unstudied drapery will likely surprise you with its appeal.

Gender Mannequins

Spoiler alert: the Gender Mannequins window is my favourite window so far on this trip. It makes sense that a store selling the hardware for cunning displays would have one of its own:

There's a lot to take in. If you grab just one idea, make it the brash encounter of two strong colours, in this case neon orange and turquoise. The right pairing can make a space sizzle:

But there's so much more to take away. The symmetrical figures demonstrate how mirrored forms are arresting. You can achieve this effect with an actual mirror, or take two identical objects, table lamps for example, and place them in a balanced composition. The gigantic lips are a Pop Art design move that you can pull off with one oversized object. And the little dogs? Who can resist the enlivening effect of an animal figurine or two. It's amazing how many good ideas mingle in this vignette, without a lot of fuss.

Jamais Assez

The Jamais Assez ("Never Enough") boutique is one of my regular pitstops in the Mile End district. It's not just the thoughtful selection of accessories for the home, it's the way they're placed next to one another, like dabs of colour in an abstract painting:

Blue and green are fine companions, not just neighbours on the colour wheel, but suitable hues for a group of objects. You can create this fugue-like harmony with things you already own, or check out the Jamais Assez online store for items to fill out your collection.

Le Moine Urbain

There's a lot of rugged, rough-hewn objects at Le Moine Urbain ("The Urban Monk"), from jewelry to blankets to sink basins made of stone. There's a window display that matches the vibe, by using a large rock and a piece of driftwood as supporting players:

If you're visiting a beach this summer or live near water, you can take a stroll and find decor along these lines at no cost. It can make an astute pairing with handcrafted objects – an acknowledgement that the best designs around us are actually free.

Atelier Union

Finally, one of my favourite places in Verdun is Atelier Union, a school for learning to make ceramics, combined with a workshop where you can buy the pottery of Basma Osama and the woodworking of Guy Lemyre, partners in both art and life. Their windows mix plants and objects organically, this potted fiddle-leaf fig tree seeming ready to burst through the glass:

Blurring the division between inside and outside is a trick you can master by putting plants near windows that look out onto outdoor greenery. It's a way of nodding to the natural roots of all human shelter.

Have you spotted a window display worth imitating recently? Share your inspiration in the Comments section below!

Thank you for reading.