Tell us a little bit about yourself and your space.
I’m Amanda Ellis! I’m thirty-two years old and live in the beautiful (albeit often very chilly!) prairie province of Saskatchewan, Canada. My husband, Lyndon, and I have been together for ten years (married for three) and are the proud parents of our son, Cade, who is 18 months old. I am currently on an extended maternity leave from my job as a psychologist, which worked out well since we have spent the last couple of years planning and then building our dream acreage home! We moved into our new home only two weeks ago and are currently in the throes of unpacking, organizing, and most importantly, decorating our new space: a 1850 square foot modern farmhouse style walkout bungalow. While my decorating adventure is certainly not complete yet, I feel excited about how it is coming together!
How would you describe your decorating style?
I go with my gut! That sounds ridiculous, but I actually have very little “real” knowledge when it comes to interior design. I definitely spent my fair share of hours on Pinterest during our home build process, but I don’t watch any of the popular home decorating shows because I get jealous and constantly want things I can’t have! I just get an idea for a room in my head and then obsessively look for the right pieces to match what I see in my mind (a sometimes crazy-making approach!). The style of our new home is modern farmhouse. I wanted this space to be beautiful and trendy but also cozy and functional for our family. We opted for lots of big windows in our house to create a bright space with accents of light wood tones and shiplap. We were then drawn to earthy and natural tones for the furniture and décor with pops of navy to complement the kitchen cabinets in our open concept space.
Tell us about your favourite Urban Barn piece and why you love it.
This is a tough one, but I think the winner has to be our pair of Diablo armchairs. I really had to push for these, as my husband preferred the Damarco Leather Armchairs (which are also gorgeous!), but I loved their unique shape and they felt very family friendly to me (i.e. comfy to curl up in with a toddler). An honorary mention goes to the Betina Throw… One day I was perusing Urban Barn and saw the throw on display on the same Santana Sofa we own, but in a different colour combination. I thought to myself, ‘I wish that came with blue accents!’…and low and behold, it did! I was ecstatic!
