Who said owning a home can’t feel like living in your own personal modern museum of art?
With its gallery-inspired set up, and deliberate move towards the boutique store layout complete with unique
and artistic furnishings from around the world, Vancouver’s MINT Interiors makes such a possibility a
reality.
“We’re always travelling and meeting new suppliers and artisans to keep [our store] fresh and new,” shares
co-owner Michael McNamara.
Located in Vancouver’s new design area, the Armoury District near Granville Island, MINT Interiors is not
your typical design store. “Hand-made pieces, pieces of art… it’s for people that really appreciate good
design and good quality; that’s the bottom line,” explains McNamara about the retail store, which recently
opened its doors to the public on Oct. 25.
What makes MINT truly unique to Vancouver is the store’s gallery-inspired setup, says McNamara, where “every
single piece is elevated, nothing is on the showroom floor, everything has its own place… its own platform,
and you can really enjoy a piece and not be overwhelmed by clutter.” And much like an art gallery or museum,
the unique pieces in the store are accompanied by short descriptions with item-specific details.
In addition to handmade pieces, the gallery setup and boutique-style store, the owner’s individual passion
for art renders MINT an extraordinary design retail experience. “This is more of a passion; we’re not driven
by the dollars,” explains McNamara. “This is more about bringing to Vancouver what it is lacking… unique
pieces and really cool items.” Before opening MINT, McNamara and fellow co-owner Rien Sharma routinely
encountered designers seeking out particular items or products but constantly being met with either
unavailability or time delays in receiving the goods. This encouraged McNamara and Sharma to create a
personal warehouse facility to ensure constant product availability.
Something that will always be available at MINT — its own private label of upholstered furnishings.
Manufactured in North America and with over 140 fantastic fabric choices, this range of product will give
MINT’s customers the freedom to decorate their home with their own individual style.
As part of the store’s design library, there will be a 21.5-inch iMac displaying the array of sofa and chair
styles available, with all the fabrics on hand in the library to touch and feel.
In addition to their coveted upholstery line, MINT is the only store in British Columbia that carries the
artistic Trove line of photographic wallpaper as well as Tracy Kendall’s eccentric wallpaper line based out
of the U.K. When asked what is local out of the products offered at MINT, ranging from chairs made in France
to cushions manufactured in New York City, McNamara happily exclaims, “Nothing! We want unique items; we want
to have pieces that aren’t seen in another store in this vicinity,” and adds, “We’re not ashamed of
that.”
In making it a priority to search the globe for “really cool things,” McNamara and Sharma have created an
upscale design boutique where nothing is local. By offering unique, international items, MINT will always
stand out from other design stores, and at times even from itself: “If you walk back into the store in maybe
a year’s time,” says McNamara, “you probably wouldn’t recognize half the stuff.” •
