Collection by Macala Rose
The pendant that covers the picnic-style dining table is an IKEA model, modified with a longer electrical cord.
The patio is equipped with IKEA furniture; the previous residents chose the sliders and windows, which are by Sierra Pacific
IKEA Nockeby sofa with a Bemz slipcover in Acorn velvet.
Summit created a functional kitchen island out of Walz’s childhood workbench, fitting
it with various IKEA parts. The vice makes an ideal wine grabber, and pieces of black iron pipe hold candles. “Now it’s very Martha Stewart,” jokes Summit.
The kitchen cupboards were crafted from recycled wooden wine boxes, and the countertop is untreated wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) from Ikea. The green-and-white tiles are from a local company, TAU Cerámica.
From the outside, an unassuming 1942 cottage overlooking Vancouver’s harbor is an unexpected place to find Omer Arbel, a designer known for his experimental, amorphous creations for the Canadian furniture and design company Bocci. But inside the 2,600-square-foot home he shares with his girlfriend, musician Aileen Bryant, and a collection of exotic pets, Arbel’s rich imagination and exuberant love of objects are on display. Here, he takes us on a personal tour.
Designer Omer Arbel develops his latest works inside an eclectic Vancouver home filled with a teeming assortment of pets and prototypes. Hanging over the bench is our first Bocci 14 light fixture. I feel like it would be bad luck not to have it in the house. Other pieces in the kitchen—like the wooden island Aileen found in an alleyway and the yellow ceramics by Knabstrup, a Danish company active in the 1960s—we’ve collected along the way.” Photo by José Mandojana.
