Fourteen years ago husband-and-wife mosaic artists Mike Minnis and Emily Stoger confronted perhaps one of the largest blank canvases in history: an empty 1,500-square-foot industrial workshop in a former textile mill lit by buzzing 8-foot-long fluorescent lighting.
By combining their creative minds, the couple turned the drab space into a trendy loft that bursts with vibrant energy. Turquoise furniture, repurposed pinball table artwork and side-of-the-road locates have created a cozy home not only with tons of personality, but to get tons of personalities. “Whether it’s a Halloween celebration with 60 artists completely dressed up or a rockabilly group, we’ve got the room to accommodate,” states Stoger.
in a Glance
Who lives here: Mike Minnis and Emily Stoger
Size: 1,500 square feet: two bedrooms, 1 bathroom
Location: Plateau neighborhood of Montreal
That is intriguing: Now home musicians’ and artists’ studios, this loft building was an old textile mill, along with the couple occasionally finds industrial sewing needles in the wooden floorboards.
Laura Garner
Minnis and Stoger, shown here are both mosaic artists who create large-scale public installations from glass to their company, Mosaika. With their projects taking them away to different towns for weeks at a time — their next project is the art installation by contemporary artist Chuck Close — that the couple needed their home to feel as a invigorating landing foundation.
Laura Garner
Before Stoger proceeded in with Minnis, the loft was one big, open space, painted completely in white, using a little kitchen and bathroom. Before he built the bedroom space, the loft was so big that Minnis and his friends played floor hockey in it.
The 1960s turquoise sofa was a fortunate find on Craigslist, offered into the couple using a similar seat in perfect condition. They bought the massive metallic frame above it in a shop’s closeout sale. During the day it is a bit of artwork. At night the couple pulls down a screen from behind the framework onto which movies and hockey games have been projected. Though the fireplace is new, the couple painted the pipe supporting it black to make it look like an authentic wood-burning stove.
The blue lamp came from an estate sale across the street from their loft. It’s created from a plumbing valve painted blue and sits on a vintage television series found on the side of the street.
Fireplace: Reno Depot; pendant lighting: Fillsta, Ikea
Laura Garner
Substantial fluorescent lighting once covered the loft’s ceiling and were the first thing Minnis eliminated. The couple gradually included vintage and used pendant lighting and freestanding floor lamps.
Minnis purchased the retro curved floor lamp in the Salvation Army 15 years ago for $50 Canadian. “It is perfect for a loft space,” he states. “At a standard apartment, it might just be too big.”
Checkered cushions: Stockholm, Ikea
Laura Garner
Minnis and Stoger discovered many pieces at estate sales and vintage shops and via ads for secondhand furniture, like the bright turquoise chair that matches the couch.
Laura Garner
A collection of vintage thrift shop mirrors lines the entryway wall.
Laura Garner
A friend gave this Esa Niema tapestry into the bunch.
Laura Garner
The kitchen is small but functional. “We like that what we want is within reach,” states Stoger. Instead of investing in costly renovations to the kitchen, the pair has come to embrace its naturally unfinished look, which they’ve highlighted with stainless steel appliances and vibrant kitchenware.
Laura Garner
The kitchen initially needed a drop ceiling, which was removed to reveal wooden beams. With hooks included, the ceiling now operates as functional storage and artistic display for vibrant mugs, “which helped to distract from a partly remodeled space,” states Stoger.
Laura Garner
“Kitchens these days all look the exact same to me. A cookie cutter kitchen just wouldn’t be us,” she adds.
Laura Garner
Minnis designed and built the curved countertop from leftover mosaic pieces. Originally covered in white melamine, it needed to be re-covered following a celebration left “octopus-like layouts from alcohol stains,” he states.
Laura Garner
The couple found that the dining area’s vintage phone booth in the garbage, a throwaway in the film set. “It took four men to actually be able to lift it and bring it — we are never moving it. It is going to stay in this place forever,” states Stoger.
Laura Garner
Finding furniture that didn’t look too little beneath the loft’s 12-foot ceilings has been the largest design challenge for Minnis and Stoger. Realizing that loft spaces are ideal for oversize furniture but not able to locate anything on a larger scale, the couple rather broke their distance into zones.
Pendant lighting: Knappa, Ikea; retro radio: Teac; dining table, chairs: Value Village
Laura Garner
The teak coffee table was a drop-leaf dining table found in the garbage. Stoger and Minnis sawed the legs down to make it briefer and used the drop-leaf dining table to create a shelf.
The Eames chair was a hand-me-down from Stoger’s daddy. The artwork above the seat is the top of a pinball machine. “We’re considering turning the remainder of the pinball machine into a desk,” states Stoger.
Chair: Eames, Herman Miller
Laura Garner
Minnis setup his DJ equipment near the living space, where it is a huge hit at parties.
Laura Garner
Stoger inherited this 1980s dollhouse from her mommy.
Laura Garner
Minnis built walls to create an enclosed bedroom. Large furniture pieces also help set the space off from the remainder of the loft.
Laura Garner
Plenty of natural light causes this corner ideal for the couple’s office space. Salvaged Ikea bookcases hold Minnis’ ever-growing plastic collection.
Laura Garner
Stoger discovered this retro teak vest on the street. The top of the dresser was scratched, so that she and Minnis rolled on wood-grain contact paper. A driftwood tree trunk found in a lake north of Montreal sits on top.
Laura Garner
The couple purchased these storage lockers in the Salvation Army several years ago. Stoger notes that industrial items like these have made a comeback and are now quite difficult to find secondhand.
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