Inside an unassuming industrial strip mall off the Sherwood Park Freeway, this home decor and furniture store offers a sense of warmth and style.
Walking through its carefully arranged room displays feels more like wandering through a well-loved home. In one corner, a sage-green couch anchors a gallery wall of gold-framed horse and cattle portraits. In another, a hefty antique Turkish vase rests atop an ornate metal pedestal. Finally, at the end of the grand tour is the mother-daughter duo behind Home and Cottages: Kathryn Kern and Ellie Maroney.
Home and Cottages started out as a retail location in Strathearn as Kern’s solo project, and in 2018 she moved to their current location, this time with her daughter as her business partner. “Not many people could work with their mom,” says Maroney. “But she and I have always been very close and so it’s quite natural to work together.”
Together the pair have a working balance that makes Home and Cottages function like a well-oiled machine. Kern is at the helm as the interior designer mastermind — working one-on-one with clients and deciding where furniture and decor will work best in the home. Maroney spearheads the back end, placing orders and running the website and finances.
With a focus on sustainability — fusing old with new, and most notably, a love for European and Mediterranean styles — Kern and Maroney are building their business based on personalized care for their clients and the items they put in their homes, from simple bedside lamps, to entire dining room sets. Kern herself goes to clients’ homes using her keen eye for interior design, to transform their spaces into something warm and lively.
Some of the eye-catching pieces in Home and Cottages are the full-length mirrors and armoires made of reclaimed wood, terracotta lamps and the velvet armchairs in deep greens and burgundy.
They know it’s unrealistic for anyone to cover their entire home in high-end vintage and antique furnishings, so Home and Cottages instead focuses on blending old and contemporary styles. “If you put 30 old items in your house it’s going to look like you live in an antique store,” explains Kern, who often consults with clients at their homes. “But if you put a Turkish vase beside a new console table, all of a sudden you’ll create a character you didn’t really know was there.”
You don’t have to knock down walls and add more bedrooms in order to revitalize your home, she says. Rather, you just work with the space you already have to bring your home’s personality to life. “I like to tell people that we design from the inside out.”
Whether you’re looking for a full design consultation or simply want to add a few well-chosen accents, Home and Cottages shows that refreshing a space doesn’t mean starting from scratch. The right pieces — old, new, or a mix of both — can make your home feel more like you.
Home and Cottages
Lambton Industrial | 4723 91 Ave NW, Edmonton | 587.520.6008 | homeandcottages.com
