The much-maligned roundabout isn’t the only new feature to show up in the Rawlins Cross area of downtown St. John’s recently.
On the very same day last week, two new home décor and giftware shops opened their doors at the very top of Prescott Street: Barbara Holden’s Cupboard Up and Melissa Lamarre’s Hillhead House.
“I have people coming in the store just to tell me how bad (the roundabout) it is,” Holden says of the new traffic roundabout on the doorstep to her tiny shop located beneath Kitchen Design Boutique. “For me, it’s actually easier. It’s more like in Europe.”
Holden is a native of Switzerland who moved to St. John’s with her husband Michael, a born-and-bred Newfoundlander, and their two sons this February after 18 years in Lucerne.
“He was always a little bit homesick and the boys are nine and 11 so we just said, ‘we’ve got to do it now or never.’ It was pretty spontaneous.”
Instead of continuing in her career as a dentist, Holden decided that in Newfoundland, she would embrace her passion for refurbishing furniture and realize her dream of owning her own little shop out of which to sell the pieces.
A handful of the first items she’s breathed new life into were brought over from Switzerland.
“Because we needed a container anyway, I just filled it. I had quite a lot of extra ones … because I’ve been doing this a long time,” she explains.
Once that supply is sold, Holden has no doubt that she’ll find a lot more furniture ready for a new life at yard and garage sales throughout the city.
“You can find beautiful stuff,” she says.
Another aspect of the furniture up-cycling at Cupboard Up is a once-a-month workshop during which Holden will offer tips on and creative advice for refurbishing using Fusion Mineral Paint.
“I found that paint last year when I was on holidays and I really liked it,” she says of the Canadian-made product.
“It’s a mineral paint, it doesn’t smell and it’s quite good for the environment.”
Cupboard Up also boasts a selection of Nordic accessories — pillows, mugs, tea towels, dishware and more — from Danish label Krasilnikoff and cards and giftware from the German brand Krima & Isa.
“I like the pastels and I find you don’t get very much stuff in Newfoundland in these colours,” she explains.
Other services offered by Holden include gift wrapping, home and table decorating advice, and a flea market section full of unique curio and trinkets.
Cupboard Up is open Wednesday through Saturday during daytime hours. Exact times and more product details are available through the various social media channels.
Across the street at Hillhead House, Lamarre has cultivated a different aesthetic than the pastel-coloured adorned shelves of Cupboard Up.
The shop, right around the corner from Neville Framing in a space formerly home to David Kelland Architecture and Design, is perfect representation of Lamarre’s style, described as straddling the border between elegant and rustic, with a bit of Newfoundland flair.
The product line, meticulously curated by Lamarre, includes a selection of locally made goods — some by her, others by local vendors like Karen’s Woodworking — and new and antique vintage items.
There’s also giftware for countless occasions, some stuff for children, and a selection of cooking and kitchen gadgets.
Many of her products are not commonly found in other local shops, and the plan going forward is to have an ever-changing product line.
“I think that’s really important to longevity as well. I need and I want to be really different from anybody else because to me Hillhead House is different,” she says. “It’s really important to me to have a unique aspect to everything that’s here and that you can’t find it elsewhere.”
The storefront might be new, but Lamarre isn’t new to the business. She’s operated Hillhead House — named in honour of the building on Freshwater Road where her grandmother and great uncle operated Electric Utilities Ltd. — since 2016. In that time, she’s made a name for herself locally by selling her wares at dozens of trade shows, craft fairs and markets.
Having a storefront, she says, will allow her to expand her lines and scale her business up so that she can offer her clients even more of the products they crave.
“I wasn’t starting from ground zero with nobody knowing about me,” she notes. “I already have a following on Facebook and Instagram from past clients that are excited for me as well.”
Hillhead House, while technically open for business, will begin keeping more regular hours as of next Monday, leading into a grand opening event on Saturday, Sept. 29 that will feature apple cider, treats, in-store promotions and, while quantities last, a free gift with a minimum $20 purchase.
Twitter: kennoliver79
