Description: I have discovered a new shopping district in Montreal for myself – St. Laurent Street. Simply get lost on your way to St. Denis and find St. Laurent, running parallel, and for the most part, one-way in the opposite direction. While St. Denis has the international restaurants and popular boutiques, St. Laurent has some young designer’s shops, funky coffee shops (like the Fair Trade coffee shop we visited called Pi), and loads of furniture stores.
Modern furniture is the main trend here on St. Laurent, and there are plenty of stores that cater to this taste. The most beautifully appointed is the Biltmore, but its salespeople may not deign to speak with commoners. At least that’s the impression we got! Nevertheless, we enjoyed viewing their egg chairs evoking that scene from Clockwork Orange.
Next, we stumbled upon a most amazing store displaying a combination of modern sensibilities and ancient Indian artifacts. The owner’s specialty is taking temple doors and windows and transforming them into wardrobes, bookcases, and entertainment centers. She also does custom finishes. We saw one table that had its floral accents painted in turquoise. She also showed us her design for a bathroom using an old Indian table and attaching modern Kohler sink fixtures. The prices were quite reasonable and we ended up buying two end tables with the Kama Sutra painted on the front and a canopy piece for a bed in the Rajasthan style with two carved horse heads.
Next door, another store offered furniture, window vestments, wall decor, and tableware for the Eastern-loving consumer. The store, Turquoise, offered everything from velvet and silk Indian window treatments and Chinese merchant chests to Turkish tea sets and Burmese Bodhisattvas. The store is a delight to explore, but the prices are, as expected, quite a bit higher than they would be in the original countries. I did purchase some lovely curtains in mustard and cinnabar for what will become our Rajasthani guest bedroom!
There is plenty to explore on St. Laurent, especially in the home decor department. There are also plenty of restaurants and much more ample parking than is available on St. Denis.
Close