
- RYAN WILLIAMS
- The dining room is the heart of Robyn Manning's home, with great light and sight lines to other rooms.
Robyn Manning's interior design company, Bricks + Birches, is having a moment. "Things are rocking," says Manning, "starting to really snowball." Where she started out doing residential projects—a lot of cottages on Nova Scotia's rustic north shore or homes for young families in the city, hence the B+B name blending urban and rural—now, coming up on the business's four-year anniversary this May, B+B's reputation extends to commercial spaces, too.

- RYAN WILLIAMS
- The colours in this painting by Manning's friend Derek Lewis happen to tie the kitchen, dining room and living room together, even though "the painting came first, the space came second."
In balancing different types of projects, Manning approaches each one on its own terms, not trying to impose her own style. "My whole philosophy behind the business since day one has been not necessarily about a consistency of one aesthetic, but a consistency of quality," she says. This is on display in her own home, in Kentville. While a lot of her residential clients are going for neutral, sophisticated colour palettes, Manning's house is vibrantly colourful, "very indicative of my art school background."
THE ROOM

- RYAN WILLIAMS
- The red table at left and its potted plant remind Manning of her grandfather, mother and father: "There's quite a bit sentimental value in that one vignette."
THE INSPIRATION
"The dining room is the heart of the home. My living room's off of that, my kitchen is off of that and to me all of those sight lines were very considered, how they all work together." The dining room also has the best light, "so all my plants thrive," says Manning. "I have a red accent table in that room, that doesn't really look like much," she says. But the table is the only piece of furniture Manning inherited from her grandfather, and her father painted it red. Plus the plant sitting on the table is in a pot from her late mother. "So there's a nice family connection to that one piece."
THE DETAILS

- RYAN WILLIAMS
- The vintage Neptune Theatre poster above the bar is another reminder of Manning's mother.
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