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Vancouver Special

3612 Main St., Vancouver

604-568-3673

http://www.vanspecial.com

Beyond the connotation that comes with a boutique name like Vancouver Special - that one-of-a-kind objects rest inside, waiting to be discovered - this contemporary design store in the city's Mount Pleasant neighbourhood pays tribute to the residential building style of the same name, popular in the city from the 1960s to 1980s.

Vancouver Specials are bungalows that have been uprooted and set atop a new, often-mismatched lower level. What was once a front porch becomes a balcony, while a new double door on the ground level replaces the former single front door. The Vancouver Special is a ubiquitous building type in the city, particularly in Mount Pleasant, where owner Anne Pearson recently opened her store.

"Some people come in and know right away what the name refers to," Pearson says. "Even if they don't, it's still a good name for all the stuff I carry."

After graduating from the School of Architecture at the University of British Columbia and working at a residential design firm for a year, Pearson opened Vancouver Special out of frustration over the city's lack of well-designed affordable furniture.

Worldwide travels with her mother (to whom she attributes "a good eye for design") and her own experiences as a condo dweller resulted in long lists of sources through which Pearson hoped to one day stock her own store. She has since tapped those sources to assemble her boutique's inventory.

One of the first things you notice when you walk into the glass-fronted shop is how the space, which is mostly painted white, seems oddly vibrant. "I really wanted the bright colours of the products to stand out," Pearson explains. "That's how a lot of design stores are in Denmark - clean, airy and modern, with brightly coloured merchandise."

One half of Vancouver Special stocks smaller household objects, including exquisite glazed ceramics by Vancouver's Gailan Ngan ($28 for a large wobble cup). Colour enthusiasts, meanwhile, will appreciate its huge array of Pantone Universe office accessories, which are displayed on shelves underneath framed limited-edition prints ($150) by Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara.

In another area of the store lie rows of design books: coffee-table tomes for some, study material for others. "Vancouver doesn't have a proper architecture or design bookstore," Pearson says. "It's surprising because UBC is one of the few [Canadian universities] that has a school of architecture."

Pearson's hand-picked selection of books includes design biographies of such heavyweights as Charles and Ray Eames, Alvar Aalto and - her personal favourite - Japan's Sanaa design duo. ("That is how I want to live," she says, flipping to a sketch of one of Sanaa's living spaces.) Come fall, Pearson hopes to carry more design magazines and is considering adding more bookshelves to better display book covers.

Upstairs and in the other half of the store are larger furnishings, including chairs, rugs and sofas, many of which convert into chaises or beds. "I always say that if I could no longer afford to pay rent at home, I could move in here," she jokes about the upper level. The area is filled with rugs (from $675) by Denmark's Hay; they are made using colourful looped or cut wool bits that resemble short French fries. Downstairs, Pearson has also stocked Hay's Hee lounge chairs ($265 each), dining chairs ($195) and stools ($195). The chairs' galvanized steel is rust- and chip-resistant; each is available in five colours, including bright green, yellow or blue.

Equally colourful are the sofas at Vancouver Special; all come with removable, interchangeable felt covers and are stuffed with eco-friendly polyether foam produced without using chlorofluorocarbons. And they're affordable, too. A quilted double sofa bed is $1,650, while a square three-piece sectional consisting of two main pieces ($915 and $815) and a footstool ($535) adds up to only $2,265.

In a city not known for its affordability, such buys make the store a true Vancouver Special.