A Mid-Century Modern Bungalow
One of the perks of being a talented furniture designer is that beautiful pieces for your home are never in short supply. The Consortium got a chance to catch-up with Ryan Spotowski of Ryspot in his gorgeously renovated 1960s bungalow he shares with his fiancée in Edmonton, Alberta. 
Manifesto For A Well Curated Home Our home feels like our own because the furniture has been touched by the hands of others. There's a flowing combination of vintage furniture that we've received from family, we've collected, and original pieces we've created. Each of these pieces have a history and tells a story within the place we live.
The Concept of Home We focused on curating our home to reflect our personalities. We wanted a space with a lot of colour and life and specifically stayed away from a monochromatic pallet. We wanted to include texture and pattern to bring the house to life and give it character. So - when you come home in the middle of a Canadian winter after only a few hours of daylight, returning to a space that is full of colour and life is important. I am going for a space that feels welcoming, warm, and makes you feel a little childish.
A Furry Home Companion Our cat Draco loves to climb around on the hexagon walnut tables in our downstairs living room. We'll often have a bowl of popcorn on one table and some drinks on another, and the cat just wants to be right in the middle of the action. He has such a distinct personality. The three of us really seem to mesh well together. His other favourite watching perch is the back of the Gus* Modern chair in the living room. At night when we drive up to the house, you can see his glowing eyes watching.
Work In Progress I could not live in the house without projects to do. I really like that we haven't furnished the whole house yet. There's still a nursery and wine room that we want to furnish. I think the possibility that both those rooms give me creativitly is very inspiring. Once those rooms are done, I'll probably continue working on something else. Having a home is a never-ending process. You may have to settle for certain furniture or finishes when moving in, but having a plan to upgrade in the future is inspiring and exciting.
An Authentic Presence To Design I've been focusing on natural patterns for my pieces lately. For instance, the grouping of walnut hexagon tables in the living room are based off of patterns found in basalt columns. The Gull Wing Table in the bedroom is based off of a bird in flight. The J5 concrete table takes inspiration from bubbles forming. But I think my background in construction has a lot of influence as well that I really don't acknowledge enough. Some people can find it limiting to try to work out how to build something at an early stage in the design process. But for me, I'm focused on construction almost immediately. I try to use materials to the best of their ability while honouring their heritage. The J5 table uses concrete in a traditional way, but I was really trying to push what concrete could be in terms of form.
The Furniture Designer It's an honour to have my designs in other people's homes. People can choose any piece of furniture by any designer at any time; and when they choose me, it's really cool. It's a very humbling process to have someone seek you out because they like what you do. On one hand, you question yourself, and wonder if you can live up to their expectations. But on the other hand, this desire to serve comes from within and you wonder how you can exceed their expectations. It's something to get you out of bed in the morning, knowing that you're going to make something that is going to be very special for someone today; the actions you take will have a lasting effect on someone you've never met. And they'll even pay you - It's fantastic! When you can survive on design and the fruits of your labour, it's really cool and really humbling. It makes me want to design more and solve more problems for people.
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