Modern living room with large windows overlooking a lake and mountains

Trust, Craftsmanship & Creativity

Inside PlaidFox’s AD Retreat for Cobie Smulders


Home Designed by PlaidFox
Photography by Ema Peters
There are projects that challenge you technically, and then there are projects that remind you why you fell in love with making furniture in the first place.

When we first began collaborating with Plaid Fox Design on this remarkable Canadian cabin retreat—recently featured in Architectural Digest—we knew this would be a special one. The vision was clear, creative, and deeply considered from the very beginning. Every room was designed to feel connected to the landscape while remaining warm, layered, and personal.

As a Vancouver furniture manufacturer, these are the projects we live for. The kind where designers push boundaries, ideas evolve, and trust allows creativity to flourish.

A Formal Mallo Sectional Designed for Gathering

PlaidFox selected an extraordinary collection of Glitch Textiles striped fabrics for the Formal Mallo sectional. From the beginning, we knew this would be one of the most detailed and time-intensive elements of the project.

As Ben, lead designer at PlaidFox, mentioned in the Architectural Digest interview, there was some uncertainty about how the many different stripes would ultimately come together. It was a bold design move—layering multiple striped fabrics with varying colours, scales, and rhythms throughout one large sectional—and one that required trust from everyone involved.

We spent hours in the workshop laying out bolts of fabric over the sectional forms, draping different stripe combinations and exploring countless possibilities together. Through photos, videos, and FaceTime calls with the design team, we worked through each section piece by piece, studying how oneof the stripe fabric related to the next and how the colours would flow.

It was a process that required tremendous patience and collaboration. We revisited layouts repeatedly, adjusting fabric placement until every transition felt intentional and every stripe complemented its neighbour.
By the time the sectional left our shop, we were incredibly proud of the result. Seeing Ben's vision come together was deeply satisfying.

What could have easily felt overwhelming instead feels balanced, collected, and effortless. The finished piece has a confidence to it—a reminder that some of the most memorable interiors come from taking creative risks and trusting the people around you to help bring them to life.
"The sectional ultimately became one of the defining pieces in the home—a gathering place that feels both formal and playful, reflecting the confidence of the overall design."

Art, Texture and Meaning

Elsewhere in the cabin sits one of our Sway Stools upholstered in a beautiful Belgian jute-linen textile.

What makes this corner particularly meaningful is what sits above it. A stunning painting by our friend Zoë Pawlak, one of Canada's most celebrated contemporary artists. We have long admired Zoe's ability to create work that feels both powerful and deeply personal. Seeing her art paired with the natural texture of the stool created one of those perfect moments where furniture, art, and architecture work together seamlessly.

The simplicity of the stool allows the materials to speak for themselves while complementing the rich layers of colour and texture throughout the home.

Sway Stool - Ottoman
Sway Stool - Ottoman
Sway Stool

Custom Pieces Imagined by PlaidFox

In addition to several ffabb collection pieces throughout the home, we were also asked to create a handful of custom furnishings designed specifically for the project.

Among them was a striking 225" custom bench upholstered in a woven teal bouclé and featuring a distinctive leg detail envisioned by the PlaidFox team.

We also produced a guest bed along with a generously scaled primary bed that evolved through collaboration as the design developed.

While our focus remains on our made-to-order collection, projects like this occasionally present opportunities to explore something entirely new. Working alongside thoughtful designers such as PlaidFox is always rewarding, and we're proud to see these pieces contributing to such a beautifully realized home.

Trust Creates Better Design

The best projects happen when clients, designers, and makers trust one another and remain open to the creative process. It takes confidence for a client to hire a creative team and allow room for ideas to evolve. It takes vision from designers willing to push beyond the expected, and it takes skilled makers to bring those ideas into the physical world.

PlaidFox Design created a remarkable retreat that feels both timeless and deeply personal, and we're grateful to have contributed a few pieces to the story.

Seeing our work featured once again in Architectural Digest is an honour, and we're proud to see furniture made in Vancouver represented in such an inspiring Canadian home.