PAUL LAVOIE
He’s designed modern homes, rustic retreats and over-the-top Versailles-inspired villas, and he’s currently working on a spectacular lake house in Principal, Paul Lavoie Kelowna, B.C. But Paul Lavoie, Interior Design one of Calgary’s best-known residential interior designers, says that every home he works on doesn’t have to be a statement project. Though many are grand in scale, some are modest, which suits him just fine. Lavoie loves to listen, and then create a liveable space — large or small — perfectly tailored to his client. “I listen really well. In this industry you always listen to what someone wants. It’s their house — you’re not going to live there,” says Lavoie, who’s been designing homes for more than 25 years and whose work has been featured in Architectural Digest, Avenue, Style at Home and Western Living magazines, among others. He’s quick to note that all of his projects may be “done by the same person, but they’re not the same at all.” Designing homes comes naturally to Lavoie. As a child, he tinkered with floor plans instead of playing with trucks, so it’s little wonder he enrolled in Mount Royal’s Interior Design program, which in the 1980s was a two-year diploma. In addition to providing Lavoie with a strong interior design foundation and the technical skills necessary to be competitive in the industry, Lavoie says Mount Royal taught him how to successfully communicate his ideas. “You must be able to express how you plan to help someone,” says Lavoie. “You’re verbally communicating something that’s visual, and that’s a challenge.” Because of his experience at Mount Royal, Lavoie understands that interior design students coming out of the school are prepared to hit the ground running as employees; as a result, he only hires Mount Royal grads. “They just get it,” he says. “We all seem to have the same basic design instinct and skills.”
“[MOUNT ROYAL GRADS] JUST GET IT. WE ALL SEEM TO HAVE THE SAME BASIC DESIGN INSTINCT AND SKILLS.” Paul Lavoie, Principal, Paul Lavoie Interior Design 34
SUMMIT – FALL 2014