A Gorgeous Rustic Oasis in Canada: Inspiration Home

Rustic home.

Welcome back to Ecosalon’s Inspiration Home series, where we take you on on a virtual tour of a real home. Last time around we gave you a peek into an Eclectic Rustic Contemporary Home, and for this edition we look at a rustic, charming and artistic oasis. We are looking for folks who want to share their home for the series, so please get in touch if you are interested.

Today we share the home of Margaret Oomen. Margaret is a family physician in a small town in Canada, a blogger (whose blog you will fall into), and creative maker of things. Her home is filled with family, nature, snails, kitty cats, collections and the gorgeous things that Margaret herself makes. It’s also a magically inviting rustic oasis of a home with a porch that just calls out to you to come on up for visit and a glass of lemonade. 

Rustic home holiday decoration.

Jen Wallace: First off, tell us a little about yourself.

Margaret Oomen: I am a family physician, mother of four, maker of things, collector and lover of all things natural.

DIY rustim home decor.

JW: Tell us about your home in your own words. 

MO: I live in a home in the heart of a town that has grown to a population of about 40,000. The house is a three-story brick building;  the third floor was once a separate apartment and has its own small kitchen and full bathroom. My eldest daughter lives there while completing her masters degree in geriatric social work. I have an enclosed backyard with a board and batten shed, currently used for storage. There are gardens on all sides of our home.

Rustic home decor.

JW: I love how your home seems like a space that is actually utilized and not just some showroom. It seems that your home decor is organically created and always changing—would you say that’s accurate?

MO: I think my style is no style at all. Almost all my furniture was either inherited from my mother’s home (some was her mother’s), or was found at auctions, thrift stores, curbside or at trunk sales. I love natural materials like wood, linen and cotton and you will see them throughout my home. I want everything to be comfortable and inviting for exploration by family and friends. I love when someone pulls a vintage book off the shelf and starts reading it or inquires about a certain fossil or feather.

Rustic afghan and kitty.

JW: Cats, snails, kids, family—your home seems always to be filled. How does that impact your decor?

MO: My style is very relaxed and comfortable; nothing is irreplaceable. I am often giving things away to make room for new treasures and handmade artworks so the home gallery is always evolving. I used to create using temporary spaces such as the kitchen or dining room table but when a major change in my life occurred, a marital separation, I decided it was time to a literally carve out my own a creative space. I made a studio in the first floor and that is where I create now. But during the warmer months, you be most likely to find me on my porch or dyeing fabrics in the backyard.

Rustic nature collection.

JW: Nature also seems to be important to your life; how does that manifest itself in your home?

MO: I am always bringing the outdoors in with flowers, plants, mosses, lichens, stones, feathers, driftwood, and more. I also spend a tremendous amount of time outside communing with nature.

Rustic outdoor living on porch.

JW: What’s your favorite room in the house?

MO: My favorite place is not really a room but the wraparound porch. We eat all our meals there—it is lit up for the evenings—and it is surrounded by fragrant gardens and the green shade of a very large magnolia tree. We have a small pond with fish beside the side steps to the porch with a fountain that sounds like a babbling brook.

Rustic Craft

JW: Is the porch also the place you find yourself spending the most time? If not, which room is? 

MO: I love the porch and outside. Definitely. But, of course, not in the winter. During the cold months of winter you will find me in my studio or in the kitchen.

JW: If you could change anything about your home, what would it be?

MO: I would add a solarium to the kitchen and find a way to add a fireplace to the porch without fear of burning down the house.

Rustic outdoor porch.

JW: Conversely, what would you never change?

MO: I would never stop having an extensive library of new and vintage books.

JW: Anything else you care to share?

MO: Thank you for being interested in my home. It really is an oasis in the midst of a very urban environment very close to one of the biggest cities in Canada.

Rustic home decor blackboard pegboard.

Rustic home decor

Rustic outdoor living.

Rustic nightime porch.

Rustic flower decor.

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Images by Margaret Oomen.

Related on Ecosalon:

An Eclectic Rustic Contemporary Home: Inspiration Home

English Country Cottage Style: Inspiration Home

Jen Wallace

Jen Wallace shares her indie life by writing about making, creating, cooking, learning, playing, decorating, and pretty much anything else that strikes her fancy from indie biz tips to the modern history of the American hemline.