Decorating & Design
Shops We Love: Vancouver’s Thestylewell Offers Curated Wares From Local Makers & Beyond
Published on November 18, 2021

Vancouver’s rich community of creatives and makers inspired Lisa Wrixon to launch thestylewell, a retail space in North Vancouver’s Edgemont Village offering a unique mix of decorative accessories. “I wanted to create a place where locals could shop to find valuable pieces for their homes, discuss their projects and share their renovation stories, all while I help them find the perfect pillow,” says Lisa.
A former brand strategist for Indaba Trading and trained interior designer, Lisa opened the 800-square-foot shop in May. It’s one of several independent businesses predominantly owned by women in the mountainside neighbourhood, just a 10-minute drive from downtown Vancouver.
In-person interactions are, in part, why Lisa chooses not to sell online and why she’s emphasized the value of face-to-face experiences by designing the store as a homelike setting. “It certainly doesn’t feel like work,” she says. “It feels as though I’ve been doing this all my life.”
Scroll down to tour this North Vancouver shop and see its global wares!

Owner Lisa Wrixon outside her Edgemont Village shop. “Choose wisely; treat kindly,” says Lisa of thestylewell philosophy.

A self-proclaimed “hunter- gatherer,” Lisa brings in globally sourced textiles and ceramics, as well as pieces from local makers such as Steelwood Design, Dougherty Glassworks and Sophia Clay Art.

“I need a product to speak to me,” says Lisa. “To take up space in the shop, it must have meaning and a story to tell.”

Vancouver ceramicist Sophia Sohyun Kim was inspired by birch bark when creating her pieces. “My fascination of tree barks started while taking pictures of textures of birch, oak, pine and cedar trees in the Pacific Northwest,” she says. “I have been mesmerized that they all seem to have scars on their barks, and try to tell us their stories with callus.”

Carefully selected vintage and antique wares also fill the shelves at Thestylewell.

Cactus silk pillows handmade in Marrakesh are one-of-a-kind and vegan. Cactus silk is a vegetable silk from the Saharan Aloe Vera cactus in Morocco.

This eco-friendly woven bowl is handmade by a coop of women in western Uganda. The women use natural dyes and locally sourced palm and banana leaves.

Textured sisal fibre baskets woven in Kenya are a stylish storage solution.
Tracey Ayton
House & Home November 2021