Nineteen Ten is a Main Street Design Destination

Credit: Janis Nicolay

Nineteen Ten primarily draws from a neighbourhood clientele looking for smaller home accessories or gifts for friends. Cash and carry items in the $30 to $50 range do particularly well.

Main Street home and design entrepreneurs Jennifer Kiel and Amy Russell want to complete your space, but not overhaul it

“We specialize in rustic home furnishings, not statement pieces, but accent pieces that make enough of an impact to change your space,” says Russell, who co-owns Nineteen Ten along with Kiel.

The duo is drawn to clean, traditional pieces with an emphasis on natural elements and materials they refer to as modern rustic or industrial chic. Think natural twine, upcycled fabrics and handmade ceramic bells strung on sturdy rope juxtaposed with a black metal-caged ceiling light topped with an Edison bulb. A series of quirky candleholders cast from found ornaments precariously balanced one on top of the other adds a bit of folly.

“You wouldn’t think this is something we would select,” says Russell, in reference to the edgy candleholder collection by Stephen Johnson for Los Angeles-based Artecnica. “We know how things work together. Our store has a specific look, but we know the pieces to select so that our things look good in every kind of interior from modern to traditional.”

Nineteen Ten’s clean, traditional pieces – infused with a bit of whimsy – are selected to complement any decor. “Our store has a specific look, but we know the pieces to select so that our things look good in every kind of interior from modern to traditional,” says co-owner Amy Russell

Russell and Kiel first met 10 years ago as buyers and then managers for a local design store. They quickly realized they had a similar esthetic and hoped to start a business together one day. When coming up with their store concept, both were influenced by the livable and accessible designs of Roost Home Furnishings, a California-based line of modern furnishings.

Nineteen Ten primarily draws from a neighbourhood clientele looking for smaller home accessories or gifts for friends. Cash and carry items in the $30 to $50 range do particularly well. While their store is designed to be accessible, Russell and Kiel were influenced by the life and vision of Coco Chanel. (Nineteen ten is the year Chanel opened her hat shop in Paris.)

“We are inspired by the success of Coco Chanel in many ways,” says Russell.  “She had a vision of what she wanted to create and was able to create a market for her product.  She revolutionized fashion and a woman’s place in business.” 

 You can almost always find one of the owners, Jennifer Kiel or Amy Russell, working the till. They met working together as retail buyers and always dreamed of opening a store together