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Sarah Keenlyside and Andrew Attard made a Milan rental feel like home by treating secondhand shopping as a design method rather than a decorating theme. They kept the apartment’s 13-foot ceilings, ornate moldings, herringbone floors, and warm two-sided light as the foundation, then layered in furniture, lighting, books, art, and objects connected to Montreal, Toronto, and Italy. The result is collected rather than period-perfect: useful pieces, meaningful pieces, and a few carefully chosen new purchases arranged into a coherent whole.
Their two-bedroom apartment in Porta Ticinese, found in 2022 after a move from Montreal, is documented by Kelly Dawson in Architectural Digest (September 17, 2024). Keenlyside’s approach offers a practical answer to a common rental problem: start with what the room already gives you, search widely for objects with character, and let function decide where everything goes.
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The apartment is just outside Milan’s tourist center, in the Porta Ticinese neighborhood. Its corner position brings daylight from two sides, while yellow and rose buildings opposite reflect warm color into the rooms. Those conditions do much of the atmospheric work before a single object is placed.
Thirteen-foot ceilings, ornate moldings, and herringbone floors provide a strong visual vocabulary. Keenlyside and Attard did not try to flatten those features with a uniform contemporary scheme. Instead, they used them as a stable backdrop for pieces from different decades and countries. In a rental, that is a crucial distinction: permanent character can carry the room while movable furnishings supply identity.
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The kitchen was the major practical intervention. The couple replaced old cabinetry and a moldy dishwasher with black modular units and a stainless-steel countertop from Bologna-based Very Simple: Kitchen. The dark cabinetry adds a crisp, industrial counterpoint to the historic shell, while the steel becomes a bridge to the furniture and lighting nearby. These details are reported in the Architectural Digest profile rather than independently inspected.
Build a home from places, not one period
Nearly everything beyond a few new purchases came through vintage sources, according to Keenlyside. When the couple left Montreal, they brought books, art, and smaller furniture, but sold much of the rest to make room for European finds. The apartment therefore holds several kinds of memory at once: objects associated with Toronto and Montreal sit alongside Italian furniture and lighting, without pretending that they came from a single era.
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That mixture is more personal than matching a room to one national style. A French Art Deco bar from Montreal recalls the couple’s engagement during the pandemic lockdowns. Brown plastic chairs designed by Paul Boulva for Artopex are associated with the 1976 Montreal Olympics. A living-room desk designed by the Italian architecture collaborative BBPR connects, in Keenlyside’s telling, to the Canadian pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Each object has a reason to be there beyond its silhouette.
Books and art also prevent the apartment from reading like a showroom. The pieces are connected to the couple’s lives and friendships, so the room’s history is visible even when the furniture comes from unrelated sources. Keenlyside describes the method as “creating visual poetry between disparate objects and art.”
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Use zones to make a large room work harder
The large living room is divided into three functional areas rather than treated as one oversized seating arrangement. Dining sits near the kitchen, lounging occupies the middle, and a library fills the far end. This gives the room a sequence and allows each group of objects to have a job.
| Zone or room | Function | Reported pieces and details |
|---|---|---|
| Dining area | Meals and entertaining | Vintage Poliform table seating ten; Rodney Kinsman chairs made by Bieffeplast; French Art Deco bar from Montreal nearby |
| Central living area | Lounging | Yellow perforated Bi-Rite Studio rug; Gae Aulenti coffee table identified as a new purchase |
| Far end of living room | Library and reading | Books brought from Montreal and furniture gathered from vintage sources |
| Beside the kitchen | Storage and visual link to the kitchen | Swedish midcentury credenza with a Carlo Nason light above it |
| Extra bedroom | Office, den, and occasional guest room | Green sectional used for television and able to pull out as a bed |
| Primary bedroom | Workspace | Round table used instead of a conventional desk; Paul Boulva/Artopex chairs |
The zoning strategy is useful even in a smaller rental. Place the largest activity nearest the service area it depends on, reserve the center for the room’s main social function, and use the quietest edge for reading or storage. A rug can define a zone without a wall; the yellow perforated rug makes the lounge area legible while preserving the room’s openness.
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Let lighting carry the collected look
Keenlyside and Attard replaced every light fixture. She found fixtures by Venini, Flos, and Mazzega through Facebook Marketplace, eBay, vintage stores, and the Navigli antiques market. The variety matters because lighting is often where a room accidentally becomes too uniform: replacing every fixture with the same new model would have erased the apartment’s layered character.
The Carlo Nason light above the Swedish midcentury credenza demonstrates a more deliberate pairing. Keenlyside says the credenza’s slight industrial feel ties to the steel of the kitchen unit. The relationship is based on material and proportion, not on buying a matching set. When evaluating a secondhand fixture, ask whether it repeats a line, finish, or scale already present in the room.
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Electrical safety still comes before style. The profile identifies where the fixtures came from but does not report rewiring, certification, or installation checks. A buyer should have an electrician assess old wiring, sockets, grounding, and the fixture’s compatibility with the local electrical system before use.
Shop several channels with a specific question in mind
Keenlyside calls Facebook Marketplace “a tempting smorgasbord of amazing stuff” and says the apartment felt like home within about eight months. She also names eBay, vintage stores, and the Navigli antiques market as regular sources. The Navigli market takes place along the canals on the last Sunday of each month, according to her account in the Architectural Digest profile.
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Those channels are not presented as a tested ranking, and their inventory, prices, and schedules can change. Treat them as different ways to search, then choose based on the item and the risk involved:
- Facebook Marketplace: useful for nearby, distinctive finds such as the lacquered armoire and bedroom headboard Keenlyside located there. Arrange a safe inspection and confirm dimensions before committing.
- eBay: broadens the search beyond your immediate area. Request exact measurements, close photographs of damage, and information about packing and shipping.
- Vintage stores: let you see scale, surface, smell, and structural condition in person. Ask what restoration has been done and whether any parts are replacements.
- Navigli antiques market: a recurring in-person opportunity for unusual objects. Check the current date and vendor terms before traveling; the profile’s monthly schedule is a reported account from 2024, not a guarantee of present arrangements.
Before opening multiple searches, define the problem the object must solve. Is it storage, a work surface, lighting, seating, or simply a visual anchor? Then decide whether the item is distinctive enough to justify travel or a long online search. Keenlyside’s examples suggest a useful test: a piece earns its place when it combines practical use with a story, an unusual shape, or a connection to another part of your life.
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Choose a few new pieces without losing the secondhand character
The apartment is not exclusively vintage. Keenlyside specifically identifies the Gae Aulenti coffee table, the Bi-Rite rug, and the green sofa in the television room as new purchases. That distinction makes the strategy more realistic: secondhand pieces establish most of the character, while new items can solve a comfort, size, or availability problem.
The green sectional illustrates the functional case for buying new. It supports television viewing and converts into a bed for guests. In the extra bedroom, one piece serves as seating, sleeping accommodation, and part of a den. A new purchase can therefore be justified by performance rather than novelty.
Use contrast intentionally. A new coffee table can sit among older seating if its scale leaves circulation clear. A new rug can introduce color while older furniture supplies patina. The goal is not to make every object look old; it is to keep the room’s visual conversation varied but readable.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Make unusual objects useful
Keenlyside repeatedly assigns objects a second life. In the primary bedroom, she uses a round table as a workspace instead of buying a conventional desk. The Paul Boulva chairs provide seating there as well as a link to Montreal history. The extra bedroom changes from office to den to guest room, and its sectional becomes a bed when needed.
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A lacquered armoire painted in a faux Japanese style by an Italian artist in the 1950s supplies storage and a strong decorative surface. The Swedish credenza beside the kitchen adds storage while its industrial character echoes the stainless-steel counter. These are examples of functional reinterpretation, not instructions to force every antique into an unexpected role. Measure first, check stability, and confirm that doors, drawers, and cables can work in the proposed location.
A practical sequence for furnishing a rental
- Record the fixed conditions. Measure ceiling height, windows, doors, circulation routes, floors, moldings, and available electrical points. Note how sunlight and neighboring colors affect each room.
- Map activities before shopping. Mark dining, lounging, reading, storage, work, and guest-sleeping zones. The Milan living room’s three-part arrangement shows why function should come before individual purchases.
- Keep the pieces with personal meaning. Books, art, and small furniture that traveled from a previous home can anchor a new place faster than a complete set of unfamiliar items.
- Sell or donate what blocks the plan. Keenlyside and Attard reduced their belongings before making room for European finds. Editing creates physical and visual space for better discoveries.
- Search for one high-impact need at a time. Start with storage, seating, or lighting rather than browsing without a purpose. Save dimensions and photographs so each candidate can be checked against the room.
- Inspect before finalizing. Look for veneer lifting, warped doors, loose joints, corrosion, odors, cracks, missing hardware, and unsafe wiring. Ask for provenance only when it affects value or care; a compelling story does not repair a damaged frame.
- Add new pieces where reliability matters. Upholstery, a sleeper mechanism, or a correctly sized rug may be easier to source new. Keep the number limited so the room retains the collected balance seen in the Milan apartment.
- Live with the arrangement. Keenlyside estimates that the apartment felt like home in about eight months. Allow time to notice which surfaces need storage, which paths are awkward, and which objects still lack a useful place.
How to evaluate a secondhand credenza
The apartment’s Swedish midcentury credenza is a useful category example, not a recommendation of a particular maker or current listing. For any credenza, inspect the carcass from the back and underneath, open every door and drawer, and measure the interior as well as the exterior.
- Check that the case sits level and that doors align when closed.
- Look for swelling or a musty smell that can indicate moisture damage.
- Examine veneer edges, handles, hinges, and drawer runners for repairs or missing parts.
- Confirm that shelves can carry the intended load and that cable routing is possible if electronics will be stored inside.
- Measure stairwells, elevators, doorways, and turning spaces before arranging collection.
The right question is not whether a listing resembles the Milan piece. It is whether the storage volume, proportions, material, and condition fit your room and your daily use.
Use color as a relationship, not a shopping category
The apartment’s color story grows from context. Warm yellow and rose reflections enter through the windows; the yellow rug intensifies the lounge; the green sofa creates a counterpoint; black kitchen units and stainless steel add weight and a cool industrial note. No single color is asked to dominate every surface.
For a rental, test large color decisions against the light at different times of day before buying upholstery or artwork. Let one strong object establish a hue, then repeat a smaller echo elsewhere. Materials can repeat color more subtly than paint: steel, lacquer, glass, plastic, and woven fibers each change how a tone reads.
What this example does—and does not—prove
Keenlyside’s apartment is one household’s method, not a universal formula or a market comparison. The profile does not provide prices, a statistical study of secondhand shopping, current inventory, or an independent inspection of the furniture. It also does not establish that every channel offers the same selection or that the Navigli market’s 2024 schedule remains unchanged.
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What the account does show is a transferable process: respect the rental’s architecture, edit possessions before adding more, search across several sources, connect objects to real memories, and give each room a clear set of uses. The home feels coherent because relationships—between color and light, storage and material, memory and function—matter more than matching labels.
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