BB Spotlight | Maven & Grace

BB Spotlights feature Edmonton individuals that intrigue, inspire, and interest us and will be published throughout the year. Photography by BB Collective. Written by Fiona Dempsey.

We first discovered Maven & Grace through Instagram when they first opened in the summer of 2015 and it’s safe to say we’ve been obsessed with the store ever since. Carrying a range of antiques, furnishings and other locally sourced products, all of these things add up to make a one-of-a-kind store right here in Edmonton. Kathy Sharp owns the store along with her husband, both of whom also own the amazing Mill Creek Picture Framing a few stores over, and along with manager and good friend Leslie Fenton, these two extraordinary women work together to bring new life to amazing antiques.  

Starting with a hot cup of coffee, because how else does a great chat session start, we sat down in the store, Maven & Grace, along with Kathy and Leslie. To say it felt homey would be an understatement. With a quick coffee spill courtesy of Kathy’s dog, Pippa, we began chatting about all things home décor, antiques and Edmonton. Owning Mill Creek Picture Framing, Kathy has always had a great eye and sense of style, using the small space in the front of Mill Creek to display antique and vintage pieces. With the space being limited in size, Kathy and her husband jumped on the chance to open another store when Maven & Grace’s current location became available, knowing it would allow them to bring in larger pieces. It was an obvious move for Kathy, “It’s always been my dream to have a homeware store and I love vintage and antiques,” she explained. However, the store isn’t solely focused on antique items, with Kathy aiming to source products that are “Produced in a way that is somewhat traditional, more hands on and a small family feel.” The store’s sourcing is highly commendable, something Kathy is responsible for according to Leslie, “Kathy’s done a lot of great sourcing even before she opened the shop and we were first talking and she identified some really unique companies, creating these great products that I think are really cool for people to stumble upon. Maybe it’s a little unexpected to find them but they’re good quality. Everything’s always of the best quality.” 

It was evident from our chat that Kathy and Leslie are more than just co-workers, they’re friends. “I started buying from Leslie,” Kathy replied when I asked how they knew each other. Leslie, who was working in Human Resources and Administration at the time, was selling antiques and vintage items out of a barn on her parent’s acreage along with her mother in her spare time. Fast-forward three or more years, Leslie left her administration job looking for a career change. Maven & Grace was that change. “We just started talking and the timing was perfect,” Leslie said, “We couldn’t have opened this shop without Leslie,” Kathy chimed in. 

Asking how the name, Maven & Grace, came about Leslie quickly said, “I always get are you Maven or are you Grace?” An obvious mistake made by many, however, Kathy did put quite a lot of thought into the name of the store, “Well Maven is an expert or connoisseur and Grace is courteous good will. So basically, Maven, I don’t want to say represents me and sound boastful because I am definitely not an expert in the antiques world, in my personal relationships with my husband I’m the one like ‘this is nice’ and he’s the one who's very accommodating and does the schlepping and the fixing,” Kathy explained. 

Walking into Maven & Grace there is a level of thought put into the store and its pieces that make it truly unique and overtly obvious that both Kathy and Leslie have a true love and passion for antiques. Both agreed that it is the history and the stories behind antiques that make them so special, also the thrill of finding these pieces a new home. Their love and appreciation of antiques definitely isn’t something that has developed recently, with both Kathy and Leslie having had a love and appreciation for them from a young age. “I’d say about probably from the age of 11 or 12, I found some things in my mom and dad’s basement that belonged to my grandfather and I dragged them up to my bedroom and styled it and thought it was really great,” Kathy said.  Leslie grew up looking for something that not only was a good deal but had a story and was rare, “My parents always went to auctions. There’s five kids in my family and we were all dragged to antique auctions that were usually in a community hall or something like that, so we were around it all the time,” she explained.

Shopping for antiques is definitely something that requires patience and a good eye, but both Kathy and Leslie agree flea markets, antique malls and even auctions are the best places when in search for vintage pieces. Leslie explained that the key to finding a great piece is to always be on the lookout, “Whenever I’m travelling I’m always looking for like a cool little thrift store or a garage sale in a little town. Wherever I am I usually gravitate to either a big antique mall or a little shop. Just kind of on the look out for cool stuff wherever I go.”  When it comes to having a favorite item to shop for, “Good textiles, artwork too, I like finding cool paintings,” Kathy said, as for Leslie “It’s probably like religious things, I love icons and crosses, I have statues of saints and things in my house and I’m drawn to the rosaries you know, things like that. That’s what a good church sale is great for.” You can see some of Kathy and Leslie’s amazing finds by just walking around the store, “That lamp right there, with the horn, antler legs, that’s one of my favorites,” Kathy said pointing to a lamp perched beside her. Picking a favorite wasn’t easy for Leslie, “It’s like Sophie’s choice. All of the pieces are beautiful,” eventually deciding on the workbench prominently placed towards the front of the store, something that definitely catches your eye as you walk in. 

If the layout and décor of Maven & Grace is anything to go by, both Kathy and Leslie’s homes would be the perfect mix of warmth and sophistication. “I have mid century pieces combined with antique pieces and the odd rustic piece. Like my dining room table is teak and I have a George Nelson bubble lamp over my table, I also have a small late 1800s secretary desk in my living room, very eclectic,” Kathy explained. Leslie’s home décor follows the same style with a few minor differences, “Mine would be the same, I mean I probably have a little bit more rustic pieces, I like antlers, I like chipped paint, I like metal, I like nature and somehow it all works.“ However, Kathy mentioned a décor style they both admire and love but would never be able to pull off, “I tried to go all minimal, but it just wasn’t me.” “I admire those homes though” Leslie added, “I love a mid century minimal décor and if I’m in that surrounding I’m just like ‘wow I love this’, but with a teenager and a dog we end up with newspapers on the table and magazines piled everywhere”. Leading Leslie to let us in on a great tip when it comes to styling your home, “Buy what you love or collect what you love and bring it in and it will usually work in your home if it’s something that you go for.”

When asked what home they would sneak a peek in, both Kathy and Leslie had alternative answers, not your usual celebrity response, Leslie’s pick was “Something like Grey Gardens, like a peak into an old, decrepit, dusty kind of mansion or something. Maybe its in England maybe it’s in the States but just to walk through the rooms and see some of that old stuff, that would be my pick, just a peek into the past, plus if you could take stuff, too!” For Kathy it was “The Bloomsbury group in the UK, they’ve actually just redone one of their houses, I’ve never really wanted to go to Europe until more recently and I think its because of the history, just wanting to go into some of those houses and even just see the buildings and furnishings.” Yet both Kathy and Leslie agree that it can be ordinary people’s homes that they find most interesting, “People here have good taste and have interesting homes. I’ve always wanted to have sneak peeks into Edmonton homes on our website for Mill Creek,” Kathy said. 

It was evident both Kathy and Leslie have a love and appreciation for Edmonton, with Kathy saying, “There’s great people here, there’s great art and shops. Its just really nice people are into being here and into their homes and interiors. It feels more like a city where people want to be.” Leslie agreeing that it’s the stores making Edmonton such an enjoyable and unique city to live in, “I shop a lot and I love the stores in Edmonton, I think in the last five years there’s so many more independent retailers that are so cool and you can always find something different and I think we’ve added to that mix of stores even though we’ve only been open a few months.” 

Maven & Grace has definitely solidified its place as one of those independent retailers, but its not just the antiques and vintage items that make Maven & Grace so special, it’s the smaller locally sourced products that make the store so different. Carrying brands like Awash, a family run business right here in Edmonton producing handmade natural soap, Leslie’s favorite Vancouver Salt Co., a company based in Vancouver producing Sea Salt in many wonderful flavors, Woodlot, a brand also out of Vancouver making refreshing and calming mists, mineral bath salts, coconut wax candles and soap bars, and finally Kathy’s favorite Waxing Lyrical, handmade 100% Canadian Beeswax candles, produced by a woman just outside of Toronto. Thus there is no denying both Kathy and Leslie know how to source amazing and truly special products. 

For the future, they both have a simple aim, “Just building up our clientele, just to grow and to remain flexible and you know its kind of like fashion, interiors, things change and sometimes it’s just a natural kind of gradual change but just staying with those movements. Continuing to find products we feel are well made and are going to last and are interesting, you know things you can’t find everywhere else and local Canadian as well,” Kathy explained. During our chat I asked them if they had to describe Maven & Grace in three words what would they be. Taking a minute to chat about it, Kathy and Leslie decided on curated, eclectic and community-orientated. Words that sum up the store perfectly, as from the moment you walk in it’s obvious they take the time to choose one-of-a-kind, special items and display them in such a way that they truly shine. It’s also clear that both Kathy and Leslie care about their customers and want to take the time to connect and get to know them, making Maven & Grace a shining star in Edmonton.