![My favourite room: Robyn Manning’s pink-ceilinged dining room](https://media1.thecoast.ca/thecoast/imager/u/blog/23611914/homes2-1.png?cb=1680205590)
Robyn Manning's interior design company, Bricks + Birches, is having a moment. "Things are rocking," says Manning, "starting to really snowball." Where she started out doing residential projects—a lot of cottages on Nova Scotia's rustic north shore or homes for young families in the city, hence the B+B name blending urban and rural—now, coming up on the business's four-year anniversary this May, B+B's reputation extends to commercial spaces, too.
![My favourite room: Robyn Manning’s pink-ceilinged dining room](https://media1.thecoast.ca/thecoast/imager/u/blog/23611916/homes2-3.png?cb=1680205591)
In balancing different types of projects, Manning approaches each one on its own terms, not trying to impose her own style. "My whole philosophy behind the business since day one has been not necessarily about a consistency of one aesthetic, but a consistency of quality," she says. This is on display in her own home, in Kentville. While a lot of her residential clients are going for neutral, sophisticated colour palettes, Manning's house is vibrantly colourful, "very indicative of my art school background."
THE ROOM
![My favourite room: Robyn Manning’s pink-ceilinged dining room](https://media1.thecoast.ca/thecoast/imager/u/blog/23611917/homes2-4.png?cb=1680205589)
THE INSPIRATION
"The dining room is the heart of the home. My living room's off of that, my kitchen is off of that and to me all of those sight lines were very considered, how they all work together." The dining room also has the best light, "so all my plants thrive," says Manning. "I have a red accent table in that room, that doesn't really look like much," she says. But the table is the only piece of furniture Manning inherited from her grandfather, and her father painted it red. Plus the plant sitting on the table is in a pot from her late mother. "So there's a nice family connection to that one piece."
THE DETAILS
"If you saw the bar, you would think that we're quite heavy drinkers," Manning laughs. "But I find that there's a lot of beauty in everyday objects. A lot of the alcohol that we have collected are either from our travels or they're from local companies, and I think those are beautiful everyday objects so they're really for display just as much as they are for enjoyment." Above the bar is a vintage Neptune Theatre poster, another reminder of Manning's mom, who worked at Neptune in the '70s. A painting by friend and tattoo artist Derek Lewis hangs on the wall nearby. The futuristic light fixture is a different kind of happy memory: It was on sale for $32, but the original price tag said $500. Even professional designers love a great deal.