Elevating Your Stoop.
April 06 2021, Mercedes-Benz Vancouver
With all the local walks and drives we find ourselves doing these days, neighbourhood gardens have become the ultimate eye candy. As it happens, so have the front stoops and entrance ways of the homes tucked behind those gardens. Now, you no longer have to covet thy neighbour’s front-door foliage—Cindy Mast and Sarah Duyker will make sure of that.
The North Vancouver-based founders of STOOPS Design have built up their brand on providing quarterly subscription services for custom pots and planters. From springtime tulips to autumnal greenery, STOOPS ensures that each project showcases the very best of the season, all year round. Suffice it to say, business has blossomed in the past year.
A Tailored Touch
We’re all spending more time at home and the area outside your front door has likely played double-duty as a distanced space to visit with friends and family in the fresh air. A well-tended planter can beautify that space as if it were an extension of the living room. “We think the first impression of your home is your front stoop,” explains Duyker. “The planters and flowers that you showcase show that your home is truly cared for and lived in.”
Is farmhouse chic your vibe? No problem. Contemporary minimalism? STOOPS has got you covered. With expert green thumbs and a keen eye for design, Mast and Duyker pride themselves on tailoring each stoop-refresh project to complement the individual property’s aesthetic, including selecting planters that specifically suit. Indeed, the founders come by their love of gardening and decor honestly. Mast was raised on her family’s Fraser Valley farmstead, and cultivated her love of greenery from a young age, while Duyker also grew up immersed in gardens, and previously co-founded a wedding planning and design company.
For 2021, the duo is seeing stoop planting trends that range from classic, with layers of textured pots and verdant baskets to create a warm welcome, to contemporary, with sleek planters bursting with colour. “We’re loving a citrus palette for spring with lots of yellow, which also happens to be the Pantone colour of the year” adds Duyker. STOOPS also goes the extra mile by sourcing specialty bulbs so that their horticultural looks stand out from the crowd.
Beyond the Stoop
If you’re in the market for something special for another area of your home, STOOPS provides container planting for outdoor living spaces, like patios and pool decks, and will work alongside any regularly scheduled landscapers that a home garden may have. For those in search of a small-scale quick fix, pre-planted containers filled with flowers and greenery are also available (dubbed “seasonal starter STOOPS”) without a subscription throughout the Greater Vancouver area. These come with inserts that can be easily interchanged as the seasons change. Recently, to further augment their offerings, Mast and Duyker launched an online shop called STOOPS Essentials that features stunning wreaths, chic watering cans, woven door mats, and more.
Currently, STOOPS offers onsite planting in the North Shore, Downtown Vancouver, and the West Side, beautifying neighbourhoods one stoop at a time.
