Have you ever been challenged by the windows of the Never Enough boutique on rue Saint-Laurent? Attracted by kitchen objects with an archi-simple and astonishing design, I set foot there for the first time about ten years ago.
I was dazzled by the beauty of the collections of everyday objects, funky, funny and provocative. I bought salad bowls, a pepper shaker and a salt shaker, stirrers, a pitcher and many other objects that I use every day since.
never enough beauty
My mom, Gloria, passed on to me this freedom that we don’t always agree to use our beautiful dishes at all times, even on weeknights. My mother did not wait for special occasions to offer us a neat table. It made you want to stretch out dinner like a Saturday night.
Reunion and departure
I set foot at Never Enough again last week, after two and a half years. Geneviève Cyr, the interior designer owner, told me: “It’s been a long time since we’ve seen you! She told me that Michel, her husband and co-founder of the store, died just before the pandemic. They launched Never Enough 17 years ago with the idea that there is never enough design. Michel Swift was one of the most respected industrial designers in Quebec, a professor at the University of Montreal and at UQAM.
Photo provided by Cyril Derou
Here, some of the objects found at the Never Enough shop.
They married on November 3, after 30 years of union, 3 weeks before his death. No one knew until he left that he had been very ill for the last 22 years of his life.
Photo provided by Cyril Derou
The gaze of others changes, he said. He wanted to remain the same Michel in the eyes of everyone. Geneviève had a huge grief for a year. Recently, she calmed down. It shows in her childish voice and sparkling eyes. She is passionate. And passion is beyond everything for her.
Light for Quebec design
She is actively looking for successors in store. She wants to introduce Quebec design to the international level. There weren’t enough when they started.
Photo provided by Cyril Derou
Michel and Geneviève have always offered a selection of objects for the table and the home which are simple, timeless, everyday and which we would not do without.
I confirm, I bought one more beautiful object and I will never be without it again: a spectacular centerpiece as long as a canoe that will serve as a salad bowl, a fruit bowl or a serving platter in which all the people around my table will get it!
Use her beautiful things
Geneviève invites us to ask ourselves questions in the age of disposables and overconsumption. Buy durable and design objects whose beauty speaks for itself. As a tribute to lasting love, I took out and dusted off my mom’s ceramics that I cherish more than anything to eat there today. Who will do the same with grandma’s silverware?
NEVER ENOUGH
▶ 5155, boul. St. Laurent, Montreal