Living in a showroom: In this Calgary loft, all the art and furnishings are for sale

For Greg Fraser, co-owner of DADE Loft, everyday life is a curated experience: He meticulously picks out every piece of art that goes on his walls and every piece of furniture on display in his living space. But all that work isn't just for him. Fraser and his partner, Darcy Lundgren, conceived a unique retail concept – from their home in Calgary's quirky Inglewood neighbourhood. To be clear: This is not a home store; the home is the store. Fraser calls it a "living showroom," a "three-level immersive experience," in which about 95 per cent of the furnishings, artworks and objects are for sale.

Fraser and Lundgren started DADE in 2007. Originally housed in a white-walled gallery, then a more traditional retail environment, the founders landed at their current location two years ago – a move that required rethinking and rebranding the entire operation. "We decided, we don't know if Calgary is ready for this, but we're going to do it anyway," Fraser says.

The living room, with its multistorey salon wall, is definitely outside the box. Initially, exclusively representing southern Alberta artists, DADE's mandate has expanded over time. "We felt that hanging [the work of a local artist] next to somebody who's a bit more international elevates both the works," Fraser says. Barry Lorne's mixed-media piece The Beggar's Opera hangs above the fireplace, accompanied by a vase and urn from the Jonathan Adler Versailles collection. Adler's brass pill box series, a favourite of Fraser's, in Xanax, Viagra and Quaalude varieties, grace a marble side table, atop a thickly knit rug by Gan.

Fraser curates the eclectic mix of furnishings and objects, frequenting trade shows and design fairs for inspiration on what to carry next. He's currently excited about a toilet-paper line from Portugal, a Swedish brand of electric toothbrushes and, most of all, DADE's recent entry into apparel, with tuxedos, swimwear and jumpers by Mr. Turk newly on offer. Fraser happily tests all the products himself and gives his personal stamp of approval. "Almost like an inherent quality control because we're experiencing it day to day," he says.

Whereas most might twinge at the thought of parting with their prized possessions, Fraser and Lundgren mostly take it in stride. Seeing a unique object go – such as Greg Ball and Shoko Cesar's Hoodoo lamp, displayed at Alberta House at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, which sold almost immediately – can be a gut punch, but these are rare occurrences. "We don't necessarily see things as ours, because in most cases, there's a price tag on it," Fraser says.

The biggest challenge, Fraser says, is the constant rotation: The salon wall is a case in point. "If we sell a piece of it, we rarely have another that's the exact same size, so it turns into this puzzle," Fraser says. "We end up having to move everything." But Fraser, for one, welcomes the churn. "You're not walking in and seeing Page 18 of a catalogue," he says. "Because it is that eclectic mix." For non-Calgarians, unable to experience the loft firsthand, DADE is relaunching its website in April with an e-commerce option that will allow anyone to experience and own a small part of Fraser and Lundgren's curated lifestyle.

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