Ottawa residents who love a good design road trip have a new destination worth the drive: Kwiat Designs Artistic Lighting and Art House, the gallery and studio Ryan Kwiatkowski runs out of tiny Newboro, Ontario, about 120 kilometres southwest of the city.
From renovator to lamp maker
Kwiatkowski's path into lighting started with houses, not lamps. He and his husband, Alain Bouchard, began buying and renovating homes together, a hobby that eventually led the couple to an 1884 mansion in Newboro, which they bought in 2025. Along the way, Kwiatkowski grew increasingly annoyed that so much of the decor world, stores included, leaned on the same safe, bland neutrals. Twelve years ago, that frustration pushed him to start making his own lighting rather than settle for what was on the shelf.
Eleanor, the first lamp
His first finished piece got a name instead of a model number: Eleanor. It set the tone for a business built on individual, handmade lamps rather than mass-produced fixtures, and Kwiatkowski has kept designing pieces meant to stand out in a room rather than disappear into it.
A gallery with more than lamps
The Art House isn't just Kwiatkowski's own work. His gallery also features glass pieces by Burnstown artist Bettina Baum and whimsical sculptures by Jamie Brick, co-founder of Fantasy in the Forest, giving Ottawa-area visitors more reason to make the trip than lighting alone. It's the kind of stop that rewards browsing, with several local and regional artists represented under one roof in a historic setting.
From Paris to the Rideau Lakes
Before settling into life renovating houses and making lamps in Newboro, Kwiatkowski and Bouchard spent four years living in Paris, an experience that runs through the eclectic, art-forward style now on display in the gallery.
Worth the drive from Ottawa
For Ottawa residents planning a fall day trip, Newboro offers a rare combination: an artist-run gallery, a historic 1884 mansion as its backdrop, and lighting design that stands apart from what's on offer at big-box stores closer to home. It's the kind of stop that rewards a little planning, especially for anyone mid-renovation and hunting for a fixture with real character rather than another catalogue piece.
Earlier this month
Ottawa homeowners tackling their own renovations have plenty of local options too. ottown recently covered how to choose lighting for your home and profiled CPI Interiors, a local firm helping busy professionals get through major remodels without taking on a second full-time job.
Sources: Ottawa Citizen (via Yahoo News Canada syndication)
