Design Crush: This Calgary Breakfast Spot Serves Up Colour with Your Coffee

A stark space sees a new day, thanks to a bold surge of colour.

When interior designer Amanda Hamilton first entered the industrial West Springs space that would house Brekkie, one of Calgary’s coolest new brunch spots, she was faced with a few challenges.

For one, the 1,650-square-foot room felt cold and sterile, all concrete blocks and stark white surfaces (“The exact opposite of what you’d want to have breakfast in,” recalls Hamilton), and there was also a tight budget—and even tighter deadline—to contend with. It turns out, however, that the problem was nothing a bright jolt of colour couldn’t remedy.

An electrifying palette of tangerine, green and navy now saturates the space from the plastic Toou chairs and retro banquettes by Timeless Upholstery to the vintage baskets, ceramics and other knickknacks that line the wood shelves—creating what Hamilton describes as a “relaxed market” vibe. The hues are even carried into the restrooms, where blue spoon-shaped signs by Q&Co Graphics decorate unmissable orange doors.

“There’s sort of a colour explosion,” says Hamilton. “Yet, when you’re in there, it doesn’t feel obnoxious, it doesn’t feel over the top. It feels really good.”

The palette is grounded by hits of black and white in the faux-marble-topped, diner-style tables and existing lighting fixtures—but, of course, we can’t talk about Brekkie without mentioning that mammoth Mondrian-esque mural. Designed by Hamilton’s team and brought to life by local paint specialists Interiors to Inspire, the installation spans two walls and is made up of 15 graphic variations of the word “brekkie,” which are enlarged and remixed to form a sort of postmodern, geometric work of art.

No matter which way you squint or tilt your head, however, you won’t be able to make out the letters. “It was never really meant to be read,” explains Hamilton. “It was sort of our secret Easter egg that we planted in there.”