This Designer of the Year Finalist Just Launched a Gorgeous New Furniture Line

It’s tough to decide which of the Aly Velji Designs designs we’ve featured is a personal favourite. The Mount Royal home in Calgary that’s all lightness and angles? The barre studio where a former bank vault was transformed into a snazzy store? The holiday home design that won our Home of the Year in 2020?  

It’s all of the above—and now we’ll add his new furniture collection to the list, too. 

Velji has partnered with Urban Barn to create a 17-piece capsule collection for furniture designs inspired by his travels. Aptly called Wanderlust, the collection ranges from a striking mango wood console, to a vintage-inspired Persian rug in muted creams, cinnamon shades and green, to a statement chair that’s all curves and cozy boucle, and designed to look good from any angle. 

“I knew that I wanted to create a collection that was personal to me, but also really reflected the way I like to design my interiors—mixing patterns and textures, mixing different furniture styles and taking inspiration from my travels,” says Velji. “It’s definitely all about travel and making spaces feel both curated and eclectic.” 

He notes it was important to him that the collection not only be relatable to consumers, but approachable in price point, too—the armchair starts at $1,119, and accent tables are as little as $199. 

Velji’s on site at IDS Toronto this week to launch the collection, and you can feel his breathless enthusiasm when we chatted over this phone about it this past Tuesday. “It was almost a two-year process, this collection, and I can’t believe it’s finally here. “It was definitely a process—a really amazing, creative process.” 

The Wanderlust collection is available online at urbanbarn.com as of January 19, and in stores as of February 17, 2023.