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Our Designer ‘Eat Pray Love’ Moment

Our Designer ‘Eat Pray Love’ Moment

Meet April Tidey

Every once in a while you meet someone who shakes up your preconceptions and makes you see possibilities you had not even considered. So was my meeting with Vancouver Interior Designer, April Tidey. I have never met anyone like her before, and feel so grateful for the introduction by our friend Heather Ross.

Brooke and I, along with Heather Ross of Natural Eclectic, went on a reconnaissance trip to Los Cabos to lay the groundwork for doing a photography course in this beautiful seaside desert.

The trailer that moved April’s possessions to the Baja

Heather has land near April’s homestead so we dropped in to see her. There are no road names or Google coordinates in this part of the Baja so April met up with us at the local ‘stadium’.  She took us to her home, winding our way over dirt roads and rocks. Even in the context of this rugged terrain, I was still unprepared for her home. April lives completely off the grid on a couple of open-air platforms. She loaded up her trailer with her must have items and moved to the Baja some years ago.  At the time of our visit, only a few structures had been completed.

View towards the storage tent and the kitchen

Towards the bathroom and casita

Looking towards the bathroom entrance

The bathroom block was the most complete, with walls, roof, a door and plumbing!

Inside the bathroom

The newly finished bathroom

April’s bedroom casita was built but incomplete as it had no doors or windows, and the kitchen was only a platform with no walls.

Looking towards the bedroom casita

painting by Vancouver artist Patricia Larsen

April’s companion, Jack resting in the casita

Danish bedside table brought from Vancouver to the Baja.

Danish bedside table

April’s George Nelson light that is about to be installed now that she has electricity.

Kitchen cabinetry

The kitchen, complete with a Miele cooktop

April’s Miele cooktop

The living room consisted of a number of designer chairs sitting on the sand encircling a fire pit.

Classic Butterfly chairs

Once over the shock, that a female was comfortable living in such a vulnerable way, all I could see was the sheer and simple beauty of it all. Living off the land in the most basic and humble way. But this was humble and basic with panache! April’s home was so artistically and beautifully decorated. Natural elements, designer pieces brought to the Baja via trailer from Vancouver, and locally found objects made April’s home so striking while underscoring how most of us have so much more than we need. It was, to quote Brooke, “an ‘Eat Pray Love’ moment”.

Aprils’ raw and authentic minimalism goes well beyond the highly curated version we see in magazines.

Heather Ross with April in her right-hand drive jeep.

Would I be able to live on the land with nature, and one dog, the way April does? Probably not, but I so appreciated her strength, sense of style and chutzpah- I definitely had a big fangirl moment. Everyone needs to meet an April at some point in their lives to revisit their own quest for happiness, meaning and self-discovery.

Come with us to the Baja in October for our Learn Photography, Styling and Design Workshop and you too may meet April. Sign up here: BAJA PHOTOGRAPHY