The Story Behind James Crossing

Seed Home Designs is pleased to now have our fabrics represented across Canada through James Crossing, alongside a hand selected collection of artisanal wall coverings and textiles from across Europe. This month interior designer and founder of James Crossing, Heather LaRoy, tells the story behind her business; sharing her love of fabric, dreams for the future, alongside the tension of grief and loss in her personal life, which later became the inspiration and catalyst to her new venture.

I first “got involved” with fabric ten years ago when I took up making upholstered headboards or people. I loved wandering through the fabric stores feeling the different textures and dreaming about how I could put them together. It was around this same time that I started dreaming about having a store of my own. I knew the store would have something to do with decor and fabric, but it generally felt like an impossibility at the time. I put those dreams away and instead got my diploma in interior decorating and opened a design business back in 2017.

Just over a year ago my dad died after a short and brutal fight with cancer. At the same time my husband lost his job due to Covid policies at work. My world was spinning, and the only way I could push forward was to distract myself and dream big. My dad was a dreamer and an artist. He had big emotions and big ideas, traits I have inherited from him. My online shop, James Crossing, was born out of this combination of grief and loss, as well as a long-felt love of fabric and a desire to have my own store. I spent weeks shooting texts back and forth with my sister, trying to think of a name for the business which would honour our dad (Desmond James Price). I wanted his name in the title, but I also wanted a name which would evoke a sense of place. ‘Crossing’ was actually our second choice, but it worked on several different levels. A crossing is a location, a reference to our product crossing the ocean to get to us, and in a more metaphorical sense, a reference to my dad’s passage from life to death, as well as a change in direction of my own life.

The product I have chosen to sell brings me great delight, something that has been in short supply over the last year. I love to handle it, design with it and share it with colleagues and home owners. It brings me joy knowing that every time I use it in my own projects or make a sale that I am supporting artists whom I have come to appreciate as individuals as well as craftspeople. I know that my dad would have had a wide range of opinions on the product from delight, to distaste, to amusement. I would have loved to share them with him and watch his varied reactions. I know some would have made him laugh. My dad had always been one of the main cheerleaders of my interior design business. When I wanted to give up because it was hard and I was tired, he (along with my other cheerleader-my husband Steve) would encourage me to push forward. I always miss him and some days I could really use a “rah rah” from him. Starting a new business is difficult and expensive, and in the beginning progress can be painfully slow. But I do sense his pleasure. He would be tickled by having the business named after him. I can still imagine the feel of his proud embrace.

To find out more about Heather’s unique business follow the link to her website by clicking here or Instagram handle here.