From Start to Finish: Black Mountain Design Group

Meet Hali Gallerno, the owner and Interior Designer at Black Mountain Design Group! Located at 660 Dundas Street, this is a one-stop shop for all things interior design. The husband and wife combo have been in the business of renovation and interior design for more than 20 years, but their retail space has been open in Old East Village for three years. “My husband takes care of the renovation side of our company, and then I'm the interior designer, so I do all the design work and project management,” Gallerno says.

For people looking to redesign their home, Black Mountain Design Group is the place to be from start to finish. “I go to see clients, figure out what their needs are, and then we try and walk through from the beginning of the process all the way to the end into furnishing,” Gallerno says. “We have a shop here in London where we build our furniture, and we also build our own cabinetry. You come here, you meet with the designer, you can renovate and build your dream furniture. You can do everything.” In addition, many of the products that Black Mountain Design carries are either locally or Canadian made.

From start to finish, Black Mountain Design is a part of the process of revitalising your home. The process starts with 3D renderings of the client’s home, from which Gallerno can figure out what the client’s needs are and customize the design to the space or renovate if needed. “The thing I love about design is it's creating something special for somebody that could change their life that brings them so much joy,” she says. “I'll provide a design package for a client, and then we do the renovation. And then after that, they can come in, they can do furniture, they can do decor, and it's all customized. So we sit down and figure out what they need.” 

Prior to opening their location in OEV, Gallerno had her own business, Gallerno Interiors, since her mid-20’s. Her husband, John Dignard, had his own contracting business. The two combined their businesses and moved from the GTA to London in 2019. Originally, their retail space was located in downtown London, but they relocated to the area soon after. “When we moved here, we loved that this was kind of an artsy neighbourhood, we're artsy people,” she says. “Things are a little rough right now, but I have a really good feeling that things are going to improve drastically over the next five or so years, and we're interested in being here for the growth of it too.”

As for their favourite part of being an OEV business? Gallerno says that the business owner community in OEV is one of the most supportive she’s been a part of. “Everybody stays connected here, I just find everybody is totally willing to have a conversation with you about what's going on, and how to make things work,” she says. “People are just super passionate about this community. We’re excited to be a part of that too, if we’re here and we do okay, then maybe someone else feels comfortable to move in and keep OEV going.”

Black Mountain Design Group is open Monday to Wednesday by appointment, and Thursday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

📍 660 Dundas Street

☎️ (538) 689-9098

🌐 www.blackmountaindesigngroup.ca