Maureen Welton, the cofounder and co-owner of Vancouver's 18Karat, attends some 10 trade shows a year and travels 50 per cent of the time.

In fact, she wasn't able to be there when 18Karat was recently honoured at the ARTS Awards -a kind of Academy Awards for the North American home-accessory industry organized by the Dallas Market Center, and by ART, a trade association of companies active in the multi-billion-dollar accessory-and-accent business.

Welton's 18Karat was a winner in the event's "decorative accessories" category -it was also a winner in the category in 2004 -but Welton was at a trade show in Las Vegas and then off to the Interior Design Show in Toronto.

For someone so busy, she is remarkably serene. And that's no doubt because of her home on Saturna Island, the place where she goes to relax and recharge.

"Travelling to Asia, Europe, North Africa, India, every day I'm in a new place," says Welton, who also has an apartment in Vancouver. "I need a place to feel grounded -close to the earth, by the ocean, in a forest."

The Saturna home's minimalist structure of concrete, metal, glass and wood reflects the 18Karat lessis-more philosophy of creating places that are peaceful antidotes to the hype and over-stimulation of our daily lives.

All the household water is rainwater-collected from the roof; heat is supplemented by wood from windfalls or construction waste; and engineers monitored the sun throughout the year so the windows could be oriented for maximum sun in the winter, but shaded in the summer.

There are two simple buildings joined by a patio: the main residence with an open living room and kitchen area up and a bedroom and bath down, and a detached studio with a kitchenette, bathroom and two bedrooms that also serves as a guest house.

Perched on a sandstone cliff, both offer soaring views of the San Juan Islands to the south and the pounding surf below.

Colours are neutral. "I work so much with colour," says Welton, "that to create a peaceful space, there's no colour. And I spend a lot of time working with stuff, so I didn't want to deal with a lot of things. I want it to be kind of empty."

Just about everything is from 18Karat.

Some pieces, like the Mu stools at the eating bar and low marble-topped Shi coffee table, were designed by Peter Cardew and are sold through 18Karat.

Apart from some small, colourful canvases painted by kids in the family, there is little artwork because Welton keeps changing her mind about what she wants, the house has few walls, and so much of it is about the view. "I never get used to the view," she says. "It's always different."

Despite the panoramic views through the floor-to-ceiling windows, her favourite is framed in a window at the end of the long flight of stairs to the bedroom "because it's a snapshot."