Issue 4, 2019: Modern Renos Edition

DESIGNLINES

Your ultimate guide to Toronto's best contemporary design destinations

DESIGNLINES1 min read
Contributors
What have you done for us lately? My first byline for DL is “Tipping Point,” a story about the Dundas West shop Knife. (p. 104) What did you learn from your visit to the store? I didn’t know that niche boutiques like this one – devoted exclusively to
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Annual Reno Issue
A 2018 poll conducted by CIBC found that 71 per cent of Canadians faced with the choice of renovating or moving would opt for the former. This makes sense, both to me and to Stephen “Love the One You’re With” Stills. But whether you buy new or fix up
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Unique Space. Creative Style.
Condos come in many shapes and sizes. The more unique the layout, the more creative you can be with functionality and flexibility. For example, a 688 sq. ft. plus balcony floor plan at King’s Landing at Concord Park Place in North York is a narrow-sh
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Hot Ticket
Toronto Biennial of Art To Dec 1 The mark of every great city is a large-scale, international contemporary art exhibition. Cue the inaugural Toronto Biennial of Art – a free, 72-day event showcasing more than 100 artworks installed at 10 sites along
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One Thing
Have you ever seen a time capsule? I have, at last year’s Interior Design Show. At a metre and a half long, the black walnut credenza is broad-shouldered with a cinched waist; its legs straddle an elegant undercarriage. Behind two gliding doors are s
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The DL
Batay-Csorba Architects creates an airy home for a ballet academy – in a shopping mall When Chan Hon Goh’s parents – both professional dancers – drove past a 1912 neoclassical building in Vancouver in the late ’70s, the ballerinas fell hard. “This lo
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Six Projects Carving Out Green Space In Unexpected Locations
At The Bentway, park life thrives under an expressway. So why not above, on a railway corridor? Enter Rail Deck Park, a City of Toronto plan for an 8.5-hectare oasis on the tracks between Bathurst and Blue Jays Way. A marquee civic priority, the proj
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Kitchens That Really Clean Up
These farmhouse feels by Ancerl Studio prove that a functional, contemporary kitchen need not be clinical. Seasoned with kitsch-free country accents in stone, steel and wood, this inviting space doubles as an extension to the adjacent living room. Th
DESIGNLINES2 min readArchitecture
Additional Content
The overlapping morning routines of a Roncesvalles family meant that someone always had to shower in their Victorian’s basement, accessed via a scrawny staircase. Add to that an overburdened rear entrance and a cramped upstairs bedroom, and it was ti
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The Magic Touch
THE TYPICAL TORONTO SEMI IS NARROW AND DARK, but people today crave airiness, volume and light. So architects must somehow find ways to open these spaces up. None of the obvious solutions work. You can’t add width to a narrow property. Nor can you pu
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Centre Stage
When photographer Stephanie Bonas first laid eyes on the semi she eventually bought in West Queen West, the place was in rough shape. “It was as though Wes Anderson redirected Grey Gardens in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland,” she says. The heritage
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Light Show
When artist Anna Church renovated her Riverside Victorian, she had a purpose: to find the light. The moment she and her husband, Nick Dalton, bought the house for their family of four in 2014, she started planning. The house was dark, rundown and cra
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Closet Systems
CC’s customized organization and storage solutions maximize the potential of your home’s rooms and closets. Think: Murphy beds, garage workbenches, tailored wardrobes with adjustable shelving, baskets and pullout hampers. For touches of colour, try d
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Contemporary Furniture
This showroom packs avant-garde Spanish seating from Beltá, Oi Side and CasaDesús alongside poufs, benches and poolside furniture by Ross Lovegrove, Javier Mariscal and Karim Rashid. Vondom expands its reach with unconventional planters, lamps and ru
DESIGNLINES14 min readFashion
Design Accessories
Average is a collection of contemporary and classic home objects designed for everyday life. Its founders hand-pick unique pieces from Japanese and European design houses. Find exquisite stationery from Notem, clay kitchenware by 2016/ Arita and fash
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Flooring, Surfacing & Tiles
Explore Caesarstone’s proprietary quartz slabs and consult a pro about their many applications. Sixty-two varieties are showcased with helpful graphics explaining how edges may be trimmed for desired effects. Caesarstone furnishings by top designers,
DESIGNLINES2 min readTechnology & Engineering
Home Entertainment Systems
Private residence or showroom? This immersive outpost for statement-making high-end electronics combines the atmospheres of both. Situated within its luxurious living-room setting, you’ll discover TVs and speakers more akin to sculpture than technolo
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Kitchen & Bath
AC’s focus is squarely on kitchen and bathroom fixtures. Among the 50-plus brands in store are faucets by Blanco and Hansgrohe, rain showers by Aquabrass and Dornbracht, commercial-grade sinks by Elkay, elegant freestanding soaker tubs by Porcher and
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Kids’ Furniture
Refined and cozy, this Rosedale boutique caters to the design-loving parent. Personalize your nursery with bed cushions and printed linens from artist-turned-designer Caroline Z Hurley, poufs and woven baskets from D.A.R Projects, and the EZA collect
DESIGNLINES4 min readFashion
Lighting
AM’s versatile custom lighting studio is home to intricate and imaginative fixtures handmade in Toronto. The gallery is aglow with Swarovski crystal, metal and glass fused, blown and drawn into dramatic sculptural forms. Find shapely porcelain pendan
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Rugs & Carpeting
ARC’s 1,200-square-metre showroom boasts a staggering selection of versatile contemporary flooring solutions, from carpet tiles and area rugs to hardwood, laminate and luxury vinyl. Find innovative products from custom and handmade rugs to extra-wide
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Textiles
This trade-only showroom specializes in fabric, wallcoverings and drapery from such Canadian and international brands as Pindler, Maxwell and Villa. The whimsical Abundance line of wallpaper by JF Fabrics includes prints of swordfish or Victorian roo
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Outdoor Furniture
ARD has all the upscale patio furnishings and accessories you’ll need to transform your backyard or balcony into a resort-inspired retreat. Find abundant seating, including sectionals, loveseats, orb-shaped club chairs and wavy-seated wicker benches.
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Vintage & Reclaimed Furniture
Anazao designs, builds and installs exceptional custom wood furniture, flooring, decor and accents – much of it made from reclaimed and salvaged lumber – as well as complex architectural millwork. Homeowners count on these architects and designers fo
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Wallcoverings & Paint
This Annex shop stocks striking floor coverings and wallpaper otherwise impossible to find in the city. It’s the exclusive Canadian retailer of Object Carpet, whose residential and commercial-grade carpet tiles, broadloom and area rugs come in variou
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Windows, Doors & Fireplaces
Here, it’s business in the front, beautiful sliding barn doors in the back. All custom wooden doors and furniture are made on site using varieties ranging from pine to teak, and finished with made-in-Canada hardware. Highlights include a walnut slab
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Workplace Furniture
The dashing task chairs, desk sets and storage options found in this showroom channel the verve of Suits, courtesy of such design stars as Marcel Wanders, Jasper Morrison and Patricia Urquiola. The Italian-designed, U.S.-produced Lotus chair, availab
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Tipping point
Eugene Ong took the mundane task of knife sharpening and turned it on its head – or point, rather. While employed at a friend’s restaurant as a line cook, he took up honing duties and, against the advice of the head chef, used the opposite side of a
DESIGNLINES2 min readCooking, Food & Wine
Avling
The building started as a 604-squaremetre, single-storey edifice that former Joe Beef prep cook Max Meighen took over in 2017; it took two and a half years to transform the former bean sprout manufacturing plant into a two-storey brewery with a groun
DESIGNLINES2 min readCooking, Food & Wine
Bar Vendetta
Bar Vendetta is all about wine, pasta and… wallpaper. Wallcoverings have become a real focus of interior creativity after decades of niche status, with contemporary companies devising radical new ways to decorate walls. Bar Vendetta’s wallpaper is no

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