Interior Design- This Downtown Condo Was Transformed Into A Luxurious Pied-à-terre

We're in the 58th floor at the Shangri-La Residences in Toronto and our client is someone who uses the space as his weekend home and getaway. He lives outside of the city during his nine to five but on the weekends he likes to come here to enjoy the city and what it has to offer. The space is around 1,600 square feet. It was pretty much builder grade from what was constructed at the Shangri-La in 2012. So all of those finishes hadn't been touched and if you know the building you would recognize the space once you saw it. I knew that this would be a perfect opportunity to also bring in one of my friends and designers Alina to collaborate with me on the design. Although I'm attuned to doing solo projects, I always find that having another set of eyes really brings new energy and allows us to push that design just so much further. We wanted to bring elements into this space that remind you of what it's like to be in the city and when you're walking around the streets of Toronto you often find yourself going through a skinny alleyway between two buildings to get to a destination. So that's what we wanted to do at the entryway. We've encased it in this beautiful dark stained oak paneling which creates that sense of being between these two buildings in this moody atmosphere and at the end of that you get this beautiful framed opening which shows this gorgeous art piece at the end and lets the light from the unit really flood in and leads you into the space. We really wanted to create a breaking point, a transition between the kitchen and the living space so it didn't feel so culinary because you see and feel everything all at once. So we clad the existing island in this beautiful arabesquato corchia marble. We did it in a hone finish and we played with some of the angles and the profiles to just make it feel like a sculpture. We played off of that existing wood tone of the cabinets and pulled that in to create a dining banquette. The color is tone on tone and it just makes the kitchen feel so much bigger and because the client again is in the city he likes to go and eat out just having that casual dining space that focuses your view into the unit and also to the view outside which you get to see the CN Tower just allows him to enjoy the space so much more. We wanted some of that Canadiana design and the client loved the idea of having a live edge table so we worked with a local fabricator and sourced out this beautiful claro walnut burled cookie and it's just a great element as well to get to touch and feel when you're dining at that space. Surprisingly that chair is very very comfortable I know it doesn't look like it is. Again we're in this one large condo space so you want it to feel livable and fully decorated so we wanted this decorative moment in the kitchen that led into the dining space so that it didn't feel again too culinary so we extended that to make it feel as one and for the range hood we just did this really beautiful venetian plaster finish. Because we're dealing with condo elements in the ceiling and bulkheads we wanted to pare down the lighting but also still showcase where we have some of those more decorative fixtures so we decided to go with two sets of these flush mount cylinder fixtures that shine over the island and then over the dining table play with something that's a little bit more contrasting to focus on that area as a separate point in a nice black. In the living room area one of the major challenges that we faced was actually dealing with this existing column that was in the space so if you look at the before photos you can see that there was something wacky happening there where the fireplace and the tv were very off from each other so we wanted to combat that right away so the fireplace wall became our focal point and our jump off point for the rest of the living room. We knew we wanted to get large flat screen tv in there with a sound bar and a fireplace with some beautiful patinated steel and continuing that marble along as this very cool plinth which becomes a decorative moment which we've styled a lamp on and also some more accessories. We've also included an informal bar in that area as well that locks up and conceals but when you open it up you get that pop and injection of color that you'll see throughout the unit and a couple other areas. So to pair with the size and the scale of our fireplace wall we wanted to have a large sectional as well something comfortable the client expressed to us that he loved to be able to sit and lounge with friends and watch the game so we focused on that and then we played with the coffee tables as well again with that scale so these are actually custom steel coffee tables that we had made locally by make design studio and we designed them to actually be two coffee tables that play with each other to create this larger piece great for styling also great for shareables and food and doing all of that and then a decorative moment over by the lamp area in the corner here we wanted to create a little vignette so if you're sitting and reading you can have the lamp on you sit in your little chair you can look at the beautiful view outside as well and just enjoy the space. So the primary bedroom was a full blank canvas there was really nothing going on in there at all so a few things that we did to make it feel cozy and make it feel like a hotel was we decorated the walls in this really beautiful wallpaper and to us it reminds us of rain falling down on a window so it feels very peaceful in there everything is there in the headboard we have some led lighting that washes up on the wallpaper we have convenience outlets there and beautiful drawers with mitered corners so all the details are considered. We did a custom bed as well to fit within there and a custom rug in that mossy green color so it feels like you're again outside in the rain. Throughout the unit we've really considered how does lighting play into the day and the night so it's in the nighttime and you just have those pendant lights on because of the way that it's wired meshed the light actually illuminates and reflects beautiful patterns all over the room so it just feels very calming and then we have a convenience reading light as if you were at a hotel so that when you want to read a book in the evening you have that light right there. In the guest bedroom we wanted it to be multi-functional for guest use and also for his daughter when she comes on the weekends so of course we have our king bed some floating nightstands and to finish the space off we have this custom walnut console which acts as a desk. The three-piece guest bathroom we really wanted to make it feel like a powder room and conceal the shower so we've done that by actually having the existing marble shower still there and cladding that with some fluted glass which conceals what's behind it and of course we had to have that focal point moment and that's that bedrock marble sink that was custom. We carved the sink into it as well and did mirrors all the way up to the ceiling to feel expansive but still provide function where all of those open up and you can hide your toothbrushes and any other miscellaneous things that would be needed when you're using the space as a full bathroom. So the surprise room that you don't really know is there is right off of the entryway so if you come into the space what looks like paneling when you open it up actually leads into a full other room and that room is what we call the movie room so we did the ceiling in this really gorgeous red tone that illuminates from led lighting when it's lit up so that room is supposed to be very cozy and dark and it doubles as a bedroom for his son when he's over and that sofa pulls out into a queen bed so he can game in there but you can also be used when the client has friends over and wants to lounge and watch a movie as well. Our primary goal when developing this space for him was that he could have that dual function of gathering with friends and hosting on the weekends and also having family time here to make precious memories so just creating those moments where everything feels seamlessly blended but cleverly concealed was what made everything come together. Not only that but the transition of the space thinking of it from day to night with all the lighting that we've created in here the light box moment in the kitchen as well to create this fun atmosphere in the evening really allows it to be that bachelor pad but also a family space. He has been wowed by the transformation that's happened especially from when he walked in and honestly his unwavering trust throughout the process really allowed us to do what we do best and really curate from top to bottom. It's a fantastic space both for him and his kids and also for his friends.