A Joyful, Eclectic Home That Doesn’t Take Itself Too Seriously

Hey, how's it home? It's Amelia Wisniewski from Studio 191. And today we're at this fun and eclectic townhouse in Leslieville. The clients bought the home a couple of years ago, and it was fine. It was just a little bit bland and not to their taste. It was newly renovated by the previous owner, and they called us because they needed help with zoning out the space, but also being able to infuse some flavor and personality into their new home. They are so full of fizz. I actually said to somebody the other day, you know, when you put like the Mentos into the Coke bottle and then you take off the cap and it explodes like that's them, like in the best way possible. They have very serious jobs, but they don't take themselves too seriously. Even their accessories, their pillows. I think that's what makes this space so unique as well, is because it's a representation truly of them and their personality. In the kitchen, we kept the footprint intact. We took out a row of upper cabinets that were above the range. First of all, they were too shallow. Like you couldn't fit plates in there, which is sort of ridiculous. It's kind of like getting like a little haircut or a trim, like it brightened up the space a little bit and allowed us to install that brass hood vent, some floating shelves, and then also carry up that really cool Italian backsplash. We call it sort of like the Lego or brick backsplash. Some of the other things that we did in the kitchen is change out the cabinet fronts on the pantry wall. And then we ended up extending the kitchen a little bit into the dining room. So we added a catchall cabinet on one side and then the dry bar area on the other side, which then naturally became the extension of the new dining space. We designed a custom brass and glass shelving. Also, they've got like the best collection of 80s and 90s nostalgia stuff, including Muppets drinking cups. That made me cry, like, oh, I remember that as a kid. It really is practical. And it also allows the dining room to be more multipurpose too, right? It's not just a space to like do work at or eat. It's a space to hang out in, have a drink, put on some records. It's a really great extension of the kitchen in addition to the dining room. Where the dining room is now was previously where our clients had a sofa. We just found it weird. It's like you're making stir fry and then you're going to take a nap. Maybe that's great because cooking is tiring. We thought having the dining space adjacent to the kitchen space just makes the most sense. The table and the bench are custom. They needed something that was big. They are vertically a blessed individual. They needed furniture that was proportioned to them, obviously. And that made sense to not just for the two of them when they're here at home, whether eating dinner or working from home, but also when they're entertaining as well. So we were trying to figure out different ways to create some separation, still make the spaces open, obviously, and flow from one space to another. Then we ended up going with this fireplace option. When we presented it to our clients, we actually weren't really sure that they were going to go ahead with this because it is big, monolithic, monumental, but it doesn't feel that way. It feels like it's always been here. This is actually just porcelain tile, but the feel and the texture of the tile is great. It's got terrazzo vibes. Oh, this is a water vapor fireplace. One of the requirements from our clients was is that they do not want to get any hotter. So they didn't need they did not need anything that gave off heat. None of these things. They liked the illusion and the vibes. Our clients also have a puppy as well. Even if they have this fireplace going, there's no worry about the dog getting harmed or anything. The living room and the TV area where it is now was previously a small dining space. Size wise and proportionally, it made sense to have a table and chairs there. But it was just so far away from the kitchen that practically and logically it didn't make sense. It's not super wide and we had a lot of requirements in there. I mean, obviously it has to be a TV viewing space, a lounging space and a space for entertaining as well when they've got guests or family over. The sofa is custom. So we went to our maker. We measured it 950 times, actually had our clients test drive the sofa as well to make sure that the proportions worked for them, that it was comfortable. We did the TV on one wall. It's integrated. It's a frame television. So it looks clean and seamless. And then we have a smaller scale glass coffee table that doesn't feel overpowering. It was important to incorporate extra seating for their guests, for their family. But also, you know, if one of them just wants to extend and pretend they've got an L-shaped sofa or a lounger, they can pull up one of these ottomans and, you know, in front of the sofa and lounge out. I think it's also important in any space, small, big. Think of furniture as multipurpose. Upstairs, the only requirement was they needed a space that was dark and moody, dark and stormy. You know, at the end of a long day, they could just go shut the drapes and just like unwind and relax. Our first and original concept was always to saturate the room in a wash of color. In this case, we went all blue. And then there's hints of copper in there as well and orange. We recommended they paint the ceilings and the trim. The drapery was the same color. And just have everything be dark and consistent and moody. And they loved it. There's a navy grass cloth wallpaper. The drapery is wool. So there's depth and layers. And it just makes the space very three-dimensional. More recently, our clients renovated the bathroom and they said that I inspired them or we inspired them to really saturate that bathroom with color. And it just works and flows so well with the other rooms in the home. I think overall, the look is mid-century, some kitsch. There's a Mad Men reference made today regarding the drapery option that we chose. They have such a great eclectic collection of art. Like they've got tons of art from like local artists. It's a really good representation of our client's personality. That's what brings me joy is seeing our clients excited about their spaces, but not taking themselves too seriously. Like life is hard and our homes should be places that make us happy every day. And I think coming in here, I think you can't be anything but happy. I mean, it's just it's joyful, it's fun and it's full of fizz.