The Big World of Interior Design

A recent meeting at an office in downtown Toronto had me reminiscing about the earlier half of my career when I designed corporate interiors.  On this trip to Toronto I had the pleasure of attending a meeting in one of the most well designed spaces I've ever been in with stunning city views, perfectly appointed furnishings and impeccably planned details.  I could write volumes about the infinite design details that played out just in the lobby and boardrooms alone.

The commercial sector of the interior design industry employs the largest number of designers and makes up the highest volume of projects dollar wise and square footage wise encompassing hospitality, retail, personal services and business spaces. When you think about it, outside of your home almost every space you experience is designed by interior designers - from your corner starbucks to the movie theatre to the airport lounge, to shoe boutiques and all of those 9-5 office facilities both urban and sub-urban - large teams of interior designers and technicians design and plan these spaces.  In comparison, the residential sector of this industry is a tiny drop in the bucket yet it dominates the media and the public's perception of what interior design is.

For Interior Designers who have experienced working in commercial design you'll understand when I say that the residential market of interiors its an entirely different world, one that leaves us staring at HGTV with tilted heads and raised eyebrows wondering what the heck any of that has to do with interior design (!?), at least the world of interior design as we know it.

I've always felt that what we see happening in the commercial side of the design industry leads the way for what we'll see translating into residential spaces.  Fashion certainly has a large influence too but what we see in public environments makes a big impression on our aesthetics for our own homes.  Its common for clients to send me photos of things they've seen in hotels or restaurants that they want to incorporate at home.  Stainless steel appliances and countertops, back painted glass, floating shelves, recycling centres, giant screen monitors, halogen pendants, engineered flooring, green products.....all of these things were common place in commercial spaces a decade before they were mainstream for the home.  Same goes for mid-century modern furniture.  Fifteen years ago the only people you'd ever find with a barcelona chair in their living room would be an architect or designer, who've been using them in commercial spaces for half a century.  I remember just starting out in my career how much I idolized Barbara Barry but I only knew of her from the commercial spaces she had designed.  

I think my experience with commercial projects has been invaluable in understanding the technical side of built environments, in understanding the construction process and in learning how to work with contractors, trades and craftsmen.  For Interior Design students who may be graduating this year, I would suggest that even if your hope is to work on residential interiors that you don't completely disregard opportunities to work in other sectors and become as diversified as possible, if not soley for the chance to develop and hone your aptitude for details.

Some of my favorite things about working in commercial design and some of the most important things I learned are also many of the aspects I see lacking in the residential field so take advantage of work experience you can acquire elsewhere in the industry, the more diverse your design experience the better.  Either way if you are passionate about design then travel as much as possible, never stop studying art history and always keep your eyes open to soak in the details.

I've always wished there was a TV show that showcased interior design projects other than just private residential spaces. There is a big big world of interior design happening out there that is rarely showcased or celebrated outside of its own industry but yet it influences our lives on a daily basis making our experiences positive or negative, memorable or forgettable.  Personally I can never stop admiring great design in any type of venue and nothing stops me in my tracks like perfectly planned details.


All photos by:   Carol Reed

Riverdale Reno: Progress

On a recent site visit for this project I was so pleased to see how all of the details of this renovation have come together.  Creating two new luxe bathrooms out of one large outdated one has been part of an extensive transformation process for this Victorian semi in Toronto.  You can read an overview of the design brief and view before and after floor plans of this second floor reno project here.   As I mentioned in that first post the design vision for the master ensuite space took a dramatic turn in direction from the initial concept meetings.  I had come up with a floor plan solution that my client approved in no time but deciding on finish materials was a much slower process and one that really pushed me to embrace some details and finishes that I wasn't entirely confident about.

Bathroom concept design sketch by Carol Reed Interior Design.

From the beginning the homeowner had a very clear idea of all the features he wanted IN his bathroom however, he didn't have as clear a vision of what he wanted the space to *look* like when it came to colour of materials and finishes.  This sketch above was something I prepared for him to help him visualize the new space and this then really helped him pin point what he didn't want.  This was definitely the look he wanted in his Guest Bathroom, lots of white marble on the floors and walls with a walnut vanity.  But for the master,,,he immediately decided dark and and sexy was the direction he wanted to take, further to that, he wanted a dramatic ledgestone feature wall.  This is when as a designer,,,,you truly have to tune in to what your client wants and not be blinded by your personal preferences.  You need to always be open to new concepts and directions and then use your expertise to filter and edit, not dictate.  Clearly this room nudged me in a new direction but I thoroughly embraced the opportunity and I am completely thrilled with the results.  

As you can see from these photos, this is quite a departure from the initial sketch.  The dark stone on the floor and the dark ledgestone on the tub wall is a striking contrast with the white marble used for the counter and tub deck and on the shower walls.  This photo above was taken just after the custom tv-in-mirror was installed.  The warm tones of the custom walnut slab tub panel and vanity is stunning against the grey.  One of the great features we kept from the old space was a skylite which floods the room with lots of natural daylight.  I think all the white marble, the mirror and the daylight beautifully balance all the dark grey. The homeowner and I are still on the hunt for the 'perfect' light fixture.

Even though there was a lot of different materials going on, including 4 different stone materials, I used them in a very monolithic way - each one of them used singularly and in an uninterrupted pattern.  The floor is a large rectangular tile laid in an alternating offset, the wall tiles are long narrow rectangles laid in a brick pattern in rows of alternating heights, the ledgestone is very thin long pieces of horizontal split face stone panels installed from wall to wall.  In designing this bathroom , there was a lot of consideration paid to mixing various patterns, mixing smooth with rough, light with dark, large with small.  In building it, there was an incredible amount of skill required in order to seamlessly integrate all of these different materials and details together.  Not for the faint of heart.

The master bedroom got a mini reno too.  New carpet, new trim work, new paint and an entire new wall of closets now on the left side of the bay window.

The guest bathroom was not quite as far along as the master ensuite.  On this day the custom walnut wood frame for the mirror was about to be installed.  We are also awaiting a pair of tall french windows that will be outfitted with polished chrome cremone hardware. : )

Here's an older progress pic of the guest bathroom shower under way.  Again, a departure for me with so many different tiles being used.  The mini cararra 'chiclets' on the floor are my favourite!  Outside the shower the bathroom floor is finished with extra large, slab like, cararra marble tiles.

The guest bedroom has seen a lot of changes too.  Starting with a new pair of french doors and a juliette balcony,,,new carpeting, trim work, paint and hardware.  Its a small space but its jamb packed with luxe details.  A new upholstered bed was the first of the new furniture to arrive.  This will be flanked with mirrored night tables and a pair of antique alabaster lamps.  We've got some gorgeous graphic fabric picked out for the draperies and hits of bright coral coloured prints for the bed. 

Its been a long process but this house is almost ready to welcome its first overnight guest, but I've forewarned my client that they just might never want to leave! ; )  

All photos by:   Carol Reed

Style at Home: Luxe Retreat

What a surprise to flip thru the current issue of Style at Home and see a bathroom from one of my projects featured!  This is a bathroom I designed some time ago as part of an extensive reno of a 3 level condo owned by my then sister-in-law Kara.  I had such fun with the details in this guest bathroom, generally I'm not one for doing lots of various tiles in one room but in this case Kara fell in love with a collection of marble tile samples I had gathered up on a table and had to have them.  Her only request was that I use them all, but aside from that I had free reign to do whatever I wanted with the design.  I used a 3 x 6 honed calacatta marble as the starting point which was installed in a brick pattern in the shower and in a herringbone pattern on the floor.  Around the calacatta I created some classic hotel style border lines using marble mosaics on the floor and glass listellos in the shower.  The end result is a truly luxe looking space that I hope makes her guests feel extra special. 

I'm thrilled to see this little gem of a space on the pages of the March issue.  For the full bathroom story you can check out the March issue on Zinio.com or in print on newstands now. You can view more photos of Kara's condo previously published in Style at Home on their website here.

Style at Home