Issue 2, 2023

DESIGNLINES

Your ultimate guide to Toronto's best contemporary design destinations

DESIGNLINES1 min read
Designlines
designlinesmagazine.com Catherine MacIntosh Joseph Cicerone Rebecca Payne Veronika Aquila, Patrick Biller, B.F. Dawes, Matthew Hague, Simon Lewsen, Anna Lin, Silvana Longo, Scott Norsworthy, Carolyn Pioro, Rosemary Poole, Rebecca Shore Winn, Andrew S
DESIGNLINES1 min read
Contributors
Matthew Hague is a graduate of the University of Waterloo School of Architecture who has written about design, interiors and architecture for many of Canada’s top publications, including Toronto Life, the Globe and Mail, Azure and, of course, Designl
DESIGNLINES1 min read
One Thing
From wall dividers in the shape of cityscapes to cloud-like ceiling fixtures, Ayrsonics brings beautiful design to sound control. The manufacturer has reimagined soundproofing with its high-quality, custom acoustic materials in innovative forms. Amon
DESIGNLINES1 min read
Bookish Types
STATEMENT PIECE The wall-mounted Branch Shelving System by Gus Modern is a minimalist and modern bookshelf option made of solid wood with metal hardware. The adjustable shelves can be configured to make the most of your space. $2,590, at Simons OUTSI
DESIGNLINES2 min read
The DL
To her more than 500,000 YouTube subscribers, Alexandra Gater is not merely another content creator, she’s the inspiration behind every decorative cabinet knob and statement wall in their homes. Gater’s playful and trend-driven DIY hacks cater to ren
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Yaw Tony’s World
A yellow-scarfed peacock pulls at a string while a pink face looks on from the doorway above, leading to a utopian setting with an “eye” looking out with an astronaut on the moon (he’s also the same size as the moon). This is but one scene from the h
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Home Gallery
STRIPPED Among the many one-of-a-kind objects in Leslieville’s Mararamiro, this unglazed sculpture by local ceramicist Angela Cho proves the beauty of handmade vessels – even in their most raw and natural state. $1,150, at Mararamiro. FREESTANDING In
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Rising Stars
This Finnish design company produces brutalist-inspired objects made of domestic pine, which, in lighting, creates a gentle glow reminiscent of balmy summer days. 1003 Hans Pendant. $2,040, at Klaus. In the pursuit of circular design, this Montreal-b
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Letter From The Editor
In walking this city, I have come to see what we value in terms of design, how we push forward. It’s also been eye-opening to see our urban landscape through another person’s lens. For this issue, I walked with artist Martin Reis around Queen West, w
DESIGNLINES1 min readArchitecture
DL’s Picks
These emerald Smart Tiles are heat resistant and suitable as a backsplash in bathrooms or even around a fireplace. $32/4 tiles, Lowe’s. These modern peel-and-stick tile panels by WallPops have a high shine finish and can be easily trimmed with scisso
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Stone Age
AU NATURAL Laminam produces innovative, high-quality ceramic surfaces. From its Fokos collection, the tactile and nature-inspired Talco surface can withstand high-traffic areas, both indoors and out. Pricing upon request, at Stone Tile. SMOOTH AS SIL
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Ode to Italy
Over the past decade, Argentinian architect and industrial designer Daniel Germani has partnered with Cosentino on three occasions, bringing his eye for industrial materials and forms to their Dekton line of engineered stone surfaces. His latest coll
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Kapwani Kiwanga
Enter the lobby of MOCA Toronto, and you’ll encounter a heavy curtain suspended from the ceiling, its material thick and woolly, like fibreglass insulation or bison pelt. This textile sculpture, called Elliptical Field (2023), is the work of Kapwani
DESIGNLINES2 min read
The Fine Arts of Tile
Black Rock Studio believes in the William Morris adage, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” The useful beauty of all things clay is what fired up studio founder Catherine Carroll to aim for the h
DESIGNLINES3 min read
Gather Round
Like so many homes in its vicinity, this three-storey Edwardian near High Park had been carved up into apartments long ago, much of its original character stripped away. The current owners, a couple with two children and a dog, had purchased the home
DESIGNLINES1 min read
New Classics
Made of thermal shock–resistant borosilicate glass, the Pour Over Carafe by Yield allows for easy handling and superior heat retention. Not to mention, its emerald hue makes a modish display piece on countertops. $110, at Easy Tiger Goods. Designed b
DESIGNLINES2 min readArchitecture
Frame Of Mind
The new owners of this house first reached out to architect Brenda Izen after seeing one of her previous renovation projects – a century-old, two-storey, red-brick detached with a hipped roof. They, too, had recently bought a two-storey, detached, re
DESIGNLINES3 min read
Work Life Balance
When architect Noam Hazan purchased a 1950s red-brick bungalow in a North Toronto neighbourhood, it looked like it hadn’t ever been renovated. He lived there for seven months with his wife Eden and two children, Benson, 6, and Bailey, 4, before embar
DESIGNLINES2 min readArchitecture
Amazing Space
“We started out wanting a third-floor master suite with a washroom. Tura provided us with a vision of a full renovation,” says Tricia Holzworth, who lives in this late Victorian bay-and-gable with her husband Scott Daigneault, their two sons, Henry,
DESIGNLINES1 min read
Shop Guide
Local glass door and window retailers to take your renovation to new heights. Triple-glazed doors and windows featured in the Ancaster Creek project by Williamson Williamson. TORPINC.COM *For more listings, visit designlinesmagazine.com ■
DESIGNLINES2 min readArchitecture
Dreaming in Colour
As Toronto renovations go, this one stands out. In 2019, homeowners Matt Kingston and Michelle Bilodeau weren’t looking to move, but the opportunity to purchase a detached house with great bones on a quiet street was too good to pass up. Located in L
DESIGNLINES2 min readArchitecture
Cool Factor
Entrepreneur Randall Papineau lives in Mississauga, but his newly renovated home evokes Southern California, where he often travels. Throughout the 3,000-square-foot space, sand, sage and sunset tones pop against a neutral palette. “I often feel like
DESIGNLINES11 min read
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 free-standing soaker tubs by Porcher an
DESIGNLINES6 min readArchitecture
Windows, Doors & Fireplaces
A true love of craft – for solid wood and traditional techniques – is on full display at 1925, with its studio in the front, workshop in the back. The specialty: handcrafted solid wooden doors and furniture, panel and glass doors, and hand-welded met
DESIGNLINES5 min readArchitecture
Lighting
Here’s something a little different: innovative luminaires in a lovingly restored and fully furnished heritage home where consumers and industry pros alike can explore functional vignettes of architectural and decorative lighting. Good ideas abound:
DESIGNLINES10 min readArchitecture
Flooring, Surfacing & Tiles
Consult Caesarstone professionals on your desired applications of their proprietary quartz slabs; this global innovator’s Toronto showroom features 62 varieties. Use Piatto’s deep black hues for dramatic kitchen islands and backsplashes. Calacatta’s
DESIGNLINES2 min read
Patch Work
“I want to add colour to the city. We have to ask, ‘what do we want our cities to be?’” says multimedia artist Martin Reis. We meet up two Saturdays in a row at Queen and Shaw streets, first to select a good spot for patching a brick wall with Lego,

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