Interior design: Room to breathe 

White cabinetry, a stone backsplash and integrated oak shelving strike a clean, warm balance with the dark island base. Photo by Valerie Cox 

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In Toronto’s east end, a young family of three and their dog were living with the challenges common to urban homeowners: an awkward, disjointed layout, mounting clutter and a chronic lack of storage. The challenge was creating a clean, contemporary interior that still felt warm and responded to the realities of everyday family life. 

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 For principal designers Tamara Robbins Griffith and Jess Dybenko of Kerr + Field Interiors, the transformation began with an important structural decision.  

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“The powder room was right in the middle of the main floor, between the dining room and the kitchen,” says Robbins Griffith. Besides taking up prime real estate between two common areas, it was impeding the flow of light. Moving it to one side unlocked the layout in a single move. From there, the back wall was opened up, replaced with large panes of glass and tall sliding patio doors. “In opening up that view at the back of the house, it makes the outdoors blend seamlessly with the interior,” says Dybenko. “All the more reason to tie in colours from the trees and the sky.” 

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An appliance garage is a clever kitchen feature that designer Tamara Robbins Griffith says is growing in popularity with clients. Photo by Valerie Cox  

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Nature’s hues and two pieces by the Toronto artist Steven Nederveen, a friend of the homeowners, deeply influenced the colour scheme. His luminous mixed-media artwork blurs the line between photography and painting, capturing forests and oceans in heightened, almost dreamlike colour. “Between the waves of Steven’s piece for the dining room and a wallpaper they fell in love with for the powder room, it became apparent that blue would be the primary accent colour,” says Robbins Griffith. From there, a palette of black stone, bleached oak, deep navy and crisp white took shape. Modern and restrained, yet warm with personality. 

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Open-concept living is only as good as its planning. With every zone visible at once, visual cohesion and concealed storage aren’t optional. When you have separate rooms, you can design them one at a time. But when it’s all out in the open, these rooms become zones in one space,” says Dybenko. For this family, that meant confronting years of accumulated clutter head-on and building a home that could finally keep up. 

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One of two Steven Nederveen works — a dreamlike forest scene — brings a nature-inspired colour story full circle in the living room. The charcoal sectional and sculptural pebble coffee table were custom ordered to fit the space. Photo by Valerie Cox  

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Near the front entrance, where practical storage was non-existent, the designers created a custom bleached-oak wardrobe that rises almost to the ceiling, establishing a sense of arrival while solving one of the home’s most glaring functional gaps. “For homes without an entryway closet, we often design cabinetry using millwork for a seamless and integrated look,” says Robbins Griffith. Since the family parks at the rear and uses the back door just as frequently, a second closet was added there as well.  

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In the kitchen, one of the standout features is a coffee and appliance station tucked behind pocket doors. Inside, a Moccamaster coffee maker, microwave, toaster and mugs are neatly housed within a stone-lined niche with soft LED lighting. Close the doors and the appliances vanish; the power cuts off automatically, too. “Many clients like the flexibility of having an appliance garage like this,” says Dybenko. Robbins Griffith adds, “The inside is outfitted in the same beautiful stone as the countertops, so it still looks great when open and on display.”