Houzz Tour: More Character for an Industrial Loft in Toronto
Custom lighting and a new feature wall of wood and stone help soften this loft’s urban edge
Jess McBride
January 20, 2018
Houzz Contributor. Custom decorating professional and content creator for the home design industry with a lifelong passion for color, pattern, and texture of every "stripe"
Houzz Contributor. Custom decorating professional and content creator for the home... More
Photos by Stefani Buchman
House at a Glance
Who lives here: Two married professionals
Where: Toronto
Size: About 1,100 square feet (102 square meters)
Designer: Krista Salter of KMSalter Design
When a couple of busy downtown professionals realized they didn’t have time to transform their loft into a comfortable oasis in the city, they enlisted interior designer Krista Salter to help them. Though the industrial condo already had high-quality fits and finishes, the homeowners wanted a space with more warmth and character.
Salter knew she wanted to marry the central feature wall to the rest of the room’s aesthetic, so she looked at a couple of options. Its shallow depth precluded a standard fireplace, and though she and the homeowners entertained the idea of putting in an electric ribbon-style fireplace, they decided a TV would be the best fit here for lifestyle and comfort.
House at a Glance
Who lives here: Two married professionals
Where: Toronto
Size: About 1,100 square feet (102 square meters)
Designer: Krista Salter of KMSalter Design
When a couple of busy downtown professionals realized they didn’t have time to transform their loft into a comfortable oasis in the city, they enlisted interior designer Krista Salter to help them. Though the industrial condo already had high-quality fits and finishes, the homeowners wanted a space with more warmth and character.
Salter knew she wanted to marry the central feature wall to the rest of the room’s aesthetic, so she looked at a couple of options. Its shallow depth precluded a standard fireplace, and though she and the homeowners entertained the idea of putting in an electric ribbon-style fireplace, they decided a TV would be the best fit here for lifestyle and comfort.
Before Photo
Before. Salter redesigned the fascia of the feature wall to incorporate more texture, taking it from a smooth tiled black monolith to a richer amalgam of warm wood and stone. She had lights installed in the wood reveal that wash down the stone tile and create sculptural shadows.
A trip to Weavers Art, a rug company in Toronto, kicked off the design decisions. The living room rug they purchased there inspired the home’s color palette and established an emphasis on texture and various upholstery materials, such as leather on the sofa and woven backs on the armchairs.
The designer credits texture and mixed materials as key ingredients in the comfort of a home, especially when there are hard lines of exposed ductwork and structural elements to balance. For example, the sculptural Noguchi glass-topped coffee table provides a lighter touch than would a table in wood or metal.
The designer credits texture and mixed materials as key ingredients in the comfort of a home, especially when there are hard lines of exposed ductwork and structural elements to balance. For example, the sculptural Noguchi glass-topped coffee table provides a lighter touch than would a table in wood or metal.
Next in a series of important face-lifts was the kitchen, where Salter focused on creating a more functional space for the homeowners to host intimate gatherings and indulge their culinary interests and wine-tasting. She inserted a wine fridge into the cabinetry, working with a master cabinetmaker to ensure that it would tie in seamlessly with the rest of the cabinetry.
Salter also beefed up the small square island with an extra foot on both sides, duplicating the decorative horizontal boards on the sides. Topping it with a large piece of antique-brown granite created an overhang that allows the clients to sidle up on bar stools.
Browse black barstools
Browse black barstools
One of the biggest challenges in this project was the lighting. Being an urban loft with exposed 20-foot ceilings made installation tricky. The previous owner bridged the distance with suspended track lighting, but these homeowners thought they were an “eyesore” and obstructed the view with their mass and wiring.
So, instead of purchasing lighting meant for more standard room volumes and requiring an electrician to “make it work,” Salter commissioned custom fixtures from AM Studio-Lighting in Toronto. This allowed her complete freedom over color, number of pendants and cord length. The sculptural pendants she chose for the kitchen, dining and stairwell sconces resulted in a condo that shines so brightly one of the homeowners can see it from her office building downtown.
So, instead of purchasing lighting meant for more standard room volumes and requiring an electrician to “make it work,” Salter commissioned custom fixtures from AM Studio-Lighting in Toronto. This allowed her complete freedom over color, number of pendants and cord length. The sculptural pendants she chose for the kitchen, dining and stairwell sconces resulted in a condo that shines so brightly one of the homeowners can see it from her office building downtown.
The dining area feels grand and artful thanks to another sculptural custom light fixture from AM Studio-Lighting. The clients have an appreciation for fine art and wanted to find just the right piece for their dining room wall, so Salter took them to the Art Gallery of Hamilton, where they worked with a consultant to find an organic piece that would work well as a counterpoint to the hard lines of ductwork and structural members.
Chairs: Design Within Reach
Chairs: Design Within Reach
The bathroom had great bones for Salter to work with. The mirror, Caesarstone vanity and even the sconces were already in place. It was just a bit sterile. Her principal task, then, was to infuse some texture with a Phillip Jeffries grasscloth wallpaper that creates intimacy and also pulls in design elements from other rooms. It almost mimics the stone treatment on the TV wall.
Find grasscloth wallpaper
Find grasscloth wallpaper
The bedroom came equipped with built-in wardrobe cabinets and side tables, so Salter turned her attention to creating a custom headboard. An off-the-shelf model wasn’t an option because any standard dimension would have looked too “squatty” next to the tall built-ins, so she worked with a bedmaker and upholsterer to determine the ideal height. In every room of the house, but this one most of all, she tried to consider how things would look from various angles.
Since the room is walled in glass and visible from downstairs, Salter decided it was most important that the headboard’s proportions look right from below, which meant taking it up to the duct. She had it upholstered in a soft wool blend to contrast with the industrial ductwork above.
Salter treated the outdoor area like a room, drawing up design options and bringing in a landscape company to execute them. She wanted the deck to feel like a backyard with trees and greenery and even a little spot for her clients to grow herbs.
The space features a lounging area where planter boxes and a built-in bench line the railing. Salter wasn’t concerned about the planters blocking the view because she knew she was giving her clients the best of both worlds: privacy and a sense of enclosure with an expansive view upward from eye level. In the summer, the homeowners enjoy seeing their lush vegetation through the wall of windows.
Salter also designed the space with winter in mind, choosing durable Sunbrella cushions and teak furniture that ages gracefully and can withstand the elements, since storing most of it indoors is not an option.
More
Key Measurements for Designing the Perfect Patio
Set Up Your Balcony for Year-Long Comfort
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The space features a lounging area where planter boxes and a built-in bench line the railing. Salter wasn’t concerned about the planters blocking the view because she knew she was giving her clients the best of both worlds: privacy and a sense of enclosure with an expansive view upward from eye level. In the summer, the homeowners enjoy seeing their lush vegetation through the wall of windows.
Salter also designed the space with winter in mind, choosing durable Sunbrella cushions and teak furniture that ages gracefully and can withstand the elements, since storing most of it indoors is not an option.
More
Key Measurements for Designing the Perfect Patio
Set Up Your Balcony for Year-Long Comfort
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
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To kateinshanghai: I don't know the exact color they used, but Benjamin Moore has two colors that match that color. They are November Skies and Mineral Alloy. They are both pretty colors.
Very airy, modern looking and, at the same time, cozy and beautiful loft! And well chosen artwork pieces soften the industrial style very nicely!
There was a comment about buying artwork to fit in. As an artist, I can tell you that, whenever you purchase artwork, it always means that you enjoy it and want to see it in your home. Sometimes you would even use the artwork as an inspiration for your overall design and color palette.
And it is also true that placing an art piece you love at the right place, in your newly redesigned interior, where it will look its best and will interact with other decorative and functional objects in the room is also a great way to display your art. In the end, it is the final result that counts, and by the final result I mean you enjoying your home and everything you use and look at in it... Raisa