Small space interior: Urban eclectic

The best kind of creativity comes from pushing the boundaries and knowing when to follow a few key tenets. Take Yanic Simard’s chic home, for example. High on personality, it’s a layered mix of eras and styles, fabrics and textures, colours and patterns, and even price points. “I just had fun,” says Yanic, the principal designer of Toronto Interior Design Group. “This time, I was my own client. And when you design your own space, you can really experiment. I thought, ‘Let’s do this. Let’s mix the unmixable!’”

But don’t be fooled. This space’s Type T risk-taking aesthetic belies a highly pragmatic side. When Yanic first clapped eyes on this Victorian gem in a west-end Toronto neighbourhood over a year ago, he saw past the dingy interior to the charming home it could become. And, believe it or not, the house provided him the chance to live in a small space – he lives on the 640-square-foot main floor while the second-floor space is rented – as opposed to something uncontrollably sprawling.


Hallway
Homeowner and designer Yanic Simard used to call the dark three-by-20-foot hallway “the tunnel.” He brightened it up by adding graphic wallpaper, lighting that illuminates both up and down, and a row of mirrors, which reflect light and visually widen the space.