There’s definitely something intimidating about meeting Canadian textile designer Bev Hisey–at least on paper. She is, after all, a major player on the international design scene, a media and blogger favourite and just about the grooviest mom you’ll meet. But that’s where the intimidation ends. Step into her newly renovated downtown Toronto row house, and it’s clear humour and fun are her muses. While the sleek white shell seems modern and cool (her partner, Dan MacKenzie, is an architect), her quirky sense of colour and love of bargain hunting infuse the home with a comforting tongue-in-cheek quality. Take the stuffed bird (next page) that sits casually on the dining-room credenza, for one. Or the hilariously 1970s melted-rubber vase displayed in her bedroom—she picked it up at Goodwill for under $2. (Turns out it’s actually by Italian designer Gaetano Pesce, and worth around $600.) That pretty much sums up Bev: confident, funny, successful, with a keen eye and a killer instinct. No surprise, then, that her tiny one-of-a-kind house is jam-packed with brilliant solutions for small-space living.
Create fun pops of colour with solid throw cushions and simple fabrics.
The clean backdrop allows for quirky art and playful furniture.
Get this look: Solid cushions, Bev Hisey Textile Designs and Creations. Scissor print by Alanna Cavanagh, Alanna Cavanagh. Small painting by Jerry Waese. Architecture and design by Dan Mackenzie. Construction by Crush Co, 416-803-2400. Project management and interiors
by Bev Hisey Textile Designs and Creations.
Clever planning means the kitchen works beautifully without upper cabinets. The back wall of the house has been replaced with glass to make the tiny space feel large and bright.
Steal one of Bev’s ideas by gluing
vintage vinyl albums onto small
canvases and displaying them as art.
Get this look: Bertoia dining chairs, Queen West Antique Centre. Similar table: Parsons glass-steel dining
table, Crate&Barrel.
A heavily carved Black Forest
cuckoo clock is juxtaposed with
the über-clean, minimalist design
of the kitchen to inject humour
into an otherwise serious space.
Get this look: Clock, Waddington's. Flowers, No Frills. Acrylic vases, Atomic Design.
Instead of hiding
your box spring, try
wrapping it with
a piece of fabric for
a crisp, modern look.
Get this look: Wooden
machine molds (on wall), Smash. Butterfly yellow
cushion, Bev Hisey Textile Designs and Creations. Flokati rug, Goodwill.
A huge wardrobe acts
as a wall between the
master and the den.
The back and sides are
clad in the same wood as
the exterior of the house.
Get this look: Pax wardrobe,
ikea.ca. Artifort tulip chair, Klaus. Diamond carpets,
Bev Hisey Textile Designs and Creations. Side table, Machineagemodern. Gemthane clapboard siding,
lakeshore Lumber-Home Building
Centre, 416-251-2281.
If your art collection goes from ’70s pop to ’80s abstraction,
pull it all together by showcasing all your pieces in matching
frames. It’s also useful to have a common colour running
through the pieces to unify the look.
Get this look: Moderna museet poster (left). Circle print (lower right ), Ruth Adler.
In her daughter’s bedroom, Bev
used industrial pallets topped with
a melamine board and a mattress
to create a low bed. Original art by
Bobbie K. Owens sets the tone for
the red-and-black colour scheme.
Get this look: Letter cushion, Bev Hisey Textile Designs and Creations. Trapper-point blanket, Goodwill. Bed
frame, Just Skids Recycling Inc., 416-232-0339. Painting, Bobbie K Owens.
Strategically placed mirrors
maximize light . In this small room,
the fl ooring runs diagonally to make
the room feel bigger.
Get this look: Eames chair, Design Within Reach. Credenza, Machineagemodern. Goose
lamp, Goodwill.
Get the look of a free-standing
shower by using a glass enclosure
around a bathtub instead of a
frilly curtain. For added interest,
Bev ran the floor tiles up the wall
of the bathroom.
Get this look: Fixtures, Roman Bath Centre. Towel, Anthropologie. Yellow ruler, Metropolis Living.
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