Francoise Turner-Larcade's dining room in Toronto on May 9, 2013.Deborah Baic/The Globe and Mail
Paris-born interior designer Françoise Turner-Larcade, who owns and operates Roseland Art & Decoration in her adopted city of Toronto, imports European design pieces such as limited-edition sculpted doors and artworks, which she has used to decorate the brick Annex-area house in which she has lived for the past year and a half.
"I converted four units into a single-family home," says the designer, who moved to Toronto in 2000 to be with her then-husband, a Canadian. "All I kept were the exterior walls and the original entrance door."
Among the rooms she gutted and built up again is the dining room, which, measuring only 10 feet by 12 feet, is her home's little jewel.
"It is the place where I share relaxing, interesting and tasty moments," Turner-Larcade says. "A place where ideas, laughs and emotions are exchanged."
The light fixture
"It is a Last Night chandelier by Damien Langlois-Meurinne, a French architect-designer from Paris whose work I carry. Made of lacquered metal, the chandelier can be ordered in any colour. Each is made piece-by-piece in a limited edition. I like the whimsical design, which is very well-balanced."
The painting
"This is by Albert Bitran, who is part of the lyrical abstraction movement. In my 20s, when I was the PR rep of a gallery and Bitran was one of the first artists I had to work with, I immediately fell in love with his perfect balance of space. It is peaceful even though it uses a dynamic palette and has meaningful shapes."
The chairs
"The chairs date from the late 1980s. They're Italian, I think. I brought them with me from France when I moved here. I had them reupholstered in Toronto."
The table
"The marble mosaic tabletop comes from a church in Naples. It is 18th century. It's the first antique I ever bought. I was in my early 20s and I immediately fell in love with it. I love the colours. The table is a little too small, as only eight people can comfortably sit around it, but it works very well when used to feed people buffet-style. The custom-made legs are cast iron."
The room divider
"This is an installation made of steel and grey mirrors on both sides. I designed it myself. I was playing with the depth of the mirrors and some empty frames in order to divide up the space while maintaining a sense of scale. Whenever I create with mirrors, they are custom-made for the space. I love to play with volume using the reflection and mystery of mirrors. I often make colour mirrors: orange, yellow and blue. But these ones are grey because the table and the other objects in the room are colourful enough."