Mixing black fixtures with gold or brass ones makes a strong statement.STEPHANI BUCHMAN PHOTOGRAPHY
Bring your Pinterest boards and Instagram collections, and don’t forget to look up. The latest in luxury home design isn’t just about the four walls and the floors, say Danielle Sucher and Kyle Gordon of Toronto-based Danielle Sucher Interiors. It’s about coziness, mixing your metals and decorating the fifth wall – the ceiling.
“When it comes to trends, we’ll look at what’s coming out on the runways, in terms of fabrics and colour palettes,” Sucher says.
“Some of those things quickly become available in big-box stores and some slowly trickle through the more luxury retail space before they make it into a CB2, West Elm or something that’s accessible to the general public.”
Sucher and Gordon, who work with Menkes Developments Ltd. on their properties and recently finished a condo design for the Princess Margaret Home Lottery, shared what Canadians can expect to see in home decor in the next year.
Mix your metals
Gone are the days of choosing one colour for your metal fixtures. If you love brass and black fixtures, you can use both in your space, Sucher says.
“We typically pick one finish that ends up being more consistently used throughout the space but then have pops of another metal, like a brass faucet to help throw off all the black.”
Another option could be a light fixture that would stand out against the other metal fixtures. Or, as Gordon points out, you can have a fixture that has two different metal finishes or opt for an accent on a chair, the base of a table or flecks of gold in the carpets, all of which can help pull the colours together in the space.
Embrace curves
If you’ve been eyeing that club chair, now is the time to embrace curves. “It’s really exciting because typically it’s usually very structured square pieces, ” Gordon says.
“[Curved lines] started last year and we think it’s going to continue into 2020.”
Curved, rounded furniture offers more opportunities when it comes to design, Gordon says, as these pieces can help people create vignettes in spaces that don’t have 90-degree walls.
Cozy knits and geometric lace
When you get that club chair, you might want to consider accessorizing the chair with a cozy, chunky knit blanket. Gordon and Sucher say texture and coziness is another big home trend.
“There were hints of it last year, but we’re really seeing these chunky knits that never really found themselves on upholstered furniture before. They’re so inviting and so cozy and they bring so much texture to a space, even in a neutral palette.”
They predict that this texture trend will expand to curtains in the form of thick knits that will allow the light to pass through and modern geometric laces that “are really, really beautiful and very delicate, [and] create a really gorgeous cascade of light in a space,” Gordon says.
Engineered hardwood
This wood may once have been treated as an also-ran in the flooring races, but now it’s finding fans, thanks to certain properties it has. Since engineered wood is designed to be more resistant to changes in temperature and humidity, it’s less prone to the cracking, warping and splitting that can come with traditional hardwood floors.
Engineered hardwood can be used in spaces where hardwood is unsuitable, such as kitchens, bathrooms and basements.
Other flooring trends include wider planks and clawed wood. That, Sucher explains, is when a wire brush is drawn over the floor to create that already lived-in effect, which is great for families or high-traffic areas.
The fifth wall
The ceiling offers a whole new area for decor and is a great a way to make a major impact, Gordon says.
While you can definitely put up a light fixture, the ceiling is also a place to consider wood finishes and beams.
“Don’t just think of applied moulding, but use beautiful beams of wood, exposed beams and ceilings clad in walnut and white oak that can add so much dimension to a space,” Gordon says.
Wallpaper is also appearing on ceilings, Gordon says.
“It can define a space in a really unique way.” A design with a metallic finish that might not work for a wall “can really add a huge dimension when it’s on the ceiling.”
Gordon says the most important thing when designing a space is to keep the client’s needs in mind.
“A part of the process is actually understanding who [our clients] are and how they live in the space because you want your client to feel that the space really is a reflection of them.”s
This content was produced by The Globe and Mail’s Globe Content Studio, in consultation with an advertiser. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved in its creation.