Remember when heavily adorned French-provincial homes and Tuscan-inspired abodes were all the rage 15 years ago? Then, in the mid-2000s a shift occurred around the same time a little show called Mad Men premiered, and suddenly casual-but-cool mid-century modernism was back with a vengeance: clean lines, warm colours, stylized and structured furniture (think Eames and Knoll) and metal finishes were basically de rigueur when it came to home design and decoration.
“I think the mid-century modernism trend was for a limited group of people that really embraced it, and then they got sick of it,” says acclaimed interior designer Brian Gluckstein. “[It] was cinematic, almost kitschy.”
Gluckstein, whose portfolio includes the Four Seasons Toronto and the Windsor Arms Hotel, as well as international residential clients, says the hottest interior design trend now involves a combination of the old meeting the new to accomplish a less restricted ambience.
“Now we’re looking at a much more eclectic look. If you have a traditional home, you mix in contemporary accents, or if you already have a contemporary home, you mix in traditional pieces.”
Ashley Tracey, an interior designer with Toronto-based Lux Design, an interior design firm praised by the New York Times and Canadian Interiors Magazine, agrees. “[The most popular trend now] is mixing traditional with contemporary design. We don’t have to be in one box anymore. We can merge the two styles and have fun with it,” she says, adding, “It’s a move toward a new traditionalism. It’s not your grandma’s traditional style. It’s a bit chicer with an edge, but it retains the comfort of a traditional home.”
For her clients, Tracey recommends simply adding a piece of modern art to a more conservative room. Or, if you have a more traditional dining table, then you could incorporate “a modern, linear chandelier that doesn’t look like a traditional chandelier,” says Tracey, citing CB2 (651 Queen St. W.) as a “cool store that throws vintage together with modernism.” West Elm (109 Atlantic Ave.) is another one of her favourite local stores to find modern furniture and accessories.
As for her key piece to buy right now?
“Add more of the accessories, like a full-length mirror, some oversized art or a fun light fixture.”
In terms of mixing it up, Gluckstein’s advice is to add something to the room with a little more staying power.
“A chair is an iconic piece you can do pretty easily in a contemporary space. A 1920s chair, an 18th-century chair, an English chair. They have personality that is so easy to put into a space, bedroom or a hallway.”
Ornate, one-of-a-kind accessories such as these can unify disparate styles and time periods. From left, 19th century French giltwood sunburst clock at Absoloutely North, Hollywood Glamour lacquered mirror & Austrian mid-century pendant light at Decorum Decorative Finds.
For antique pieces, Gluckstein thinks Five O Seven Antiques (50 Carroll St.) is a “great place” to find that majestic chair. The store, which boasts a large array of antiques, sells a pair of Irish high-style chairs or a pair of period Regency spoon back chairs, both from the 19th century, that would be a wonderful addition to your living room or hallway.
According to Gluckstein, “18th- and 19th-century pieces are going to be very important as far as value goes.”
In a traditional space, Gluckstein recommends having “a great piece of art, or black and white photography” to punch up the room.
To help create your diverse aesthetic, Gluckstein loves “that whole strip on Yonge Street [just south of St. Clair] where you have L’Atelier (1224 Yonge St.), Decorum Decorative Finds (1210 Yonge St.) and Absolutely North (1236 Yonge St.).”
If you want to inject something more regal and traditional into your space, you may opt for the gold French-style chandelier ($1,895) or a pair of classic side chairs ($2,995) from Absolutely North. Reversely, a unique light fixture, like the Leaf Murano ($4950) or a modern mirror ($695) from Decorum Decorative Finds, enhances with a contemporary element in a more conservative space.
Both Gluckstein and Tracey recommend that adding hits of colour to a room is one of the easiest ways to get a leg up on the offbeat trend. Gluckstein favours icy blues, fresh apple greens and shades of purples (“lavender is the hottest colour right now”), which are featured throughout his personal home design collection available at the Bay.
Meanwhile, Tracey recommends beige and cool greys or even adorning your walls with … wallpaper?
“At first, it sounds stuffy and old-fashioned, but now the colour is contemporary,” she says. “It may look old fashioned but something about it has been modernized. [Maybe] it’s in a traditional print, but it’s now in a hot pink or some other bright colour.”
Traditional fabrics, like silk and linen, are still being used, but the way in which they are hung is more modern.
“They’re clean lined now, and they aren’t frou-frou,” says Tracey.
Echoing that minimalist mentality, Gluckstein says chenille and suede are perfect for living rooms, and natural fibres, like “beautiful wool,” are popular options, too.
With this new eclectic look, it’s best to take a “less is more” attitude.
“You want to take an element from a trend, but you don’t want to take it too literally because it becomes too trendy,” warns Gluckstein. “You get tired of it quite quickly, and then you beat the trend to death.”
Tracey concurs. “You don’t want to overdo a trend that you’ll be sick of,” she says, reminding us that “a traditional sofa will not go out of style. But your mirror or your wallpaper, you can change that.”
However, diehard modernists can take comfort with local interior designer Brian Murphy’s sentiments. Murphy, whose projects have appeared on HGTV’s Backyard Pleasures, doesn’t think the throwback motif is going anywhere any time soon.
“Very few homes are done in traditional fashion anymore,” he says. “The biggest trend in the ’90s were houses reminiscent of palatial style, and now that’s being moved away from and toward modernism. Now homes are all about shiny, glassy steel and no adornments. No more Mexican tile in the shower.”
To complement that no-fuss look, Murphy says his clients want highly stylized furniture and open spaces.
Whether your taste leans toward the eclectic or ultra modern, Gluckstein’s final words of wisdom are for all of the design challenged: “Be selective. Don’t create an entire home around a trend. You don’t want to invest in a space that will be outdated in five or 10 years.”
Like that Tuscan-inspired home with the Mexican-tiled shower.
