Designing Canada 2025: Public spaces that inspire a room of one’s own | Canada Voices

To understand where design trends are headed next, you may need to learn a new word: “resimercial.” The term is a blend of “residential” and “commercial,” and captures how a public space can incorporate the comforts, intimacy and style of a private home – and vice versa.

In the 2025 edition of Designing Canada, a collection of notable architecture, interiors and furnishings from the past year, this synergy is expressed in projects as varied as a moody Toronto fitness studio and a salon-like Calgary boutique. Here’s how to take inspiration from a room that’s meant for everyone to create a home that’s uniquely your own.

To enter Jaybird is to leave the outside world behind. The underground Pilates studio in Toronto’s Yorkville neighbourhood is cave-like in the best possible way, its curved walls and maroon-drenched interiors encouraging an instant go-with-the-flow vibe – precisely the goal for a wellness space in a buzzing city.

Vancouver-based Jaybird’s signature is non-traditional workouts by candlelight to loud music, and “from the time you descend the escalator, we want you to get into the mood, the moment and the right mindset as quickly as possible,” says designer Ali McQuaid Mitchell, creative director of Toronto-based Futurestudio.

Yorkville plays host to Jaybird’s second Toronto location, after Queen Street West. To capture the Jaybird energy for the new studio, McQuaid Mitchell took a few classes at the first one.

“The classes are unlike anything else: intense, loud, enveloping,” she says. “They take your mind to a place that’s unique and captivating, so the space had to do the same.”

Working with an all-maroon palette, McQuaid Mitchell specified a colour-matched stucco product for the walls and tinted cork flooring. Even the studio’s “Exit” signs, required by building code, were custom-made in Jaybird maroon: “Yes, that’s actually a thing you can do with enough notice.”

The change rooms are equally dramatic, with burl wood vanities topped with Rosso Francia marble and custom stained-glass sconces made by Toronto artisan Cabin Glass.

“When you come to a place like this, you’re putting yourself out there to try something new and the environment should support you in that journey,” McQuaid Mitchell says. “Let the outside world wait.”

GET THE LOOK AT HOME:

Deep, saturated red is a trendy colour but also a classic; introduce it through tiles, velvet upholstery or colour drenching with paint.

As a raw space, the sandwich shop in Montreal’s Villeray neighbourhood near Jean Talon Market didn’t have much going for it.

“The ceiling was low, the floors were crooked and there were no interesting materials,” designer Guillaume Ménard says.

But he, along with architect David Dworkind, his partner in the MRDK firm, could see the potential for what would become Casavant, chef Charles-Tristan Prevost’s classic French brasserie with a contemporary twist.

The duo knew they could use the low ceilings and small room to their advantage by creating a room with a warm, intimate ambiance. And the wide front windows would be perfect to beckon in passersby, especially with the glow of a vintage Carlo Nason Medusa pendant acting as a beacon.

For the mosaic tile floors, a standout in the space, Ménard took inspiration from a classic French bistro checkerboard pattern, reinterpreted with intersecting red lines. On the ceiling, the team turned a practical need for acoustic tile into a visual highlight.

“We learned it was possible to print custom designs on these panels, which usually have quite a corporate appearance,” he says. The result is a graphic pattern in warm colours inspired by a vintage Lee Jofa fabric, that’s inset into the ceiling, trimmed in wood and lit for effect.

Casavant, named one of En Route Magazine’s top new restaurants in 2024, is a welcoming neighbourhood boîte that achieves harmony between familiar and fresh.

“We’re always looking to combine vintage and contemporary elements to create dialogue and balance between past, present and future,” Ménard says. “When brought together, these elements give strength to each other.”

GET THE LOOK AT HOME:

A patterned tile floor works well in a kitchen, bath or front entryway. Experiment with mosaics and colour for an old-meets-new look.

With a name that nods to its roots as the former Newmarket post office, the Postmark Hotel opened its doors last fall with a new look and purpose – the Southern Ontario city’s first and only boutique hotel.

The vision: to not only preserve the circa 1914 heritage building’s facade and clock tower, but to create a complementary red-brick addition so that, in total, the building could house 55 guest rooms in three floors, a 28-seat private dining room and two restaurants, one of which is situated on the rooftop.

The process began in 2021 when Streetcar Developments, known for its restoration of Toronto’s historic Broadview and Gladstone hotels, partnered with Toronto-based firm Kirkor Architects and Planners. Though both companies were aligned from the beginning, Kirkor’s main task was to balance “aesthetic with pragmatism,” says associate Michael Afonso, the project manager for Kirkor.

“Once you open the ceilings and walls, nothing is ever as it should be – a fact architects must simply embrace and enjoy the unique opportunities that unfold as you study what can be done.”

Afonso says that, beyond preserving the building’s exterior, Overlea, the rooftop event space, is the firm’s proudest accomplishment.

“The vistas available at this roof level, now accessible for guests to enjoy, is the defining element for us on this project. These spaces create energy and bring people back, where they love to see and be seen. To create such a venue within the bones of an old post office is fantastic.”

GET THE LOOK AT HOME:

Match exterior materials for a cohesive look when building an addition, even if it’s more modern in style than the original house.

When it came time to redesign the guest rooms at the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto, DesignAgency founding partner Anwar Mekhayech says his team felt a shared connection with the storied brand.

“Like DesignAgency, Four Seasons Hotels started in Toronto,” he says. “The brand has a lot of history here, which made reimagining the guest rooms and suites for the flagship’s next chapter especially meaningful to us.”

With offices in Barcelona, Los Angeles, Washington and Toronto, DesignAgency is an established Canadian player in the global hospitality-design scene. Still, the firm focused on bringing an upscale Torontonian slant to all 259 guest rooms and suites, the first major renovation since the hotel opened at this location in 2012.

“The hotel stands at a significant nexus of the city’s urban and natural landscapes with the historic Yorkville neighbourhood and Rosedale Ravine at its doorstep,” Mekhayech says.

“This confluence inspired the interior design’s mix of urban sophistication and natural beauty, informing the palette, textures, shapes and finishes, which all echo the rich materiality of the area’s topography.”

All the furniture, from the built-in headboards to the rounded, moss-coloured sofas, was made locally, while works by Canadian artists such as Emma Enright, Dahae Song and Andrea Soos adorn the walls.

One of the intangibles, and perhaps a Four Seasons signature, is the mood-setting lighting plan, with an array of asymmetrical sconces, flush-mount fixtures, table lamps and trace lighting. Together, all create a warm, indirect glow that speaks of comfort and elegance.

“Flattering lighting and controls exactly where you need them never disappoint,” Mekhayech says.

GET THE LOOK AT HOME:

Use a blend of overhead and task lighting in every room to create a welcoming environment.

The latest store from fashion label Smythe isn’t just the brand’s first outpost in Western Canada, opened during its 20th anniversary year. It is also the location that brought resimercial style, a term that refers to the trend of bringing the comforts of home to a commercial space, to Calgary’s Chinook Centre.

With lime-washed walls, port-coloured tiles and a vintage Pipistrello lamp by trailblazing Italian female architect Gae Aulenti on the cash desk, the women’s-wear space infused its corner of the sixties-era mall with a dose of contemporary chic.

“We used subtle residential references throughout,” says Calgary-based designer Nam Dang-Mitchell, known for her luxury home interiors.

“A round stone entry table with flowering branches greets you when you enter, there is custom seating area to anchor the space and a rounded cash desk reads more like an island you want to hang out at.”

Dang-Mitchell referenced the ready-to-wear line’s first stand-alone boutique in Toronto, which was designed by Tommy Smythe and Ashley Botten, but felt empowered by founders Christie Smythe and Andrea Lenczner to create something new.

“The stores are not twins, but very much sisters,” she says, adding that she used curves and a calming palette to create a salon experience amid the mall’s hustle and bustle.

“I wanted people to feel comfortable and pampered in the environment but also inspired to try on something new. Fashion is the best way to see yourself in a new light.”

GET THE LOOK AT HOME:

Apply limewash paint or microcement to walls for a minimal and rustic European aesthetic.

The first page of Breakhouse’s design presentation for Toridori was clear: “Not your traditional Izakaya bar,” with a big red “X” over a grid of photos.

“We do love the feeling of a glowy red lantern in an Izakaya restaurant, but we wanted to avoid the tropes,” says Peter Wünsch, founding partner and chief strategic officer at Breakhouse, the Halifax branding and architectural agency behind the design.

For Toridori, a new pan-Asian restaurant in the city’s mixed-use Queen’s Marque development that is operated by Freehand Hospitality, Wünsch and director of design Aaron Hughes envisioned something unexpected: “We called it, ‘When anime becomes architecture,’ ” Wünsch says.

The Breakhouse team delivered on its promise with a curved ceiling and walls wrapped in wood shingles that are blackened and shaped like fish scales – a mashup of shou sugi ban (the Japanese technique for preserving wood by charring it) and the cedar-shake siding that distinguishes Canada’s maritime vernacular.

Getting the ceiling installation just right took several iterations and conversations: “The most intense charring on the cedar starts over the front entry and fades toward the back,” Wünsch says. “We had it reversed at one point, with the charring starting over the kitchen, but we worried that’d feel too literal and contrived.”

Instead, the open kitchen’s ceiling is covered in copper sheeting to provide a lantern-like glow. A feature wall behind a long communal table is awash in a mural by artist Doris Lee, which tells the story of a chef’s journey through diverse landscapes to discover a sense of unity.

“When we design hospitality spaces, our hope is always to create an experience,” Wünsch says.

GET THE LOOK AT HOME:

Install a wallpaper mural (some are available in peel-and-stick versions) to be transported away within your own home.

Inspired by its nautical namesake, the Anchor Sconce reflects designer Mischa Couvrette’s interest in boat building.

“I started my hands-on material journey refurbishing a steel boat with friends and sailing it down to South America,” says Couvrette, the owner of Toronto lighting manufacturer Hollis + Morris. “The focus on necessity and simplicity required on a boat is something that never left me.”

The fixture, created by Couvrette for the build of his family’s own home, was meant to look substantial enough to live up to its own name and anchor a room, he says. At the home, the Anchor is installed in the primary bathroom, where it casts its candlelight-like glow, and in the basement entry, where it serves a more functional purpose: “The porthole shape felt like the right option ‘below deck,’ ” he says.

But the Anchor fixture’s versatility meant it soon surpassed its initial use. Hollis + Morris experimented with clear or frosted versions of the acrylic disc, as well as using the surface space for signage.

“We always try to provide designs that work in both residential and commercial spaces,” Couvrette says. “The acrylic disc is a blank slate, and we’ve had great success with etching and metal leafing.”

To wit, a pendant version of the Anchor can be spotted at the mobile-order pickup stations at several Starbucks flagship locations across North America. Next up: hotel suite numbers and spa treatment room labels.

GET THE LOOK AT HOME:

Switch out bedside lamps for sleek sconces or pendants to free up table space and add contemporary edge.

An ode to bad ideas – and the good ones that eventually emerge – the Draft Rug is a playful take on writer’s block.

“We envisioned a pile of crumpled paper, discarded ideas and how they create a natural form with peaks and valleys,” creative director Lauren Bugliarisi says. “It’s the notion of something beautiful coming from something you previously thought was wrong.”

The series of wool-and-silk-blend rugs, available in three sizes and six colourways, was dreamed up by Marrimor, a Vancouver firm that also works in residential and commercial design, then hand-dyed and knotted at its ethical partner factory in Nepal.

Like any creative process – including the one the rug documents – the journey involved several false starts. To get the crumpled-paper aesthetic just right, the design team, which consists of Bugliarisi and Marrimor founder Tanja Breadner, experimented with different mediums. After sketching, playing with clay and hand-tufting, they decided to photograph piles of paper, then convert the images to digital files to which they could apply colour.

The final Draft is an asymmetrical and seemingly three-dimensional work of art where the “paper” extends beyond the rug’s linear boundaries: “We did it this way because we wanted it to be workable in a variety of spaces,” Bugliarisi says.

“We love it in a living room as much as we do in an entryway or an office space that needs a little pick-me-up.”

Marrimor presented the Draft collection during Milan Design Week. This year, it plans to showcase a new sofa.

“Our goal is to launch one piece a year while we’re in the early phase of our brand,” Bugliarisi says.

GET THE LOOK AT HOME:

An irregular-shaped rug with a sense of personality can become a jumping-off point for an entire room.

As a mill worker who’s been building custom cabinetry and bespoke furniture (sold under the Scrimgeour brand at Toronto retailer Hollace Cluny) since 2007, Nick Day has seen his share of handles and knobs. But one day, after chatting with his long-time project manager Corinne Chapman, the two realized there was a gap in the market.

“We were seeing designers order hardware from all over the world to install on our pieces, but sometimes it felt like an afterthought,” Day says. “Some of it worked, some of it didn’t, and we started thinking about what was missing.”

The duo launched Chapman & Bose in 2019 with their still-bestselling Edge Pulls, a streamlined, recessed drawer handle made from leather with a metal or wood core. Now, just five years later, Chapman & Bose has three main collections based around wood, leather and metal with about 20 variations in each.

They’ve gone from small-batch producers to large-scale suppliers to Canadian sources such as Casson Hardware and Upper Canada Hardware, as well as U.S.-based companies such as Rejuvenation Home, which is owned by Williams-Sonoma.

As Day and Chapman have learned, less complicated is more desirable. “Nude” bar pulls are made from rounded plain wood in six different species, while “dressed” or “half-dressed” versions involve a full or partial leather wrap.

“Our solid wood bar pulls are so obvious and simple, I can’t believe no one has thought to do them,” Day says. “They just blend in and work with the millwork so beautifully.”

The newest metal line of Covered Mineral pulls and knobs has just been released.

GET THE LOOK AT HOME:

Swapping out hardware can give a dated piece of furniture – and even kitchen cabinetry – a fresh new look.

In an era of online product-surfing, Standard Shop isn’t your typical lighting store. Founded in 2020 as a sales agency and dealer for high-end contemporary lighting brands, its new Toronto showroom feels more like the well-lit lobby of a boutique hotel.

“It helps to put the fixtures in a space with context,” co-founder Harry Callaghan says. “We want the showroom to be a source of inspiration and connection for designers.”

How, exactly, does a lighting agency work? “What we do is similar to an art dealer,” co-founder Alexandra Hartford says. “We represent a handful of manufacturers and show their work to local architects and designers to grow their reach in the Toronto market.”

Currently, Standard Shop represents seven carefully chosen brands, from Vancouver maker A-N-D to Spanish legacy lines Vibia and Marset.

“There’s a lot of Italian design floating around when people think of ‘modern,’ but the Spanish have really put the push on,” says Callaghan, who Hartford calls the “design-head” of the two.

“When we’re looking to represent a manufacturer, we look at their history and how they’re trying to innovate – that helps reinforce who we are in the market.”

One of Standard Shop’s biggest projects to date was the refurbished West Jet Flight Deck, a fan zone overlooking centre field at the Rogers Centre. For that industrial-meets-sports-bar space, Callaghan and Hartford specified custom horizontal Column fixtures by A-N-D.

“The columns were the only light source,” Callaghan says. “It shows that a decorative piece can provide a serious amount of light in a space when there’s a high lumen output.”

Though the showroom is open to professionals by appointment only, window shopping certainly can’t hurt the hunt for new ideas.

GET THE LOOK AT HOME:

Go big with lighting. Make a statement over a kitchen island or dining table with an oversized fixture that brings the drama.

DESIGNING CANADA AT THE INTERIOR DESIGN SHOW

On Jan. 25 at the Interior Design Show in Toronto, contributing design writer Beth Hitchcock interviews a group of Designing Canada’s standout stars. For more information and tickets, visit interiordesignshow.com.

HOW WE DID IT

To compile this list, writer Beth Hitchcock reached out to Canadian design insiders to pitch the architecture, interior and housewares projects that are capturing their attention right now. Projects had to be completed in 2024 by a Canadian designer or firm based in Canada or abroad. Architecture and interior submissions had to be spaces located in Canada, and housewares had to be available for purchase by Canadians. A group of editors from The Globe narrowed down the projects to the 10 featured here.

Have a design-savvy suggestion of your own? Post a photo of your contender to Instagram and tag the picture @globestyle and #DesigningCanada.