EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
CREATIVE TOUCHES ON DISPLAY AT THE KINGSTON HOUSE SHOW SPACES
Celia Dawson knows how to make a commitment.
In the two display homes at Kingston House, Polygon’s first offering of apartments in the South Surrey community of Harvard Gardens, the designer chose a design theme and embraced it.
For instance, in one suite, the dining room is all about white, gloss and reflection; another is decorated in calm, uncluttered neutrals. A bedroom bursts in primary cartoon colours. No diversions, no distractions.
In many ways, the idea of keeping to one idea in the interior is a reflection of the grand statement of the exterior of the fully completed Kingston House, and its wider community, Harvard Gardens.
Inspired by the patrician university in Boston, Harvard Gardens takes on a collegiate feel. It can be seen in the way the brick facade clads part of the lower three storeys of the building, black window frames and balcony railings.
At the first sales event, Polygon sold a quarter of the homes at Kingston House.
Dawson keeps one suite quite simple, with white and light colours and a strategic use of light and reflective items in the living room.
A white palette is a popular choice for enlivening a space, and it looks startling here, combined with the brightness from lights on a glossy reflective wall unit bouncing off an opposing mirror. The chandelier lights over the white and chrome dining table add even more reflection.
“It is fresh, simple and bright. We wanted to showcase a small home to appear large and accommodating,” Dawson says. Light is reflected in the mirror and against the white of the wall built-ins and on shelves.
Dawson, a fan of the French Chateau look, infuses her favourite theme into the room by placing dining chairs in two-toned fabric and a concrete mantle in another more neutral living room. She adds some eclectic flair to the otherwise traditional mix by hanging a teardropshaped chandelier over the dining table.
The more conservative neutral tones give way to wilder splashes of colour in the theme of the kid’s movie Despicable Me. Here, Dawson lets loose with inset round storage cubbies complete with the movie’s central characters, the chattering yellow minions. It was a fun release, and a nice departure from more conservative design, she says.
“In kids’ rooms, we have a huge opportunity to be creative.”
She brings that creative impulse into another bedroom, where the visitor enters to see geometric lines on the wall and pillows.
Dawson took her cue from pop culture, and the beautiful effects she’s seen in design media and places she’s visited.
“Never reinvent the wheel,” she says. “Our sources are magazines, hotels, restaurants, nature and public buildings. Design affects work if one keeps the details simple and consistent.”