Luxury, design winning combo
Thornhill mansion is the ultimate lesson in how to use neutrals
Show homes — more accurately called dream homes — are usually big, always luxurious and come with no shortage of design tips.
And this year’s Princess Margaret Show Home is no exception. Built by Greenpark Homes (which has completed over 150 of the 212 lottery homes) and designed by Jack Celli, the 7,662-square-foot Thornhill mansion is a lesson in how to use neutrals — writ large.
Decor with neutrals is more challenging than you’d think. Despite the benefits of creating flow in a home of any size, neutrals can be, in a word, boring. Fortunately, in Celli’s hands, the house never elicits a yawn. Here’s how he did it.
ALLOW VISUAL INTEREST
Celli used a variety of greys, creams and browns as a calming backdrop to the medley of patterns and texture. There’s a lot going in the front hall — three lazar-cut medallions of marble and stainless in the marble floors, detailed millwork, 3-D wall tiles and several doorways — so sticking with a cream palette unifies it all.
Although drapery has pattern — brown and white chain-link linen, textured silk, heavy cotton crewel — the tones are subdued. Furniture, as well, has a fair bit going on, like the neo-classic woodcut design on the master bedroom dressers, the family room TV console, even the wood kitchen cabinets, but the neutral backdrop is non-competing.
LINK DISTINCT ELEMENTS
A neutral palette is an important way to connect unrelated elements while allowing them to stand out, such as the wall niches and sculpture in the front entry with the wood pedestals and stainless topiary balls. Or the hounds tooth dining room chairs and mirror-fronted sideboard.
Or the two-fabric wingback chair with the leather and chrome ottomans in the living room. In small doses, these are necessary elements that give the home a touch of informality, while maintaining elegance.
When a neutral palette is combined with furniture of a consistent scale and proportion, the overall effect is soothing. Like in the family room, for example, where Celli has paired creamy grey walls with a sleek pear-coloured leather sofa and chairs, chrome side tables and Moroccan inspired ottomans.
This also works in the lower level, where Celli has designed a home spa with a wet sauna, shower, indoor lap pool, exercise room and a juice bar in a warm neutral grey and brown envelope.
LINK TO THE OUTDOORS
Thanks to a bank of large win- dows, the family room is linked to the outdoors and has tons of light and beautiful views. Running with the natural theme, Celli selected organic furnishings: a rustic barnboard coffee table, nappy natural wool rug, white unsheared wool pillows, Moroccan inspired ottomans, and a soft pear-coloured leather sofa and chairs. He also installed along one wall, tiles that are applied together in a leafy mural by Stone Port Group.
This room is Celli’s favourite. Taking up the entire back of the house, and comprising a large eat-in kitchen and family room — separated only by the wall that accommodates the two-sided fireplace — it’s an oasis thanks to the soothing neutral grey-beige walls.
CREATE RESTFUL OASES
Large bedrooms, like this master, can sometimes feel cavernous. Filling it with layers of textures in a neutral palette allows the room to be restful. The tall headboard, for example, is upholstered in soft grey linen, the carpet is cream and beige shag, the linen drapes are billowy and full, and the hardwood floor is a soft pale greige.
CARRY WEIGHT WELL
To avoid the visual blandness that a sea of neutrals can present, furnishings and artwork need to be different weights and sizes. An oversized silver lamp base in the living room adds a lot of oomph and shimmer that might be overkill in a colourful room, but with these soft creamy walls it’s simply a stand-out piece. In the same room, a large single painting on one wall is balanced by two pieces of art on the opposite wall. In two bedrooms, where Celli has introduced colour — tangerine and celery, no less — the grey walls recede, allowing the beds and linens to pop without overpowering everything else. Whatever pattern you choose, balance the parts of the room — that is one side of the room must weigh about the same as another — by spacing patterns out.
ALLOW SYMMETRY
Calm, soothing neutrals are the perfect canvas for a symmetrical layout because it gives a home a sense of order: a row of parsons chairs lined up perfectly on either side of the dining table, two leather and chrome ottomans arranged on the living room carpet in a row with the glass coffee table and mirrored cabinet.
LIMIT THE NUMBER OF NEUTRALS
When choosing neutrals, pick two or three main hues for each room (it’s also best to have that same choice run through at least the main floor). To create contrast, combine white upholstered furniture with wood pieces that are of a consistent tone — all cherry, or all oak, or all ebony. Used sparingly, black accents — another neutral — can ground a room. Once the foundational neutrals are laid down, you can incorporate an additional colour, such as red, or teal, or citrine, but in very limited amounts, like the green vase in the family room.
BRING ON THE TRIM
Neutral backdrops allow great moulding and detail trim to really shine. The front hall is a good example; had the walls been brilliantly hued, those details would have been lost. Neutrals also create a clean, crisp backdrop for all that glitters; the mirrored buffet in the dining room, the mirrored console in the family room and the metal table in the master bedroom.
The home, located at 8 Thornhill Ave., Thornhill, is open for tours Monday to Friday 1-8 p.m., weekends from noon to 5 p.m. For more information and to buy tickets for the lottery, go to www.helpconquercancer.ca