Trish Johnston was schooled for style
Expect riskier, moodier colours along with an uptick in patterns in sophisticated, luxury spaces
Designer Trish Johnston knew she’d landed a career-defining gig when she was hired as Lynda Reeves’ personal assistant for House and Home TV after relocating from Edmonton to Toronto more than a decade ago. She soon learned that the dream job was also incredibly demanding.
Work as a designer on five Princess Margaret Lottery show homes (three as lead designer) was conducted at breakneck speed. Six months after dream homes broke ground, the team shot a decorated, fully furnished house.
“I was always on site — talking to suppliers, architects, electricians, everybody. It was crazy and exhausting.”
It was also just about the best designer training in Canada a body could ask for.
“Lynda was my mentor. She taught me everything I know,” Johnston says. “I wanted to impress her and she can be hard to impress. So I wanted to know everything, to learn everything.”
What does Johnston’s well-trained eye see ahead? The death of rustic industrial, for one thing. “Goodbye, barn board,” she laughs. Johnston expects to see more sophisticated, luxurious spaces. Watch for a spike, she adds, in “riskier, moodier” colours: think green and navy — especially in velvet.
Playing with colour has never been a problem for Johnston.
“I’m not afraid of colour. A lot of my spaces have a good dose of colour, or they have a lot of texture. “
Pattern is also seeing an uptick, with graphic wallpapers and decorative murals gaining traction.
Again, Johnston has always been a fan: the entrance way of her Toronto apartment has a bold print in pale blues and hints of shimmer that she says she “looks romantic in some lights and glam in others — I don’t think I’ll ever tire of it.”
Metallic finishes continue to dominate, says Johnston, who has always believed that any room benefits from a bit of shine — whether it’s a matte gold fixture or shimmery fabric.
While traditional looks are on the rise, mid-century modern (MCM) designs will remain popular, in part because they’re so versatile in the “curated spaces” Johnston likes to create.
She admits, however, that her knowledge of MCM wasn’t always as extensive as it is now, recalling a photo shoot during which Reeves instructed her to “take a picture of the Noguchi.”
“I had no idea what that was. (For the record, Isamu Noguchi was a hugely influential 20th-century Japanese-American artist and designer.) So I took pictures of every single thing in the room and then Googled it all and figured it out. I completely immersed myself, and it was wonderful,” Johnson says.
Johnston’s newest project is a collaboration with her husband, Greg, on a social media venture that features food, drink, travel and lifestyle. It launched recently with an Instagram account dubbed @dolly_and_duke (their “Instaegos,” Johnston explains).
“It will be about all the things we love the best, from where to shop for great food, to the music we love, to how to decorate your table,” Johnston says. “It’s a chance for us to share how creative we think life can be, and how there’s art everywhere around us.”
She also balances work for private clients with media appearances on shows such as CBC’s The Goods, where she walks audiences through room designs, offering tips and information.
“Those are my favourite spots, I think. You get to design a room that has a story behind it, right there on a sound stage. It’s not a pie-in-the-sky room, it’s one that you make look good without a million dollars’ worth of moulding. It’s made for real people.” Follow Vicky Sanderson on Twitter @vickysanderson, on Facebook at.facebook.com/ vickysandersonTO and on Instagram at vickysandersontoronto.