Decorating & Design
Sculptural Furniture & Contemporary Art Give This Home Gallery Appeal
Published on September 7, 2021
When your father is prolific Canadian artist Paul Cade, there’s a good chance your home will be filled with original art. Designer Emily Cade used a neutral envelope and sculptural furniture to showcase her collection of his paintings. “I wanted it to feel like a livable gallery,” she says of the Victorian house she shares with her husband, Phil, and two kids, Ella, 9, and Oliver, 4, in Toronto’s Leslieville neighborhood.
The 1,800-square-foot house was built in the 1930s and has a brick exterior reminiscent of a Brooklyn townhouse — apropos, given that Emily’s style has a lot in common with that of New York lifestyle guru (and brownstone dweller) Athena Calderone of EyeSwoon. “I gravitate toward interiors that are curated, eclectic and layered,” says Emily. “Athena is poetic in her approach to design and we have a similar aesthetic.” Emily has even coined a term to describe her own decorating style: “Glam-modernism.”
She used a palette of black, gray and white to create a backdrop that can easily adapt to changing furniture or accessories. One of the biggest splurges and nonnegotiable elements was the white oak herringbone floor that runs throughout. “I use it often in my clients’ homes, and I will forever be in love with it,” she says.
The home’s boldest moments come by way of art (and there’s no shortage of it!). “I naturally gravitate toward abstracts,” says Emily, who is a huge modern art enthusiast. She spent many years helping her father curate his shows. “The man is talented beyond words and I grew up surrounded by paintings, sculpture and art books, so creativity runs deep in my veins,” she says. But, while Emily is passionate about incorporating different art pieces into her spaces, she admits she never designs a room around the art itself. After all, having the flexibility to move pieces and continually restyle means that there’s always room to expand her collection.
Scroll down to tour this artful Victorian home!
Stephani Buchman
House & Home September 2021
Emily Cade