Decorating & Design
May 25, 2022
Designer Jennifer Overweel’s New-Build Home Gets A Dose Of Playful Elegance
Designer Jennifer Overweel knows what she likes, and she’s not afraid to go for it. While working for Brian Gluckstein, Jennifer always wanted to “have some cheeky fun,” she says, with a laugh. “I would try different colors and patterns with Brian, while keeping in theme with his timeless approach.” After four years at the iconic firm, she ventured out on her own in 2017 to launch Maison Maison, an online Moroccan rug side hustle, which evolved into a full-time interior design service after people began asking her to design their spaces. But when it came time to design her own house in 2020, she found it more difficult than working for her clients. “I like too many things!” she says. “But Brian taught me not to get sidetracked by all the fun stuff — to be refined, restrained and balanced.”
The interiors were a blank slate. The builder’s company, Inlet Homes, would finish the house over the next year while Jennifer undertook the design of all 4,500 square feet of the interiors (she also selected the exterior finishes to create a modern traditional envelope in black wood siding with a cedar shake roof). New-builds aren’t often associated with sophisticated layers of history and patina, so she relished the challenge of bridging both new and old in the five- bedroom, five-bathroom house.
Scroll down to step inside this gorgeous family home!
Jennifer and her husband, Andrew Kucey, and baby daughter, Winslow, had been living in a 900-square-foot condo in Toronto’s entertainment district, along with their dog. “It was pretty tight,” she remembers. The couple had started house hunting in Oakville, Ont., where they’d both grown up and Andrew’s parents still lived. As luck would have it, they had a builder in the family who had recently purchased a lot in Tuxedo Park and poured a foundation. Jennifer and Andrew bought the lot. “It was a great opportunity for us to build our dream home,” says Jennifer.
“I like to call my style ‘playful elegance,’” says the designer. “I like to focus on the details. Everything in my house has a purpose and a story, and I try not to lean too much on trends.” She went with a bone-coloured limewash plaster on the walls in the common spaces, then used dusty rose fabrics as a neutral throughout the house for a playful yet serene twist. In the living room, a wood-burning fireplace becomes the room’s focal point.
In the kitchen, stunning Cristallino Antigua quartzite on the counters, backsplash and vent hood offers a dramatic departure from the usual. “I was looking for a quartzite that had the essence of Quartzo Bianco, just not the price tag,” says Jennifer. “At the back of the warehouse were some overlooked Cristallino Antigua slabs. Once I saw the slabs, I knew: they were exactly what I was looking for. I loved the purples and copper veining, and the price was too good to pass up.” The slabs were the perfect jumping-off point for the kitchen palette. The quartzite was a design risk, but so, too, are many other areas where both warm and cool tones work together with bold color, pattern and rich texture.
These handmade hammered-iron dining chairs are from De La Vega Designs in Brooklyn, N.Y. The locally made table is a perfect addition.
Bright wallpaper in the powder room complements a pink onyx sink, modern blue Moroccan tile makes a laundry room pop against historical wallpaper, dining chairs covered in pink mohair (above) are set against limewash plaster–painted walls, and the nursery (which Winslow, now 3, moved out of last summer) plays with vivid textures and tones.
An acrylic crib fits snugly into the nursery’s closet nook.
A fun Pierre Frey wallpaper of butterflies and bugs is the star of Winslow’s room. “When designing children’s rooms, I like to be playful and have fun with whimsical elements,” says Jennifer. “They’re only kids once, and they spend so much time in there!” It’s that texture and color throughout that works to bring warmth and personality to what could have otherwise been a sterile new-build.
Painted blue cabinets pop against charming whale and turtle wallpaper from Kravet Canada.
“The principal bedroom is my favorite room in the house,” says Jennifer. The custom ceiling fixture
is seven feet in diameter.
Black-framed windows and light drapes put the focus on the lush greenery outside.
In the principal bathroom, boldly veined marble and pink glass chain-link sconces are cool and unique.
Jennifer loves the contemporary shape of this freestanding tub. “It’s 600 pounds, so they needed a crane to get it up to the second floor!”
Patterned wallpaper and Moroccan floor tile create a happy mix in the laundry room.
The mudroom’s bold burgundy millwork is complemented by aubergine terrazzo floors.
For her own home, she loved taking more design risks than she usually does with her clients, and the result is a space that feels personal, bright, warm and welcoming. “My house is for me and my family,” says Jennifer, with a smile. “I forewarn people — there’s a lot of wallpaper, a lot of color and my bathroom is purple.”
Stacey Brandford
House & Home May 2022
Jennifer Overweel