Decorating & Design
Vancouver Designer Tanya McLean Brings Bold Color To A Penthouse In The Clouds
Updated on March 15, 2024
Even on a gloomy, rainy day in Vancouver, sunglasses might be required in this two-level, 1,400-square-foot penthouse apartment in East Vancouver. Banana leaf motifs, a smile-inspiring beach-towel palette and don’t-worry-be-happy glamor are more likely to be spotted on a tropical island than in a city that often receives only a few hours of dim sunlight on a midwinter day. That’s why designer Tanya McLean gave this three-bedroom, new-build penthouse a sunny, Palm Springs–style disposition, no matter the weather. As owner and creative director of Mango Design Co, Tanya had worked with the penthouse owners — a busy professional couple who enjoy travelling, motorcycles and meditation — several times over the past 15 years. “I’m an artist and traveller at heart who’s inspired by people, cultures, art, music and nature in the world around us,” says Tanya, an intrepid colorist who isn’t wary of anything but beige.
In 2020, she opened the flamingo pink door of The Coast Goods, her own home decorating shop in East Vancouver with its laid-back, barefoot-at-the-beach interior, and focused on featuring local and independent artisans. “The people I’m inspired by — Spanish designers such as Jaime Hayon and Patricia Urquiola — convey an easy, timeless playfulness,” says Tanya. “Most homeowners are cautious, but when you have clients like this who trust your design direction and allow you to be so creative, it’s a rare event. They didn’t want boring or beige; they wanted it to be lighter, brighter, uplifting and whimsical.”
See how Tanya brought tropical summer style to this colorful penthouse!
The decorative fireworks begin with a massive, five-and-a-half-foot-wide rose gold chandelier that dangles like a giant earring above the living area, a design gesture so bold that it sets the mood for the rest of the “small but tall” penthouse. “I was looking for something dramatic to convey the playfulness I was after, and wham! There it was, and it was just perfect,” says Tanya.
This is a home that embraces traditional craftsmanship (all of the art was created by local artisans) but with a modern maximalist’s celebration of color and jauntily askew scale. On the wall next to the chandelier, a huge, irrepressibly jubilant floor-to-ceiling mural of supersize pop art foliage hovers above simple dining room chairs the color of a beach sunset viewed through an Instagram filter and hardwood floors as pale as sand dunes.
Candlelit dinners are within reach in the dining area.
“We honestly asked ourselves ‘Is this too much?’ so many times while designing this space that it was a running joke in our studio,” says Tanya with a laugh, who worked with Nichole Skladan and Eliane Vares on the project. “But we got it right. The trick is in the repetition of design elements and in the balance of bold and calm.” Shades of teal and barely-there pebble pink are used throughout the home, on everything from walls to cabinets and even baseboards, creating a sense of flow and continuity.
Colorful and overscaled patterned wallpapers Tanya chose for a guest bedroom and the clients’ his-and-hers dressing rooms are “unique and used to define each space, but all have a tropical theme.”
Terrazzo counters in confetti colors add a happy, beach-party vibe to the kitchen and bathrooms. Tanya used color and art to visually define the kitchen and break up the 17-foot-tall space. A linear light fixture over the island provides inconspicuous task lighting.
Tanya used an innovative heat-resistant surface to surround the cooktop.
In the main-floor bathroom, the circular motif used throughout the penthouse continues in the mirror, door and flooring.
A desk and lounge area in the light-filled principal bedroom has a spectacular city view.
Luxe rose gold faucets and colorful terrazzo counters appear in all of the bathrooms.
Each bathroom has a defining color and material combo to give it an individual look.
To bring natural light into the ensuite, Tanya replaced the principal bathroom’s wall and door with custom-panelled sliding doors.
Tanya turned what was originally a bedroom into a boldly tropical dressing room.
Teal cabinets and a Japanese-inspired wallpaper mural bring a moody vibe to the principal bedroom’s walk-in closet.
Tiled steps lead to the penthouse’s upper deck.
Surrounded by exuberant color, the comfortable living room furniture is quietly neutral.
“Each element in the penthouse is special in its own right, but everything works together beautifully,” says the designer. “That’s the beauty of intentionally curating a small space — nothing is there for aesthetics alone.” Except for perhaps that chandelier. At the end of the day, who hasn’t found themselves lying on a beach, wishing they could live there forever?