Decorating & Design
British-Inspired Decorating Reigns Supreme In This Ranch Home
Updated on April 28, 2022
Some designers are inspired by a specific look, or a style of architecture. For Rosie Daykin, it’s a place. “If I get to choose a vacation spot, it’s always the English countryside, every time,” she says. The Vancouver designer, cookbook writer and bakery owner has a knack for focusing her love of all things English through a Canadian West Coast lens. You only need to visit her bakery, Butter Baked Goods, decorated in confectionary hues and oversized florals, for a prime example of Rosie’s unique style.
Rosie and her husband, Paul, bought this 3,000-square-foot, mid-century ranch house 14 years ago. Prior to this place, they’d been serial movers (they’ve had nine homes over 32 years of marriage!). They are regular clients of these movers in Richmond Hill. This sunny house, though, has been a real keeper and gives Rosie and Paul the seamless indoor-outdoor lifestyle they crave, plus it’s just the right size, even after their daughter, India, left the nest a few years ago. In 2017, the time was right for a refresh; the decorating was starting to feel dated. To revitalize the spaces, Rosie gravitated toward a lighter, prettier mood, bringing in pattern and texture in a pale palette.
Inspiration from Rosie’s travels informed her overall design concept, but it wasn’t about mementoes or specific souvenirs (though she had some of those, too). Instead, it was about evoking the feeling of a place. Rosie often logs her inspirations, then shops for items both abroad and closer to home. It’s just a matter of adapting the look. “I live in Vancouver in a 1950s rancher, which is not your traditional English house,” she says. “It’s interesting to demonstrate that, even without a thatch roof, the look translates. We can use those elements.” The star attraction here, without question, is the soft palette, which moves effortlessly throughout the open-concept house.
Scroll down to tour Rosie’s dreamy ranch home and her equally gorgeous garden!
In the foyer, an antique dresser gets new life paired with brass sconces and a hefty mirror. Veined travertine flooring runs throughout the main living area for a dose of drama and hasn’t worn a bit in more than a decade.
“I steer away from one look, or having everything from one store,” says Rosie, pictured here with Paul and their dog, Pickle. “I have to have that mixture — varying ages and histories of things.”
The pink tone of the mohair sofas in the living room acts as both a neutral and a driving force. “It was an interesting exercise that led to my color choices,” says Rosie. “I had no commitment to a sofa color, but I loved my overdyed patchwork rug, so the sofa upholstery was going to be whatever worked best with the rug. When I put down a rainbow of color swatches, the pink just made sense.”
In the kitchen, the couple had tired of the house’s original detailing, so they refreshed it with more traditional elements. Because the layout already worked well, they focused on upgrading the finishes. “I could only live with the teak we had for so long,” says Rosie. “I added a Carrara marble backsplash, changed the cabinet doors and used brass accents.”
In the dining area, a simple, rustic dining table and white oak cabinets stained light gray continue the soft palette. Sheepskins layered on the chairs were inspired by a trip to Sweden.
In the powder room, etchings from South African artists hang on a wall papered in a traditional print from London.
A spark that came from a London trip evolved into their storybook principal bedroom design, with its checkered bedspread (handmade in England) and pastoral wall mural from Anewall. Rosie took a chance and bought her rug online; the colors are a perfect counterpoint. “I love pattern on pattern on pattern,” she says. “It takes a confident hand but, to my eye, it looks the best.”
A full wall of mosaic tile emphasizes Rosie’s love of color and pattern in the principal bathroom.
On Rosie’s lush terrace, baskets and planters with a mix of perennials soften the concrete hardscaping.
The ranch house opens onto a walled-in garden with space for lounging and dining. “We constructed the whole side garden during lockdown,” she says. “It was perfect because the fence guy and painters were all outside.”
Rosie tends the metal obelisks entwined with pea shoots in the raised beds. Containers hold chocolate cosmos (foreground), purple catmint (Nepeta cataria) and climbing roses.
Painting the eight by 10-foot chicken coop and hardscaping the same color unifies the garden.
Rosie wasn’t daunted by her lack of gardening expertise, admitting that she chooses some seeds just because she likes their names: Blushed Butter Oak lettuce is an example. “I’m attempting to figure out gardening with the help of books and tutorials,” she says. “I’m a self-taught designer and baker, and I have a lot of talented friends like Thomas Hobbs. I feel like I lived at his nursery!”
An antique cheese pot is filled with sage.
Rosie grows a variety of veggies from seed.
A bright orange zucchini blossom.
Janis Nicolay
House & Home June 2021
Rosie Daykin