Perfect Composition

A nine-month transformation turned this 4,500-square-foot Toronto house into a forever home.

- Carisha Swanson

LIVING ROOM

Cynthia Ferguson made a painterly Lee Jofa wallcovering the focal point, accenting it with high-gloss paint and Murano glass sconces. A painstakingly restored antique mantel, installed in 11 pieces, adds soul. Rug: Elte. Chairs: custom, in S.Harris fabric.

It was supposed to be simple. The homeowners said they just wanted new floors. But when designer Cynthia Ferguson walked into her longtime clients' new Toronto home—having moved into a larger place a block from their old one, with their two teenagers in tow—she saw more than outdated Brazilian cherrywood planks. “They said, ‘Tell me if you see anything else you'd change,’” she recalls. “Which is never a smart thing to ask a designer.”