Located in Etobicoke, on the west end of Toronto, is this charming project from Dart Studio. The neighborhood is near the beach and in a community with young families—it was the perfect spot for the young family to settle down. Their goal in hiring Dart Studio was to create a family-friendly home with a focus on function. Though their 1940s house had a lot of vintage charm, the layout was closed off (so no easy sight lines to kiddos!) and the (original) kitchen hadn’t been well maintained. Dart Studio got to work.

The style of the space is refined, contemporary, and layered—though some of the millwork details lean a bit traditional, the furnishings and high-contrast palette feel modern. In the living room, they updated the fireplace with a gas insert. A cozy sectional fits the space perfectly. “To fit this in we rejigged the layout and changed the openings to give us a large wall for the sectional,” the designers told us. 

In the kitchen and dining room, large windows connect the space to the outdoors—the idea being that when the family is entertaining, they can open the doors to create a lovely flow to the backyard. Though the kitchen ended up being on the darker side, it still feels light and airy thanks to reeded glass cabinetry.

It was a nine-month project with a big payoff. Take a tour in the slideshow.