{"id":712589,"date":"2026-07-26T21:30:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T21:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/712589\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T21:30:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T21:30:26","slug":"inside-colette-van-den-thillarts-colorful-toronto-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/712589\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Colette van den Thillart\u2019s Colorful Toronto Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated3 min read<\/p>\n

\u201cIn those blinds, you can find the microcosm of my whole career,\u201d says Toronto-based designer Colette van den Thillart<\/a>, referring to the shades covering her living room windows. \u201cThe fabric has such a place in my heart.\u201d Called Shutter Stripe, the linen-cotton fabric was originally designed by iconic English decorator John Fowler (who named it Venetian Blind) and is now part of a textiles line she produces with London interior designer Nicky Haslam.<\/p>\n

\"AMax Kim-Bee<\/p>\n

Toronto-based designer Colette van den Thillart in her bedroom.<\/p>\n

Van den Thillart met Haslam, whom she calls her \u201cbest friend,\u201d when her husband\u2019s business took the couple to London, where she pursued a graduate degree in French and English decorative arts. While researching a paper on Fowler, she reached out to Haslam, who owns Fowler\u2019s former hunting lodge. \u201cWe met, and it was just kismet,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Before long, the two were working together. Even though van den Thillart and her family, which includes two teenage daughters, have recently moved back to her hometown of Toronto, she and Haslam still collaborate on projects. Her own home, a 1920s center-hall neo-Georgian in the Rosedale enclave of the city, is chock-full of evidence of the time van den Thillart spent on the other side of the pond.<\/p>\n

\"ElegantMax Kim-BeeThe dining room evokes the feeling of a garden grotto. Van den Thillart designed the plaster wall piece, which reads \u201cWilder Shores of Love.\u201d The vintage Sirmos chandelier is from AWK Design Antiques<\/a>; wallcovering, Grotto velvet by Nicky Haslam<\/a> for Turnell & Gigon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the dining room, for example, the walls are covered in Grotto, a velvet printed with a digital image of a wall she and Haslam installed in a house in the English countryside. \u201cWe did a feature wall in flint, fossils, and semiprecious stones, like a real grotto,\u201d she says. \u201cThis fabric is a mash-up of a complicated 18th-century idea and modern technology. You get something completely contemporary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AMax Kim-BeeA contemporary painting by James Lahey, from Galerie de Bellefeuille<\/a>, provides a rush of color in the Toronto living room of Colette van den Thillart. She designed the geometric objects atop the terrazzo garden tables from The Conran Shop<\/a>.\"Elegant<\/p>\n

Van den Thillart says she also has \u201cEngland to thank\u201d for her fearlessness when it comes to her sense of scale, especially when applied to lamps. \u201cSmall lamps look anxious to me,\u201d she observes, \u201cwhereas bold-scale items project confidence.\u201d In the living room, the oversize glass lamps on a pair of consoles flank a settee, above which hangs a piece of plaster art made by the designer. \u201cWhen I need something with personality, I sometimes just make it myself,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Though van den Thillart honors requests from clients for \u201cZen-like\u201d monochromatic primary bedrooms, in her own lair, she opts for color and exuberance. \u201cMy idea of a retreat is something that picks me up,\u201d she says. \u201cWhat feeds my soul is pattern and whimsy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CozyMax Kim-BeeThe primary bedroom\u2019s custom headboard is in a silk velvet; lamps from OKA<\/a> have custom shades in Rose Cumming\u2019s<\/a> Delphinium fabric.<\/p>\n

The room\u2019s curvy headboard is covered in silk velvet, the designer\u2019s favorite. \u201cI\u2019m a complete velvet addict,\u201d she says. \u201cI put it on as many things as possible.\u201d The urn-topped plinth in the living room is draped in blue velvet, but even pieces that undergo more wear and tear get the sumptuous treatment. The sitting room\u2019s serpentine sofa is upholstered in a rich mink-colored chenille, while the silk-velvet Turkish-style floor cushions and faux-fur rug in the living room are further examples of what van den Thillart calls the \u201cplush warmth\u201d that marks her eclectic, layered approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a cold climate,\u201d she observes of her Canadian surrounds. \u201cI wanted to create rooms that are comfortable and cozy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sitting Room\"Elegant<\/p>\n

Max Kim-Bee<\/p>\n

Purple accents add richness to rooms in warm neutrals. In the sitting room off the garden, the Hans Wegner wing chair is from Carl Hansen<\/a>; the sofa in a Lee Jofa<\/a> velvet and the Y&Co.<\/a> rug are both custom.<\/p>\n

Living Room\"Stylishly<\/p>\n

Max Kim-Bee<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked a lot of sexy curves into the living room,\u201d says van den Thillart. A 19th-century Italian chair is in a Marvic Textiles<\/a> crewel; the Italian glass lamps are custom.<\/p>\n

Garden\"A<\/p>\n

Max Kim-Bee<\/p>\n

The garden is a welcome respite on warm days.<\/p>\n

Become a VERANDA Design Society Member\"Become<\/a>Become a VERANDA Design Society MemberCredit: Max Kim-Bee<\/p>\n

Featured in our March\/April 2018 issue. Interior design by Colette van den Thillart; Photography by Max Kim-Bee; Produced by Carolyn Englefield; Written by Julia Reed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"3 min read \u201cIn those blinds, you can find the microcosm of my whole career,\u201d says Toronto-based designer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,236035,236036,236034,9262,236033,1120,12497,96,2788,190731,380,157379,236032,223205,226242,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-712589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-collection-from-veranda-magazine","tag-collection-the-ultimate-house-tours-guide","tag-collection-vds-silver","tag-content-type-feature","tag-contentid-5863504b-0a28-403e-830a-1acdee5d7d88","tag-design","tag-displaytype-long-form-article","tag-entertainment","tag-hasproduct-true","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-us","tag-read_time-3","tag-shorttitle-english-charm-meets-pattern-in-this-toronto-home","tag-sponsored-false","tag-subsection-house-tours","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}