ColeDesign Studio

Directions Website Contact the business

ColeDesign Studio A boutique firm specializing in interiors that epitomize a perfected aesthetic: classic with an edge.

Never tied to any one style, I always strive for a timeless appeal, a casual elegance and a sense of effortless living. My goal is to create personal and evocative spaces which convey a sense of pride, comfort and excitement about returning home each day.

Sometimes an inspirational moment stops me long enough to LOOK further. Then upon further examination it showed me the ...
10/13/2026

Sometimes an inspirational moment stops me long enough to LOOK further. Then upon further examination it showed me the magic … which actually been there all of the other hundreds of times I’ve passed it by while out walking past it with my dog. What do you see.
See comments for what I saw.

wall

It’s the small things and not the grand gestures. My own hallway is full of little pleasures that make me happy each ti...
10/09/2026

It’s the small things and not the grand gestures. My own hallway is full of little pleasures that make me happy each time I pass through.
2 mismatched Kilim rugs bring colour, pattern and boho mischief ….
Those Moroccan light fixtures I lugged home and had electrified throw magical reflections around…..
My sisters lovely photo of a woman who now swims along the walls instead of how it was meant as a deep dive to a pearl on the floor of the ocean - the primitive bench at the end holding twinkle lights in a jar and 3 treasured black cherry tea light holders …. and so much more.
I have come to understand that good design isn’t just about making a room beautiful. It’s more about the things we collect, the memories we keep close and the small unexpected pleasures we get from them that make our spaces feel like ours. THAT is the beauty !
My Beauty Project is about
noticing what catches us and then looking again to find the meaning to understand what it does for us.

I now ask ‘What’s the little thing in your own home that makes you so happy? “ It may be the thing someone else overlooks but which you wouldn’t want to live without.

My point?
The quirky cheap plastic sculpture - is everything to me.
The rugs don’t match but work together like a runway .
The magic lights throw lovely patterns ono the ceiling.
All things collected. All unexpected pleasures. They make my space feel like it’s mine and the time passing through the hall my journeyof small discoveries.

Lately I’ve been sharing what catches my eye out in the world. Today I’m looking a little closer to home.

. .

10/07/2026

CHASING BEAUTY….
A few nights ago, I put a single ginkgo leaf at each place at a dinner party. I wanted to see what people would see.

And then the conversation began.

Symmetry. Its unusual veining. That extraordinary saturated green. The strength and resilience of the tree. Its ancient history. The ginkgo trees that survived Hiroshima.

Everyone was looking at the same leaf.

But each person added something I hadn’t yet seen.

And that stopped me.

Because maybe this is what The Beauty Project is really about !!

.

So lucky to see/heat/watch/witness/participate in a Jacob Collier performance at the beautiful Winter Garden Theatre in ...
10/05/2026

So lucky to see/heat/watch/witness/participate in a Jacob Collier performance at the beautiful Winter Garden Theatre in toronto last night. He did not disappoint as he hopped around the stage with boundless energy and a beautiful spirit… not to mention his amazing voice. We all sang as one beautiful chorus.

10/04/2026

Skies cleared Rolling hills. Solo journey. Big sky. Big thoughts. Big feelings. .

The rock star of the garden. In fall I am impressed each year by the single ROSE in the garden and how long it can hold...
10/02/2026

The rock star of the garden. In fall I am impressed each year by the single ROSE in the garden and how long it can hold out, captivate, and hold court.
That single stem -at first blush seems lonely, but at the same time strong enough to ‘be’ without the rest of the gang.
Here behind the fence and against a fading garden complete with changing and fallen leaves, it is still self sufficient.
1 rose. 1 stem…. and 1 bright note of colour demanding attention and holding it like the rock star of the garden it is. BeautyProject

I was in Meaford yesterday, right in the middle of The Invasion of the Scarecrows — part of the Meaford Scarecrow Projec...
09/18/2026

I was in Meaford yesterday, right in the middle of The Invasion of the Scarecrows — part of the Meaford Scarecrow Project.

And what an invasion it was.

Scarecrows everywhere…..Hanging from trees, dangling from telephone poles, perched on balconies and appearing in the most unexpected places. They really got into it!!!!!

The whole town seemed to have joined in. They were clearly having a lot of fun in Meaford.

And then I met her.

She had a slightly crazy look in her eyes, but also seemed completely full of love and peace.

Hard to believe she was from the scarecrow family.

She seemed pretty easy-going (for a scarecrow). . .

I came across this little psychiatric help booth on my walk yesterday.Five cents!!!The doctor is out.Naturally, I steppe...
09/18/2026

I came across this little psychiatric help booth on my walk yesterday.

Five cents!!!
The doctor is out.

Naturally, I stepped in.

I’m not sure what I was going to confess, but I thought it best to rehearse before the doctor came back.

“Doctor, I have a problem…”

I keep taking pictures of things that speak to me.

I see beauty everywhere.

And apparently, I have started having conversations with roadside signs.

I think I may need the five-cent appointment.

But first, I need to know when the doctor is in. 😏. ?

of beauty . This tree leaped at me while I walked through St. James Cemetary this morning. Don’t know why I’m so...
09/14/2026

of beauty . This tree leaped at me while I walked through St. James Cemetary this morning.
Don’t know why I’m so drawn to trees lately - but this one was ‘lit up’ by the sun. It called me to capture its trunk while the sun spot lit its branches as they split to move off in separate directions.
Shadows are a large part of a tree photo for me. They tell the complete story.
In this photo these shadows are the more interesting part of this tree - In the space between the shadow reflections -the negative spaces - are really the important bits. And they are lit up!
Like the Leonard Cohen song - the crack in the sidewalk is where the light comes in…. this is similar. Here it is the space amid the shadows - filled with light!
I was surprised to find me there. Too. There is a reflection of myself capturing it all- right there! in the ‘negative space.‘ Escher style.
In the spaces between the shadows, which are filled with light.
These bursts of light present as opportunities.- Perhaps new opportunities or new perceptions.
A learning to see the spaces between. …Not as emptiness, but possibility. The tree, its shadows, and ...the light inside the shadows. - like the Leonard Cohen quote abou the crack letting the light in.

Especially in the picture and in this setting... amid gravestones and shadows- the light getting in feels especially present. And, there is my own shadow!! which makes it a different sort of picture….it”s a record of me noticing.
My own call to action? -
Noticing the light in the spaces of my own week - no need to fill them. Just a need to stand in it long enough to notice what the light makes visible. I love this beautiful message.

My daughter Samantha understood this long before I had the words for it. About 35 years ago, she coined the phrase for t...
09/08/2026

My daughter Samantha understood this long before I had the words for it. About 35 years ago, she coined the phrase for the very first postcard for my first design company, Caper Interior Productions:

“You don’t just sit on it. You live in it.”

She couldn’t have been more ahead of her time—or more perfectly in tune with my philosophy of design.

In one of these photographs, Sam is lying on that very sofa with my dog, Cooper. Thirty-five years later. It’s a beautiful example of what she meant: furniture isn’t meant to be admired from a distance. It’s meant to hold our lives—the naps, the laughter, the companionship, the quiet moments, and the memories.

To me, that is beauty in design: thoughtful, useful, soulful, and lived in.

Beauty isn’t something you finish creating.

What is your beauty in Design?

It’s something you live into.

Address

143 Amelia Street
Toronto, ON
M4X1E6

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when ColeDesign Studio posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to ColeDesign Studio:

Shortcuts

Share

Category