PHOTOGRAPHY: GUILLERMO CASTRO
STYLING: EUGENIA TRIANDOS AND KORINA KHAMIS
The condo that designer Eugenia Triandos worked on in the Tour des Canadiens building was as close as she’s ever come to a dream project. And not because she’s a hockey fan – she’s absolutely not.
The overwhelmed (by her own admission) homeowner found herself struggling with the decor after purchasing a condo in the 50-storey tower in downtown Montreal, adjacent to the city’s Bell Centre, which represents the heart of this hockey-loving city.
So when Triandos, co-owner of Hibou Design and Co., said she could outfit the condo with everything from dishes to towels, the homeowner was absolutely delighted.
Triandos, who was equally delighted, was given a job that didn’t have the constraints of most projects: namely, the owners use the condo to stay downtown when there are hockey games, or to provide lodging to clients who are visiting. Because this was not going to be a full-time home for the owners, the question of creating storage space was not critical, as it generally is in condo renovations. Instead, the focus was on design.
“This was a really fun project where we could choose the pieces that really spoke to us,” she says.
The one condition from the homeowner was that the decor be a bit masculine.
What Triandos came up with is a modern, chic space that has the feel of a luxe hotel suite. All the leather she used – the tan leather armchairs, the leather dining chairs with baseball stitching from CB2 in Toronto, two area rugs in the entrance and master bedroom that are a mix of cowhide – really helped achieve that goal of creating a masculine look.
“Because they were using it to entertain for hockey, I wanted to bring in a sports element,” says Triandos. “I used some hockey artwork throughout to bring in that feeling. It was like creating a sexy entertaining space.”
She loved the look of neutral tones with just a few additions of colour, and with some carefully placed geometric wallpaper to provide pizzazz. The layering of various textures also gives the condo a richness – oiled wide-plank oak floors were the base for an interesting mix of leathers, linens, cowhide and marble.
Some drama was provided by two oversized mirrors; one, strategically placed in the front hall, covers an electrical panel. “The mirror was so big it almost didn’t make it in the door,” says Triandos. “But it adds some light to the entrance because it’s quite dark.”
She set the design tone for the condo in the wide entrance, using wallpaper that carries over into the kitchen area, and creating a funky and unusual wall display with a table, two lamps and artwork.
Throughout the condo, Triandos says, she incorporated a mix of “splurge and save items.” It’s a tactic she finds effective because “you can’t tell at end of the day which is splurge and which is save.”
One piece of furniture she splurged on was the dining room table, ordered online from Restoration Hardware in the U.S. With a marble top and a hammered-brass pedestal, it’s the showstopper piece. It’s also heavy, and took four men to carry it in. “Once you’ve seen it, you couldn’t look at anything else,” says the homeowner. “It’s that beautiful.”
The splurge-and-save tactic applied to the artwork throughout the condo as well. “A lot of it is inexpensive prints from Minted,” says Triandos. “My favourite piece is in the dining room and it’s from Citizen Atelier in Montreal, which has edgier pieces that are super unique.”
Triandos says the real “wow” effect of the overall result stems largely from having the owner’s confidence and free rein to choose pieces that really inspired her.
As for the homeowner, she says that Triandos and her team “really worked their magic” and she is thrilled with the results. •
Hibou Design & Co.
www.hiboudesignco.com
514-574-0015
