Street Meets Chic On The 41st Floor

PHOTOGRAPHY: LARRY ARNAL

STYLING: IMAN LALJI

Street and chic – two interior design aesthetics that are not often wed. Throw in regal as well and you’ve got the design challenge facing Iman Lalji in this two-bedroom hotel-condominium apartment.

Lalji is the owner of Designed by Iman and has known the apartment’s owner, Q Dhalla, for about eight years, first as a friend and now as a client. Q has a home in Brampton, but travels about half of every month on business as a developer of hotels and retirement homes. He needs an in-town pied-à-terre, somewhere to stay closer to clients and to entertain when he is in Toronto.

The master bedroom features various amenities that make it a luxurious retreat. For example, the full-length mirror can be illuminated to show the viewer in three types of lighting. The Hermès blanket was a housewarming gift from Q’s father. Nikas chandelier: Mobilia; leather and metal headboard: Crate & Barrel.

“Something between street art and chic was my design guideline for Iman,” says Q. “I wanted a lighter palette, something airy but not completely white, and with warmer tones.” Apart from the aesthetic, Q requested that Lalji incorporate local and East African (his family’s origin) products and artwork as much as possible.

*The artwork in the dining area is by Jasmina Cibic.*

“Q sent lots of inspiration photos,” Lalji says. “He expressed that he really liked graffiti, kind of like a street vibe. He sent pictures of street art but he would also send me photos of very regal sorts of places. The challenge was to somehow create a space that reflects a street vibe while still feeling luxurious.”

Keeping the patterns varied but in the same colour scheme ensures harmony in the living room’s design. The spectacular porter’s chair has a strong presence that nonetheless does not overpower the striking coffee table that was custom-made in India. Porter’s chair: ModShop

Before they could set to work on decor, however, Q had to find the right apartment. “I was looking for a place that had some prestige in its location, and I wanted somewhere quiet,” he says. He started searching during the summer of 2018 and figures he looked at “a couple dozen units. I asked Iman for her design opinion whenever I had a few to look at. This one was a reasonable price, in a good neighbourhood for me, had high ceilings and a layout open enough that we had a clean canvas.”

Homeowner Q Dhalla was delighted that the Kalla White porcelain slabs in the kitchen backsplash were mounted so that the “vein” in the “marble” seems to run from ceiling to sink. Tile: Porcelanosa.

The apartment, in Toronto’s financial district, is approximately 1,650 square feet. It encompasses an open-concept living-dining-kitchen area, a master bedroom with ensuite bathroom, another full bathroom, and a second bedroom.

The custom-made mirror in the foyer gives a hint of the eclectic design elements to come. Q worked with Courtney Coon from Declutter with Coco to design storage space that ensures a designated place for everything. Miramar pendant light: Hinkley Lighting.

Lalji’s design strategy was to use luxurious materials and fabrics and colours, something that would stand up to “some pops of graffiti and loud patterns and bold pillows.” Witness the living room with its wool-and-cashmere carpet and velvet sofa enlivened by jazzy black-and-white patterns on cushions, throw and coffee table. A spectacular porter’s chair in the living room upholstered in black-and-white houndstooth fabric further illustrates the concept.

In the ensuite master bathroom, a sinuous wallpaper design provokes strong opinions. The mirror was imported from India and is made of bone, mother of pearl, and marble. Azteca wallpaper: Drop It Modern; artwork: Renwil.

Even more arresting is the guest bedroom, which is moody in shades of black and red. The luxurious connotations of the overstuffed headboard, velvet accent pillows and textured bedding contrast with the street vibe of the graffiti-themed wallpaper and the faux-leather look of the pendant light. Lalji calls the wallpaper “really funky” and notes that “the subtler patterns for the furniture balance between soft and loud.”

If the guest room wallpaper is dense and intricate, so too is the wallpaper in the master bathroom’s water closet. Graffiti-like in its own way, it has wide black lines winding sinuously up and down the wall.

“When I first saw the bathroom wallpaper, I didn’t like it,” says Q. “It’s generated polarizing reviews. Some people love it; some say ‘What was the designer thinking?’ Iman said ‘Let it grow on you.’ ”

And grow on him it did.

Q’s family is from East Africa. Three photos in a corner of the master bedroom are “a reflection of who he is, in a modern way,” says Lalji. “I like gallery walls, but they can be right in your face and not well thought out. I wanted the three to look like a piece of art that reflects Q’s personality.”

Although the local (i.e., “street”) influence is obvious in certain aspects of the decor, nods to East Africa are more subtle but ubiquitous. In the master bedroom, custom-made nightstands on each side of the bed feature bone inlay. A striking mirror over the master bathroom vanity has a frame of bone, mother of pearl and marble. Another mirror, in the foyer, is framed in bone and onyx. A corner of the master bedroom is decorated with three photographs of African animals: a male lion, a mother elephant and her baby, and a giraffe.

Q moved into the apartment in January, and he’s discovered that it suits his lifestyle just fine. “It’s perfect,” he says. “I’ve had several parties, and out-of-town guests stayed there. It’s working out really well.” •