Interior design: Curating curves

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Most of us sift through paint swatches to pick a colour for the walls — Daniella Dolman dipped into her client’s make-up bag, instead.  

“I noticed she wore a shade of dusty pink lipstick,” recalls Dolman, the designer and creative director of Oakville-based FOR Design as well as the furniture stores, FOR Living, with shops in both Oakville and Guelph.  

“We ended up using that berry colour (Dutch Cocoa by Sherwin-Williams, to be specific) in the dining room and powder room,” she says.   

Dolman’s client’s clothing in autumnal browns and muddy greens was another source of inspiration for the walls and furnishings in this Hamilton home, giving it a warm and toasty feel.  

The 2,500-square-foot, Tudor-style dwelling was built in the 1950s or ’60s estimates Adam Matak, the artist and high school teacher who lives here with his (private) educator wife and young sons. The family were in the house for seven years before embarking on a renovation. 

“That really revealed our needs,” says Matak. “We knew how our family moved through the space.” 

As the coats piled up at the door, and the toys colonized the home, space became scarce. Storage was a must. And odd transitions between rooms on the main floor needed to be addressed, he says. “The goal was to unify all the rooms,” he notes. As it was, the kitchen felt narrow, which just didn’t cut it for this family that love to cook. 

“I like to get to know who they are, their history, where they travel,” says Dolman about how she tackles a project. “They taught overseas in Norway and really were inspired by Northern Europe. So we introduced a Scandinavian language throughout the millwork.”  

To that end, “everything is clean-lined and has a certain simplicity,” says Dolman of the project completed alongside the contractor, Parks Design Group. As an example, she points out the flat-panel kitchen cabinetry by The Wood Work, with its integrated pulls that exude quietude. 

Curves were also introduced to soften the space appearing as tapered ends in the showstopping, two-tone kitchen. The hood vent is also rounded as is the base of the banquette, as well as the table and chairs in the dining room. Even the walls above the fireplace have contoured sides. 

In the Bland Before Times, the main floor was bathed in grey and white, with dismal dark wood floors (they’re now white oak). The peninsula-style kitchen impeded the flow, and there was nothing special about the basic traditional cupboards. 

“[The wife] told me, ‘We have to make this kitchen bigger! We need this to be more of a workhorse for me and my busy family,’” says Dolman. 

The galley-style replacement — a solution that opened up space — features toffee-toned lowers and uppers the colour of clotted cream.  

Dolman likes the natural grain of the walnut wood and the interplay between dark and light, which gives the kitchen a sophisticated edge. And rather than a busy backsplash, a neat strip of tile trails along the quartz countertop; for cohesion that same creamy tile clads the hood vent, too. 

And at the banquette, installed for casual meals, Dolman dialled up the drama with a marble table that has two huge columns for legs, proving that minimalism need not be boring. 

Speaking of gams, there’s a deliberate lack of them in the dining room. “Seeing too many legs on a chair feels busy,” says Dolman. (The bouclé, barrel-style babes here appear as fluid forms.)  

Another seamless moment is in the foyer. Once chaotic, peace now pervades thanks to the bench-seat, walnut combo. “We created this amazing storage solution for the kids’ coats and shoes and there’s also a seating area,” says Dolman. 

“Both my wife and I are very visual people, and clutter wears on us,” adds Matak. (“Strangely I’m depicting a lot of that accumulation in my current artworks.”)  

It’s a joy to come home to a calm, organized space. And it resonates personally, says Matak. “Because previous renos were made by someone else, the house feels like ours now. It feels like home.”