Grand Palace Condominiums: Value and Grandeur

A new standard of grandeur is coming to Richmond Hill, and its name is Grand Palace Condominiums. While its lavish amenities and stunning edifice exudes opulence of the highest order, this palace isn’t reserved for royalty. Its project leads, Stefano Guizzetti, Jack Scivoletto and Albert Gasparro, share a spectacular vision for this city on the rise, and it’s one that doesn’t cost a king’s ransom.

With a name like Grand Palace, thoughts of unbridled luxury accessible only to the city’s elite may parade by one’s mind. But the Guizzetti Corporation team puts a halt to such processions. “It’s luxurious, but it’s affordable luxury,” says Scivoletto, vice-president of Guizzetti Corporation. “We’re trying to update the city’s esthetic; to bring it up to the class it deserves.” The plan is to reach beyond the now customary fare of condo living that’s springing up across the GTA, to accent Richmond Hill’s skyline with progressive style and to create a community that caters to and complements modern lifestyles, all starting from the low $300,000s.

Designed by renowned architectural firm Hariri Pontarini Architects, which has worked on other notable landmarks such as York University’s Schulich School of Business, Grand Palace’s three exquisite glass towers are fashioned with contemporary design unique within the city. Thanks to soaring nine-foot ceilings and stylish glass walls, which both come standard in each of the 524 units, living spaces are bathed in natural light. Sleek fixtures and energy-efficient appliances including Fisher & Paykel refrigerators and Whirlpool stainless-steel dishwashers, ovens, microwaves and full-sized stacked washers and dryers enhance the open-concept suites. Granite countertops and premium porcelain tiles are also standards, further adding to the prestige.

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Jill of all Trades

Interior designer and former Bachelorette star Jillian Harris lives life by love and design.

Q: What led you to pursue a career in interior design?
A: My family has always been very crafty and into design — well, my mom, mostly. She owned a few home décor and design stores when I was a kid and I always remember being so fascinated with moving my furniture around, decorating my room and thinking of fun colour schemes. Growing up in a small town in northern Alberta, a career as an interior designer wasn’t really an option. It wasn’t until I moved to Calgary and was juggling a waitressing job at Cactus Club and a retail job at Caban that I fell in love with the idea of being a designer. Shortly after, I applied to be the executive assistant to the creative director of Cactus Club and it was then that my career in design was born. Read more

Design Therapy

Unwind in a beautiful space full of colour and surrounded by art.

1. HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS The award-winning firm Atmosphere Interior Design is known across North America for its striking work and visionary team. Using rich textures and bold furniture, designers Trevor Ciona and Curtis Elmy join project manager Heather Whyte to make clients’ dreams of a beautiful home come true. www.atmosphereinteriordesign.net

2. A LONG SHELF LIFE Choose a shelving unit that also stands as an art piece. This Chicago 8 unit is available in a variety of hardwood finishes and beautifully complements a modern home. www.urbanmode.com

3. TIME AFTER TIME 1212 Décor in Toronto will give you timeless interior design. Offering home consultations and a spectacular showroom Read more

Erica Gelman: Every room starts off with a blank slate

Our natural landscape is our best resource when it comes to inspiration, especially with colour. Neutrals are often considered exclusively to be white, grey, cream, brown, and even black, but there are other hues nature offers, and it’s time to incorporate them back into our spaces.

While decorating with neutrals can be a very chic approach to design, you also need to make sure you don’t create a room that feels bland or boring. What if neutral colours didn’t have that boring connotation attached to them? What if neutral colours weren’t just shades of cream and grey? Can you extend neutrals into other colours? The answer is yes, because a neutral colour helps to balance and create harmony with dominant hues. Read more

A Backyard Bash

By way of limited resources, I was able to pull together a backyard bash for a family celebration. It was held outside because our house was undergoing a complete renovation, but with a bit of ingenuity, it all came together seamlessly. First, we hauled our table and a few chairs from our storage space to create a pleasant dining area. Next, I dug up some vintage frames purchased at garage sales and thrift stores, spray-painted them white, and placed them onto the brick façade of our home.

The lunch was meant to be light and refreshing, with chicken salad croissant sandwiches and fruit. For dessert, I served an array of candies, cookies and cupcakes. Plain water and lemonade were served as drinks, but I kept things interesting by adding cucumber and lemon slices. I also found small glass bottles, which I filled with milk. I then added some cookies on top for a fun treat – which the children and adults enjoyed equally. Read more

Mi Casa, Tu Casa

From pastoral pieces to colourful complements, these additions will accessorize your home, no matter what your style.

Packed with recipes from Italy’s Calabria region, Rosetta Costantino brings old-world fare inspired by the seasonal ingredients from her family’s garden to the North American kitchen in her cookbook, My Calabria. www.chapters.indigo.ca

You can hang this spherical copper light alone or in groups to form shiny chandeliers. Either way, this gleaming Tom Dixon fixture reflects its stunning surroundings. www.abchome.com

Wrapped in smooth leather and accented with orderly nail studs, the Yucca Chair from Zilli Home brings life to any room, adding a distinct, edgy look. Read more

At Home with Decorium

Any home can be beautiful when all the right elements are in place. But it takes time, experience and good taste to achieve this. Enter design destination Decorium, a wonderland of expertise and everything you need to craft your surroundings into spaces that reflect your lifestyle and budget. “We’re family owned, and we’re on-site to create the home that so many people have trouble creating,” says CEO Steve Forberg.

From premium furniture, home accessories and occasional pieces, to lighting, children’s furniture, bedroom and dining sets, Decorium is more than just your average furniture store. With a showroom that soars at 60,000 sq.ft., unending styles are conveniently divided into five design categories. Noting the confusion that comes with packed big box furniture stores that don’t offer one-on-one design consultations and fashion advice, Forberg asks, Read more

Sunshine Window Fashions

As one of the only Hunter Douglas Gallery showrooms in the GTA, Sunshine Window Fashions has been revamping the look of living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms and offices with its innovative selection of custom blinds, shades, shutters and drapes for years.

One of the first cosmetic alterations homeowners tend to make is replacing their windows. While this can make a major esthetic impact on a home, it’s important to consider the transformative power of dressing your new or pre-existing windows with quality blinds and shades. Read more

Always a Season Ahead: Yabu Pushelberg

If you’ve ever had a nightcap at the W Hotel in Times Square New York, sipped a Lipstick Martini at Toronto’s Bymark, waltzed into Tiffany & Co. on Wall Street or snagged a bag at Louis Vuitton, Hong Kong, then it’s fair to say you’ve already shaken the figurative hands of George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg. With their innovative personalities strewn like rose petals across the interiors of international landmarks, this interior duo has become globally known for leaving its 21st century signature on every space. “No matter what type of project it is, interiors should evoke an emotion,” says Pushelberg, who speaks for one half of the award-winning Yabu Pushelberg design firm.

There’s another reason why their names might ring a bell. The ambitious partners were commissioned to design the entrance lobbies, spa, ballroom, conference facilities Read more

Designer Notebook

City Life’s favourite design sources will fit seamlessly in your home.

1. Roche Bobois waves its contemporary wand in this dynamic dining room. Vibrant wool upholstered chairs from the Chabada collection will make any modern interior stand out. With a palette of 18 colours, there’s no need to play musical chairs. www.roche-bobois.ca

2. Dazzling plum sequins bring a dash of drama to your home’s décor. Accent a chair, sofa or bed with this fun and fearless Starlight Cushion from Bouclair Home. www.bouclair.com

3. Drop your passport and pick up a paint brush with CIL Paints’ exciting new decorating concept. Destination painting lets you travel around the globe from the comfort of your abode. The Asian-inspired colours seen here are CIL’s Oriental Poppy, Read more

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