Houzz Tour: Toronto Loft Gets an Industrial Style Overhaul

Looking for a simple, clean and modern makeover for their orangey, oak-filled loft, this Toronto couple found their way to Rad Design. Founder and principal Golbou Rad and her team demolished the space down to the concrete slab and helped the pair — both city planners, one of whom is a passionate photographer — bring a sleek and industrial vibe to the narrow loft.

She added custom shelves made from pipework, replaced the oak floors with laminate made to look like reclaimed barn wood and swapped out the orange-tinted kitchen cabinets for crisp white ones. “It’s a style that you see in a lot of restaurants and bars, but not in too many homes,” Rad says. “But they both love that style, and I was really open to it.”

BEFORE

Houzz at a Glance
Location: Toronto
Who lives here: A couple, both city planners
Size: About 1,500 square feet (139 square meters); 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom

BEFORE: The loft is inside a converted warehouse that used to serve a big department store. The units ended up oddly long, narrow and multileveled. The beige walls and orange-hued wood didn’t work for the homeowners, who wanted something more modern and clean looking. “They needed to organize their house better,” Rad says.

AFTER: The team ripped out everything in the unit and started fresh, first with all-white walls intended to let the photography — shot by one of the homeowners — command attention. “If you start with an all-white space, it doesn’t look cluttered, and in such a long and narrow space, white makes it look bigger,” Rad says.

New gray-toned laminate floors resemble reclaimed wood. Rad chose a wide plank for a more modern look and because the planks more closely resemble barn boards.

Take a little Houzz Tour: Toronto Loft Gets an Industrial Style Overhaul

Houzz Tour: Toronto Loft Gets an Industrial Style Overhaul