How Rainbow Doors Transformed This Toronto Artist’s Danforth Home

The colourful bunting hanging over Catherine’s daughter’s bed was made from vintage fabric and pillow cases. As an artist who specializes in hand-drawn lettering, Catherine painted the whimsical message on the wall as a daily reminder to her daughter to follow her curiosity and never be afraid to make mistakes. The blue outfit on the wall doesn’t fit her daughter anymore, but Catherine figured it was too cute to stuff away in a closet.

Catherine’s dad helped her build this homemade shelf, which employs two pieces of rope to suspend a clothing rod. Catherine chose some playful outfits to profile on the rack. The sea-foam green dresser was hand-painted and accessorized with clear knobs, which match the original door handle to the bedroom.

Fun fact: no two doors in the house are the same colour. For her daughter’s room, she went with bright peach. The matching suitcase on the floor is a vintage piece from a friend’s father, who used it as his personal luggage up until a few years ago when he upgraded to wheely bags.

Plenty of light comes in from this bay window, where Catherine and her daughter sometimes sit and watch the day go by. The whimsical wicker chair is another vintage piece from a friend, whose parents kept it in their bedroom since the 1970s.

Catherine’s work space needs to be organized, so she had her father build custom-made wooden shelves for all her supplies. On the wall, she’s taped up pieces she’s working on so they’re always within eyeshot. “I get bored looking at the same stuff,” she said.

One night, Catherine decided she needed a visual cue to keep her organized. A few swipes of gold paint later, voila: a month-by-month breakdown of her to-do list. “I’m not too particular about walls. I figured you can just repaint it,” she said.

Outside her office, a built-in bookshelf profiles some essential reading. Catherine used an upside-down rake to hang a collection of necklaces on the wall, and the door was painted robin’s-egg blue to provide a burst of colour.

The master bedroom was built as an addition to the home and has just enough space for a bed and closet. Catherine opted to forego any bold colour choices to give the room a chilled-out palette. Family photographs behind the bed provide a lived-in warmth.

To add some much-needed closet space, Catherine hunted down a set of old-school lockers on Craigslist and gave them a fresh paint job. The lockers came fully equipped with hooks and shelves, so no extra work needed.

On the main floor, Catherine painted this mural thanks to inspiration from “Can I Kick It?”, a song by A Tribe Called Quest. She splattered grey paint on the walls and used the original white paint from the walls to scribe the lyric: “Wipe your feet really good on the rhythm rug.” It’s a fitting message; her family is known for impromptu dance parties.

Next to the mural, the dining space tucks perfectly beside a window. A map of Toronto is hung on the wall with each neighbourhood included in a typographical mish-mash. The table and chairs and from Structube.

One of the most curious finds in the house is this bold flower-print chair, which Catherine spotted at BYOB Cocktail Emporium, a barware shop on Queen Street West. She immediately fell in love and asked the manager if it was up for sale. He named his price, and she took it home. It fits perfectly beside the canary-yellow door, which she painted using a missed tint at Home Depot.

The handsome brown couch from the 1960s was found on Kajiji, and Catherine spruced it up with a couple Kantha quilts from India and, in the middle, a blanket she found at a garage sale. The “CITY” letters were picked up from a shop in Toronto’s Distillery District, and she’s placed them beside some of her own photographs. The rustic wooden coffee table is another piece of her father’s impressive handiwork.

These vintage pool balls were a gift from a friend, and Catherine decided that they’d make a colourful addition to the room. Bonus: they last longer than flowers. The balls are placed atop a playful tray printed with a cartoonish map of Australia that Catherine picked up from an estate sale.

The cheeky living space is highlighted by a few personal touches, like this photograph Catherine shot of her partner and daughter taking a nap.

This space was once one big wall, but it was knocked out to pump some daylight from the kitchen into the space. Some Ontario-sourced barn board adds a natural texture to the room, and Catherine plays off the country-house vibes with vintage tins once used as vases at a friend’s wedding. “I kept my favourites,” she said. The hanging white planters are from IKEA.

Rather than hide away her colourful cups and bowls, Catherine decided to put them on full display. The glass jars on the top shelf are labelled with Catherine’s own signature calligraphy. In the corner, a turquoise breadbox from the 1960s hides away some baby essentials, like diapers and wipes.

The cooking space is bathed in plenty of natural light, giving the kitchen a bright, clean feel. The gas stove came with the house, which was a nice touch, and Catherine boosted her shelf space using the areas on top of cupboard. “Our house is fairly small, so we try to come up with creative storage solutions,” she said.

An espresso machine from Breville serves up fresh coffee, and Catherine keeps all her favourite beans and syrups on a vintage blue tray. The pink flowers were plucked from her personal garden.