Good rugs key to making Toronto couple's Annex house feel like home

Yasemin Emory and Max Rosenfeld had varying areas of interest when it came to renovating their home in Toronto's Annex neighbourhood. Emory, a founding partner at creative consultancy Whitman Emorson, tackled the look and feel, finishes and furnishings, while Rosenfeld, who works in commercial real estate, took on infrastructural changes, electrical wiring and working with a mason on the fireplace. "We joke that we have different tours of the house. His includes the electrical closet. It's a source of pride for him," Emory says. "I'd never take anyone down there."

Despite these differences, the result of the gut job that saw the couple living with their respective parents for nine months ("like high-school sweethearts," Emory says) was the same: their dream home. Now, they're in the process of cozifying it as they prepare for the arrival of their first child, a girl. "We're excited," and busy, Emory says, adding finishing touches as the nesting instinct takes hold.

Emory's approach in the living room was to keep major elements, such as walls, floors and cabinetry, simple, streamlined and monochromatic. "My thinking was to use things that I knew I was going to incorporate in the house, like carpets from Turkey, artwork and pillows, to really bring colour and texture into the space," Emory says. "That was easier for me than making bolder choices with things that felt more permanent."

As the couple have accrued accoutrements, it's proved a wise strategy. "I think the vision is coming to life in the sense that it's feeling cozier and homier than it did when we initially moved in," Emory says. Mouth-blown glass pendant lights – each with a unique jagged underside – by Resident and purchased at Klaus, add a bit of colour and quirk. ("They're imperfect but perfect in a really beautiful way," Emory says). Antique folding tables with removable trays and copper candlesticks bring a feeling of history and warmth. A painting by Erin Loree is playful in its use of colour, which Emory enjoys, and harks back to a mountainous landscape, which Rosenfeld appreciates.

But, for Emory, the real essential is a good rug underfoot. "For me, before getting artwork on the walls, it was important to get carpets down," says Emory, whose mother hails from Turkey. "Having grown up with them and spending my summers [there], it's just the thing that makes a home feel like home to me – these vibrant, natural-dyed, antique kilims that have always been around," says Emory, referring to the flat, no-pile weaves traditional to countries of the former Ottoman Empire and the surrounding area.

And though her aesthetic has taken a more minimalist turn over time, Emory uses rugs to break up any monotony and add instant warmth. In purchasing a carpet, she heeds advice she once received: "It's like artwork. You shouldn't buy for the space. You buy it because you love it and you'll make it work," she says, employing strategies such as layering and mixing patterns. And, according to Emory, rugs can work almost anywhere, from the entrance to the master bedroom, under the kitchen table and in the bathroom – and, naturally, in baby's room. too.

On a recent trip to Morocco, Emory picked up a Beni Ourain rug, named after the Atlas Mountain tribe that weaves the geometric black-and-white designs with motifs that ward off evil spirits or reference natural life cycles. It now graces the floor of the room reserved for the new addition to their family. "Which is pretty exciting because we didn't even know she was going to be here when we bought it," Emory says.

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