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Philip Mitchell's living room

When he moved into a condo on the top floor of a 1980s Toronto high-rise seven years ago, interior designer Philip Mitchell immediately set about changing the layout to create a home for himself and Toronto ad man Mark Narsansky, whom he married in 2007. Inspiration came from his mother and grandmother, who both had exquisite taste. The family's influence is evident in the living room, his favourite room in the home because it's where he displays his many personal treasures. "It's where we have artworks and furnishings we have collected over the years," says the 37-year-old owner of Philip Mitchell Design, which recently launched a custom-furniture line manufactured in North America and available to designers through Primavera Interior Furnishings. "It's a reflection of our combined style."

The rug

"We fell in love with the area carpet from [Toronto retailer]Elte because of the colours found in it and selected many of the fabrics in the room to complement it."

The painting

"The painting over our sofa has special sentimental value as we purchased it in Paris on our honeymoon. It's a selfportrait of the artist, Troy Henriksen; we bought it at Galerie W Eric Landau on rue Lepic in the 18th arrondissement. Many of the pieces of artwork have been purchased on trips abroad and are hung in small groupings throughout the room."

The flowers

"We always love to have something living in the apartment and we are both fond of orchids because of the many colours they are available in as well as the fact they are easy to maintain."

The coffee table

"We found the chrome and glass coffee table at the New York showroom of U.K. designer Andrew Martin, where I source furniture for many of my clients, both Canadian and international. But this time we were shopping for ourselves."

The table lamps

"The mid-century Lucite lamps are from the local shop Patina Antiques Inc. We had custom-made high-gloss black lampshades created by Romela Antique Lighting to act as a stark contrast to the neutral walls."

The chairs

"I always design a room to have an abundance of comfortable seating to accommodate numerous guests. The wing chair is also from Andrew Martin. We decided to use a bold geometric pattern on the outside arms and back for some interest."

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