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favourite room

Emily Cappe Innerkofler and Florian Innerkofler designed their east Toronto space to commemorate their lived moments together.

For photographer Florian Innerkofler and his wife, Emily, decor is about incorporating important pieces of their lives and personality

Slim bookcases in Natural Steel, $379 (U.S.) at Room & Board (roomandboard.com).

Florian Innerkofler lives for the moment. The photographer, who hails from Vienna, is passionate about capturing life's tiny, near-miss events. Two kids jumping off a play structure, motorists stopped at a crosswalk and raindrops on a windshield are favourite subjects for this right-place-right-time artist. At home, Florian and his wife, Emily Cappe Innerkofler, an interior decorator, design their east Toronto space to commemorate those lived moments, through mementoes collected during their joint travels. And the pair are more than prepared to change everything on a dime – something they picked up from their 10 years living in New York.

"We learned to adapt to the space and make it our own," Cappe Innerkofler says of their previous, various rental spaces – and it's true of their current home as well. "We like to move things around a lot. Keep things really loose and easy, so we can be creative in our little East York living room," she says.

The two have an uncomplicated, fun sense of style, with a predilection for mid-century modern pieces that are timeless and durable, key for the parents of two young daughters, Stella Jade and Mica Liv. "We wanted a space that's really family-friendly," Cappe Innerkofler says.

They also like having the kids' friends over and maintain a staunchly carefree attitude about it. "We don't want to run behind them and say, 'You guys can't play here,'" Innerkofler says. "We basically want it very open and with no restrictions. Everyone can enjoy."

"We definitely have a similar sense of style and taste, for sure," Cappe Innerkofler says. "I sort of feel like, because of my profession, I always try to have the last say." But Innerkofler doesn't mind, since he's usually provided with a few options to choose from. "I pick from a well-edited selection, and I'm okay with it," he says.


Top: Burrard sofa in Seasalt Gray, $1549 at Article (article.com).
Bottom: Evelyn coffee table, $1550 at Rove Concepts (roveconcepts.com).

Central to the space is the sofa, along with custom-made cushions from Laura Stein Interiors, where Cappe Innerkofler works. The marble coffee table is from Wisteria and underneath, a rug, more recently acquired, from Safavieh. The wood-frame chairs are from a vintage dealer on eBay and many of the trinkets that occupy the matching Room & Board bookshelves were gathered from flea markets here and abroad. The couple's collection of art, photography and design books was amassed over the years.

"I think, when designing, whether it's for us or for a client, it's super important to have the personality of the family in the space," Cappe Innerkofler says. "For us, incorporating things we've picked up on our travels, and just a mishmash of things – I really like that look."

Egon Schiele: The Complete Paintings, 1909-1918 XL (Taschen), $183.61 at Indigo (chaptersindigo.ca).

Artworks run the gamut from Innerkofler's photographs, recently exhibited at Art Hub Gallery in Toronto, to found items (a 1920s print of two women walking in front of the Brandenburg Gate is a favourite) as well as reproductions. "There's one of an Austrian painter, Egon Schiele, that's up on our wall. It's obviously not an original, but it reminds me of that summer in Vienna," Innerkofler says. "So that's the patchwork we like. Maybe there's a real edition print from some famous photographer – but I think it's totally legit to mix and match."

"Anyone can go to a big-box store and buy the sofa and the chair and everything that looks good together, but to incorporate bits of your life, family and personality – that to me makes a home," Cappe Innerkofler says.

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