8 min readThe best client to take risks on is yourself,” explains designer Parris McKenna. “You can push further, commit harder, and sit with a decision longer than you might allow anyone else to.” When she and her family bought a four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom Tudor-style home in Toronto, where she’s based, that’s exactly what the founder of her eponymous design firm got to do.
The house she first walked into was extremely white, with basic builder-grade details that didn’t match her colorful personality and preferences. Still, she saw the potential almost instantly. Before she could get into the more fun design decisions, though, she had to work on the structure.
While the home was relatively new, McKenna came into this project with a full gut renovation in mind and spent most of her time reconfiguring the layout with the help of House Lab Inc. and Alair Homes Toronto. She relocated the main staircase to maximize flow and function for her family and added a stairwell window, level with the other windows on the floor, for more natural light.
However, halfway through the renovation, they decided to do in-floor heat rather than forced air, which required a two-inch concrete layer to live above the heat lines. This change in flooring height impacted how that new window would appear, and they “spent about a month trying to determine whether lowering it to the new floor height or raising it six inches was the right call,” McKenna explains. Ultimately, they raised it, which the designer says was “100 percent the right call.”
Once those challenges were put to bed, McKenna could focus on the details. The designer is in a notable English-inspired era, and layered textiles, brass and polished nickel finishes, muted tones, and antique furnishings are abundant in the bright space because of it. She didn’t shy away from pattern-drenching the more personal spaces, opting for bold, rich wallpapers that wrap you up as you lie down to sleep. Striped sofas are grounded with soft, solid-colored pillows, allowing them to feel elegant without sacrificing warmth. A cozy, historic feeling threads through the home, thanks to patinaed items and personal touches. Not a fan of recessed lighting, McKenna chose cute flush mounts where pot lights would typically go, creating a bejeweled look.
Outside of aesthetics, small touches make the house more personal, especially in the kitchen. An integrated paper towel holder in the cabinetry, a handy pot filler, and a pass-through window from the kitchen to the deck make life a tad easier and simply more enjoyable.
“I wanted this house to feel like it had its own sweet little personality,” McKenna says. “It’s not a huge house, but I wanted it to feel warm and inviting from the moment you walked in.”
FAST FACTS
Designer:Parris McKenna Design
Location: Toronto, Canada
The Space: A 4-bedroom, 3-and-a-half-bathroom Tudor-style home
KITCHEN
A passthrough window makes outdoor dining a breeze.
McKenna didn’t want this space to feel like a showroom—as the hub of the home, the kitchen needed to reflect her family’s lifestyle and history. “I wanted it to contain a collection of things from our life: antique plates that I purchased in Provence, flowers from the garden, little pieces of countertop decor, cabinetry details that remind us of our travels,” she explains. It’s a warm, easy gathering place that encourages conversation and interaction, thanks in part to the L-shaped seating around the oversize island. Bespoke details, like an integrated paper towel holder and pot filler, are all geared toward making daily life easier.
PANTRY
An old powder room and part of the kitchen’s footprint went into carving out this space.
“This pantry exists because I fell in love with the Bertioli by Thyme Veg Row wallpaper while I was in the Cotswolds, and knew immediately I had to create something around it,” McKenna says. Pulling from the vegetal pattern on the walls and the matching café curtain, the designer chose to coat this pantry in the same soft sage green as the cabinetry in the main kitchen, adding even more charm with an arched entrance. “It just makes you smile every time you walk past it,” she adds.
DINING NOOK
An extra-long antique tapestry changed this room’s entire aesthetic.
“I designed this room around the idea of staying at the table longer—a banquette that pulls you in, a dark walnut table worn enough to feel like it has a history, and an antique tapestry that makes the whole space feel like it's been there for centuries,” McKenna explains.
When she bought the 11-foot-long tapestry, the designer hadn’t necessarily planned to hang it in the dining area. She figured she’d have plenty of options when it came to finding it a home, but after they finished the initial construction, she realized this was the only place it fit—and there was no way she was going to alter it. Instead, she modified the banquette design; rather than have it affixed to the wall, McKenna decided to make it a freestanding bench so the tapestry could fall behind it, where it reaches all the way down to the baseboards.
OUTDOOR KITCHEN & LOUNGE
Mirrored doors expand the outdoor view.
Most designers probably wouldn’t say an outdoor space “clicked” for them after something as routine as figuring out what kind of gravel to use, but such was the case for McKenna. After determining that pea gravel was the way to go for her backyard, she realized that she wanted it to feel like an English countryside garden, “somewhere that feels grown-in and a little wild around the edges rather than manicured.” The pergola over the seating area brought in architectural interest, while a fire table added warmth for chilly nights outside.
The passthrough windows in the main kitchen open out to the exterior countertop, and the cabinetry matches the interior, making this alfresco space feel like a natural extension of the house. “It functions like a café counter—you can pass drinks and plates in both directions, and it makes entertaining feel completely effortless,” she says. “The bistro chairs were the finishing touch that really sold the whole café feeling for me.”
SNUG
An ornate marble fireplace anchors the room.
What was once a pass-through zone got sized down and layered up with warm colors to make it feel more intentional, like a room you’d pause in. To ensure it wouldn’t feel cluttered, McKenna brought in a patinated French mirror on the other side of the fireplace, making it feel quietly expansive.
LIVING ROOM
A floor-level window gives off treehouse vibes.
A warm living area in soft mauve and rich reds sits atop the home in the attic space. McKenna played into the playfulness of the color palette by weaving in ticking stripes on the sofa and botanical prints in red wooden frames on the wall, making the room feel more intentional and less like an afterthought.
“What used to be an overlooked attic is now our favorite room in the house for hanging out as a family, doing movie nights, and just slowing down,” she says. It’s cozy and collected but still feels inviting.
POWDER ROOM
A custom mirror reflects the organic shapes and colors found in the petite space.
Sheer confidence transformed this powder room into such a punchy jewel box space. McKenna wanted it to be totally unexpected, something “that stops you in your tracks,” and the countertop—a remnant slab from her fabricator—was the perfect starting point for her vision. The floor tile came next, followed by a unique custom stained glass mirror by Katie Kohls. The final step was adding the molding to the walls, which she wasn’t sure about doing until seeing the high-gloss paint in action. “I knew I needed something to break up the wall texturally, or it risked feeling like a bad ‘80s reno,” she adds, “even with the other beautiful features.”
PRIMARY BEDROOM
Rich patterns and textures make this suite feel like a romantic British hotel.
McKenna wanted her bedroom to be a space that “wraps around you.” As she’d never had a primary bedroom that felt truly complete, she didn’t hold back here, pattern drenching the room in House of Hackney’s Aquifolia print, first the walls, then the window treatments. “The chandelier was chosen to beautifully complement the wallpaper—its sculptural, leaf-like arms echo the pineapple motif in the Aquifolia print in the most satisfying way,” she explains. It’s become her favorite room in the entire house, especially when the sunlight beams through the south-facing windows and warms up the space.
OFFICE
Vintage furniture and charming wallpaper embrace McKenna’s “English-inspired era.”
Sometimes, designers need to take their own advice, and with her office, McKenna did what she always tells her clients to do: be brave in her decisions. After searching for a very long time for a wallpaper that speaks to her, she finally found the print that made all the time and stress worth it in House of Hackney’s Voysey's Garden. “The window seat tucked into the dormer, the antique desk, the layered textures—it all came together around that wallpaper in a way that feels bold and maximalist and completely committed,” McKenna explains. It’s unapologetically her, which is all anyone would want out of their private workspace.
BATHROOM
A dedicated makeup vanity makes morning prep an indulgent ritual.
Without veering too far away from her traditional English-inspired style, McKenna wanted this bathroom to feel like a luxe spa. She chose Botticino and Ming Green marble for the countertop with rounded edges and an oversized apron to soften it up, sticking a custom stool underneath to create a makeup vanity.
“It's the kind of ensuite that makes getting ready feel like a ritual rather than a routine,” she adds. “The steam shower is the icing on the cake and makes for a very relaxing moment!”
DAUGHTER’S BEDROOM
A refinished antique bed frame gives the room a historical feel.
When faced with three House of Hackney wallpaper options, McKenna’s daughter chose the most dramatic print, and the designer couldn’t have been prouder. “We wanted something saturated and beautiful but also timeless enough to last well beyond childhood, and this print does exactly that,” she says. With matching velvet drapery to boot, this entire room is wrapped in the rich pattern.
To give it an even more storied feel, McKenna found an antique bed frame for only $75 and had it refinished. It brings in a deeper sense of history that can be found throughout the rest of the house.
BASEMENT LOUNGE
Fabric inserts make the cabinetry feel cozy and deeply English.
Her choice to underpin the basement two months into construction added 20 inches of ceiling height and opened up so many opportunities to what this space could be, which now takes form as a cozy, layered lounge.
The fabric inserts are now on every client’s wishlist—even though McKenna had been encouraging the concept for years with no success—and create the illusion of windows sitting behind them. “It’s the kind of space that makes you forget entirely that you're below grade,” she says.
About the Designer
Parris McKenna is the founder of her eponymous design firm, Parris McKenna Design, based out of Toronto and Muskoka, Canada. With her team, she creates timeless, intentional interiors that tell a story and reflect her clients’ personalities.
