The Surprises Within

Samer Shaath…

and Kevin Chan aren’t the kind of designers who update a house with a few modest interventions, leaving you to wonder if they were even there. When you see a project by Shaath and Chan, you know they were there. In the six years since they launched their Toronto firm, Nivek Remas (their first names backwards), they have designed restaurants and hotels intended to attract attention, as well as private homes that are just as compelling. No detail is overlooked. “I work in the macro and Samer in the micro,” says Chan. “We complement each other well.

Their…

Summerhill residence is a brick house that from the outside reveals nothing of the drama the designers created within. A long hallway runs down the middle of the house from the front door to the elegant back garden. The designers lined the hallway in evenly spaced wooden panels. On the floor is a custom sixty-foot-long runner that changes color, from dusty blush to burnt orange, as if nodding to the rooms it passes by.

Dusty…

blush is the color that dominates the dining room, in the front of the house, and the adjacent living room. Other prominent hues are cream and brass. A pair of mid-century inspired Julep Sofas by Jonas Wagell for Tacchini in, yes, dusty blush, give the living room its curvilinear credentials. The fireplace is minimalist, but it borrows a little excitement from the dramatic Cé Wall Sconce by Darmes that hangs next to it. Even the bar cart, designed by another Canadian duo, Yabu Pushelberg, is dazzling. The chandelier over the dining table is part of the Drop System by Brooklyn-based designer Lyndsey Adelman. Artwork includes the owners’ enigmatic Apocalypse 7 by Keith Haring.

Even…

more dramatic than the living and dining rooms is the family room with a double-height travertine fireplace and large stretches of built-in bookshelves. The orange of the carpet (and matching chair) offers a strong counterpoint to the grays, blacks and whites that otherwise dominate the room. Two prints by Bansky — Napalm and Love Rat — bring a pop art sensibility to the space.

Meanwhile…

upstairs, the master suite is anchored by a custom mustard yellow velvet Flexform Mood bed, which is practically a room in itself. Nearby is an iconic 1950s Papa Bear Chair by Hans Wegner for PP Mobler. Curves established by the Flexform “headboard” repeat in the sculptural night tables and cylindrical vanity chair.

Wherever…

you are in the house, you’ll know you are in the presence of the Nivek Remas, whose work incorporates every surface, every piece of furniture and every fixture into a complete work of art.