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20 questions with Laura M. Stein

By Natalie Bahadur

Toronto-based designer Laura M. Stein talks about design inspiration, favourite colours and the ideal way to spend a lazy Sunday morning.

1 If you could shadow any designer for a day, who would it be? It would require a bit of time travel, but I would love to spend a day with Dorothy Draper. She was a remarkable woman. In 1923 she started her own business. Not only was this something unheard of for women at the time, she also started a type of business that was unheard of. Dorothy Draper was a pioneer in the burgeoning world of interior decor and started the first interior design firm in the United States. Her bold, grandiose style, over-sized architectural elements, wild colours and striking prints quickly earned her the reputation of country’s quintessential interior decorator and transformed the entire country’s way of looking at its interior spaces. Talk about a role model!

2 Where do you look for an obscure source of inspiration? I rarely have to go out looking for inspiration. It seems to find me everywhere. All I have to do is walk down the street and something jumps out at me. It could be an outfit in a store window, the colour of someone’s purse, the architectural detail of a building, even a child’s toy. I once bought a beautiful handmade stuffed doll for my niece. I loved the muted green colour so much that I found a matching paint colour and recommended it to one of my clients for her living room.

3 Favourite restaurant?
My favourite go-to place for a good, inexpensive meal in Toronto is Fresh. But, my new favourite restaurant has to be A Tavola in Sydney, Australia. They only use the freshest ingredients and the menu changes daily. According to the critics, you won’t get better pasta anywhere in the world, including Italy!

4 What’s your favourite room to decorate? I love decorating living rooms. My favourite part of my job is working with fabrics, and living rooms give me the best opportunity to play with all sorts of patterns, colours and textures. Living rooms are usually the showpieces of a house, so they are a great place to get creative and really express the client’s personality.

5 What’s your current paint colour obsession? I’m usually a Benjamin Moore girl, but Para has just launched a new line of colours that are simply stunning. They have a deep, rich indigo called Trinidad & Tobago that I’m dying to use and a mid-tone grey called Sublime (no further explanation required). Both would look stunning with crisp white and warm woods...

Read the full article at StyleatHome.com!