Gabriella Nassief Borg’s light bulb moment came when friends with young kids visited her west-end home.
She realized her vintage ceramic vase, acrylic sculpture and other fragile treasures were at risk when she and husband Mehmet Shah started their own family.
So necessity turned Borg into a new mother of invention as she designed a large custom shelving unit to display things beyond the reach of little arms.
“The result: an impactful and warm statement wall” along the 13-foot length of their couch, says the interior decorator and founder of House of Borg.
Her creativity’s brainchild not only ensures little baby Cleo (born mid-April) and collectibles are safe from each other, but clears floor space for all the paraphernalia that came with the new arrival.
Borg and Shah had already spent years improving and refreshing their two-storey, row house with a vibrant kitchen and mud room repurposed as a pantry, among other things. Borg, a self-described “stuff collector,” documented the changes on her Instagram account.
Colourful and filled with thrifted, vintage and sentimental pieces, their home exudes personality in an eclectic, maximalist style. Borg calls it “slow interior design” that happens by “collecting, adding and subtracting along the way.”
The couple’s plans for parenthood, however, got her thinking about use of space and a child-friendly environment.
“I was looking for a way to keep my collection, of arguably breakable items, visible and still gain room for some of the baby accessories that we were beginning to be given,” she explains.
The inspiration for her custom wall cabinet came from an old typeset drawer that a friend’s mother used for displaying her shadowbox collection of miniatures.
“As I was thinking about how to reimagine our space, I considered if I could actually create a large typeset drawer-like structure on our wall, custom-built for each of the items I wanted to showcase,” she says.
So Borg meticulously measured books, plants, lamps, projector, record player, soundbar and pieces that have a special place in her heart.
For instance, the vase by ceramic artist Kayo O’Young was a find in a vintage store. Her parents have a corresponding piece they purchased in the 1980s, she says.
There’s also the wedding present of a bright-hued acrylic sculpture by Toronto artist Mads Brimble. “Delicately puzzled together,” it’s less breakable but still not a suitable toy for tiny hands.
Based on the myriad measurements, she drew up a design for a friend, Toronto-based artist Morgan Zigler of foolishNATURE, to build from pine stained a warm tone.
Occupying the big, central space is a bold painting by Marcel Pinas that Borg bought about 15 years ago in Suriname, her family’s country of origin. She calls it “an important piece” that’s a nod to her late grandfather and cultural background.
“It really does feel like a small museum wall of my precious collectibles,” says Borg, adding unsightly and potentially hazardous cords and tech items are hidden away.
In front of the floor-to-ceiling showcase is the homeowners’ almost 50-year-old comfy blue sectional that used to belong to her parents.
That’s not to say the baby’s nursery took a back seat to the living room’s redesign. To create that room, the couple looked to their office, where Shah worked from home. After shuttling furniture around to other rooms, they added wainscotting and wallpaper to inject colour and cosiness into the space. They brought in a crib, a rocking chair and a dresser, too.
The guest room became Shah’s new workplace and the finished garage is a backup.
Their baby-ready, reconfigured home — the living room, in particular — “feels much more comfortable now,” says Borg.
No doubt, little Cleo will approve.
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