Piano House Hits a High Note With Fresh Interiors

INDA Interiors, led by Joanna Smeeth, is known for its contemporary and approachable design schemes. Smeeth uses a functionality-first mindset and a fun, colourful palette to craft residential spaces that offer both style and longevity for their inhabitants. When renovating an outdated 1980s family home in Oakville, the Toronto and Kawartha-based designer applied her threefold design tactic: expression, collaboration, and a search for connection. Named after the heart of the home – a piano nook where the homeowners’ daughter Holly spends most of her time – Piano House is a family dwelling entering its next chapter.

Spanning 710 square feet, the reno extends from the kitchen into the adjacent living room – congested by a large fireplace – and neighbouring dining room. “I always start with a blueprint of the space to determine the new ways it will be used,” says Smeeth, who spent more than a decade in construction and architecture prior to founding INDA Interiors. “This way, the owners feel like they’ve really gained something new, rather than just a collection of pretty things.”

Reminiscent of a classic piano keyboard, sleek, black appliances and hardware contrast cream white millwork in the updated kitchen. To warm up the space, tile flooring was replaced with amber hardwood. And with its  lower cabinetry painted in Farrow & Ball’s Inchyra Blue, the new island anchors the open-concept kitchen-living area.

The clunky brick fireplace façade was replaced with a streamlined modern surround. “We moved it [the fireplace] from the corner of the living room to its centre, so that it could be a focal point upon entering,” says Smeeth. “Piano House is designed to promote connectivity in each of its spaces, and making the television a secondary component in the living room was a small, but effective way of adhering to that.”

A royal blue sofa from EQ3 adds a burst of colour and an inviting spot to lounge and relax in the living room. Smeeth says it took some convincing to get the more traditionally-minded homeowners on board, but that their daughter Holly was in her corner. “Colour and patterns are a big part of my design signature,” she says —something that came full circle in the dining room’s vibrant statement wall.

Schumacher’s Lotus Garden wallcovering makes a huge visual impact, contrasting (but not clashing) with the dining room’s soft and more conservative palette. Opposite the wall is the project’s namesake, a Czechoslovakian Weinbach framed by teal wall paint and a pair of swing-arm wall sconces. “Holly was really excited to have the piano nook updated,” says Smeeth. “It was an important component to the functionality of this entire project.” INDAINTERIORS.COM