Interior: Elegantly glamorous holiday home

Dee Dee Taylor Eustace rarely wears flats, doesn’t like to cook, and the only wine she drinks is Chardonnay – no apologies. The haute couture-loving architect and interior designer is as at home in her Toronto coach house wearing a black strapless gown as she is in track pants. “The setting is formal,” says Dee Dee of the über-elegant 3,500-square-foot home she shares with her teenagers, Jake and Rachael. “But we live in every room. I eat breakfast at my dining room table,” says Dee Dee. The best silverware is, as always, on the table, and the vibe is cosmopolitan and sophisticated.

The sentiment captures her approach to holiday decorating, too. Dee Dee’s place is done but not overdone. Fresh flowers and seasonal greenery herald the holidays, but “This isn’t Tinseltown. You don’t have to decorate every space. What’s the saying? Put on your jewellery for the day and then take one piece off. That’s what I try to do,” says Dee Dee.


Dee Dee Taylor Eustace's holiday style
The formal-traditional rooms, filled with architectural articulation like fanlights, arches and columns are adorned in seasonal finery – something different each year. Dee Dee chooses a colour palette and heads to her go-to florist, Jan Dattels Ortved at Emblem. Together, they devise a scheme that’s expressed to varying degrees throughout the home. “This year, it’s boxwood garlands and wreaths,” says Dee Dee. Crystal vases hold white amaryllis, roses and freesia, with silver-painted pine cones and sprigs of crystal berries. The look is timeless and glamorous, much like her everyday environment, which Dee Dee created by layering English and French antiques with standout modern pieces like the dining room’s ornate chandelier and contemporary art.