Gabriella Nassief Borg and Mehmet Shah are getting their house baby-ready in anticipation of their first child. Behind them sits the shelving unit Borg built to house things away from prying hands.
Gabriella Nassief Borg鈥檚 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.
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鈥淭he result: an impactful and warm statement wall鈥 along the 13-foot length of their couch, says the interior decorator and founder of .
Her creativity鈥檚 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.听
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 鈥渟tuff collector,鈥 documented the changes on .听
Colourful and filled with thrifted, vintage and sentimental pieces, their home exudes personality in an eclectic, maximalist style. Borg calls it 鈥渟low interior design鈥 that happens by 鈥渃ollecting, adding and subtracting along the way.鈥
The couple鈥檚 plans for parenthood, however, got her thinking about use of space and a child-friendly environment.
鈥淚 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,鈥 she explains.
The inspiration for her custom wall cabinet came from an old typeset drawer that a friend鈥檚 mother used for displaying her shadowbox collection of miniatures.
鈥淎s 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,鈥 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.
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There鈥檚 also the wedding present of a bright-hued acrylic sculpture by 91原创 artist Mads Brimble. 鈥淒elicately puzzled together,鈥 it鈥檚 less breakable but still not a suitable toy for tiny hands.
Based on the myriad measurements, she drew up a design for a friend, 91原创-based artist Morgan Zigler of , 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 , her family鈥檚 country of origin. She calls it 鈥渁n important piece鈥 that鈥檚 a nod to her late grandfather and cultural background.
鈥淚t really does feel like a small museum wall of my precious collectibles,鈥 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鈥 almost 50-year-old comfy blue sectional that used to belong to her parents.
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That鈥檚 not to say the baby鈥檚 nursery took a back seat to the living room鈥檚 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鈥檚 new workplace and the finished garage is a backup.
Their baby-ready, reconfigured home 鈥 the living room, in particular 鈥 鈥渇eels much more comfortable now,鈥 says Borg.
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