Shop Here: RADform
Editor’s note: This feature story was published in spring 2016. For up-to-date info on the current showroom, refer to our RADform store listing.
Located down the street from George Brown’s cooking school, RADform’s showroom is coated in a crisp, chef’s hat white. Graphic wallpaper treatments – a city map, a set of angel wings – and neon signs amp up the minimalist space, but it’s the dining room table at the front of the store that really grabs your attention. Part classic, part contemporary, the Creazioni piece looks like two tables cut in half and harmoniously reconfigured ($6,620).
This style – bare settings brought to life by bold pieces – is the trademark of architect turned interior designer, and RADform owner, Golbou Rad. Twelve years ago, Rad was designing condos at architectsAlliance, but she shifted her focus to interiors after furnishing a developer’s model suite. She soon found herself running her own firm. In sourcing products for clients, she discovered two lines that celebrate unflinching aesthetic mash-ups: Italy’s Creazioni puts eccentric new twists on old styles, while France’s Ibride (or hybride ) has a range of animal-inspired pieces that include a fire-engine red nightstand propped up on ostrich legs.
Feeling that Toronto – with plenty of options for stark, modern furniture – was overdo for amusing new arrivals, Rad opened her retail space. A walk around reveals contemporary selections with whimsical flourishes, and traditional furniture upholstered in unexpected fabrics (think comic book print). In one corner, a seat that could easily be the love child of a Le Corbusier lounger and a disco ball; in another, a slip-covered chair with contrasting seams mingles oddly but perfectly with a Scandinavian-style writing desk in turquoise. Pieces by Opinion Ciatti and Philippe Starck’s TOG collection round out the store’s exclusive offerings.
Shop here for: Statement furniture and accessories with personality. Most of RADform’s eye-catching inventory is available in dozens of colour and fabric combinations (so safe, tonal options are still at hand). Alongside furniture, lighting and wallpaper, RADform offers small curios, such as crystal skulls, porcelain rockets and gilded trash cans.
Best bet: Creazioni’s Poldino side table in a high-gloss finish pops in deep purple ($2,640). Its bowed legs are ornately embellished, while its drawer handles are shaped like small paws.
