DESIGN CLASSICS

ART SCENE

“The condo’s greatest deficiency was its utter lack of colour, ” says designer Tommy Smythe. “I had long lock-down conversations with Jann about places she loves and colours she’s drawn to, like the shades of Calgary sunsets and Albertan grass. ” He commissioned artist Johanna Reynolds to paint something reflecting that palette. “She took it so deeply to heart, she ended up making her own vegan pigments and painted to Jann’s music. When an artist creates for a fellow artist, magic happens. ”

DESIGN, Tommy Smythe, Laura Fremont, TOM Interior Design Studio. CEILING PAINT, Peach Parfait 2175-70, Benjamin Moore. ARTWORK, Johanna Reynolds. SOFA, Montauk. SIDE TABLE, CHAIR, Guff. LAMP, Decorum. COFFEE TABLE, Elle & Eve. VASES, Hollace Cluny. WOODEN CATCHALL, Casa Cubista. RUG, Kate Thornley Hall.

Jann Arden’s HAPPY PLACE

Tommy Smythe and Laura Fremont turn a condo into a colourful, cruelty-free home away from home.

TEXT CHRISTY WRIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICK BILLER STYLING ME & MO

ommy Smythe, I need you so badly!” That’ s what multiplatinum singer, songwriter, actor, author and animal rights activist Jann Arden said after attempting to furnish her Toronto condo. Jann, who lives in Alberta, travels regularly to Toronto for work and was sick of staying at hotels. “I bought the condo just before the pandemic and plunked in some furniture, ” she says. “It looked so dull, I thought I might as well be back in a hotel room. ” A Tommy Smythe intervention was needed ASAP.

“Jann and I have been friends for years. She is one in a kajillion, ” says Tommy, co-founder of TOM Interior Design Studio. “She ’ s a hoot-and-ahalf, and her condo was crying out for some femininity and a bit of her rock-and-roll personality. ”

Tommy and lead designer Laura Fremont’ s plan for the 900-squarefoot space: a colourful palette, new furniture and lots of pattern. And since Tommy and Jann are vegans, everything had to be cruelty-free.

After communicating digitally during lockdown, Jann flew out for the big reveal. She says,

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“When I walked in to see it, I was FaceTiming Tommy and started to cry. He thought I was crying because I hated it, but they were tears of joy. I didn ’t know it could be this amazing. ”