Project 21 by SMPL Design Studio
Project 21 lands in Ancaster, Canada, with a quiet confidence and an eye on longevity. Designed by SMPL Design Studio as a house for a young family, it leans into calm materials, measured asymmetry, and tailored millwork to set a restorative tone. The result favors warmth over gloss and movement over fuss, with curved gestures and tactile finishes threading through rooms meant to evolve as daily rhythms change.
Morning light slides across warm wood and cool stone as the entry opens to a composed interior. A soft curve meets a clean line, and the room exhales with quiet restraint.
A house for a young family in Ancaster, this project by SMPL Design Studio centers on calm materials and cohesive detailing. The throughline is tactile and visual: restrained finishes, gentle curves, and millwork that folds storage and structure into one steady composition.
Balance Through Asymmetry
Composure comes from small, deliberate offsets. A kitchen island stands on a rounded leg balanced by a grounded stone block, turning function into a tuned counterpoint. Lighting pairs of uneven proportions bring rhythm to ceilings without noise, letting the eye travel and settle. The result is calm, not static, and the rooms carry that balance from cooking to gathering.
Millwork Sets the Tone
Seamless millwork knits the house together. Panels conceal storage, align doorheads, and wrap corners so surfaces read as continuous planes that support daily life. In the living area, cabinetry arcs into a stair-integrated media unit, softening a junction that often turns abrupt. Clarity drives the detailing, and the grain’s horizontal pull keeps sightlines long and steady.
Materials With Warmth
Warm wood tones, Arabescato marble, and natural textures meet linen and sheers to tune the light. Touch leads the experience, from the marble’s veining under hand to the softened edges that guide movement around corners. Curved elements repeat—at the custom hood fan, the gentle arc of the fireplace wall, and the rounded island leg—to lend quiet motion to a linear foundation. The palette stays narrow so grain, sheen, and shadow carry the conversation.
Rooms for Daily Rhythm
Everyday use steers the plan. Circulation slides around built-ins rather than pinballing between them, and sightlines tuck away clutter while keeping family life close. Window dressings filter glare into a soft wash, making rooms feel steady from morning rush to evening wind-down. It’s calm in practice, not just in mood, and the house absorbs change without fuss.
Curves in Conversation
Curves answer the setting’s mature, tree-lined character with a gentle interior cadence. A crescent at the fireplace wall rounds the room’s edge, trading sharp corners for a relaxed flow. The custom hood lifts as a sculpted volume above the cooktop, a quiet anchor in a field of clean lines. Repetition makes it coherent; restraint makes it enduring.
Late light threads through linen and rides the marble’s grain. The house holds the day’s pace without strain, and materials do the quiet work. In a neighborhood where no two homes are alike, this one keeps its voice low and steady.
Photography by Riley Snelling
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