A Japanese hinoki bowl and stool from Mjölk sit next to a custom hinoki bathtub by Bartok Design in the tub room.

A third-floor courtyard stands in for a backyard and gives Elodie, the couple’s two-year-old daughter, a place to play outdoors. A Hunting chair by Børge Mogensen shares the space with a child’s chair by Tomii Takashi and a vintage Danish coffee table.

Many of the items in the home come from Mjölk, on the ground floor of Daoust and Baker’s building, which dates to the 1870s and has a distinctive tin facade.

Studio Junction transformed a two-story apartment above Mjölk, Juli Daoust and John Baker’s design boutique on Toronto’s busy Dundas Street West, into a tranquil space. A courtyard joins the living room and the open kitchen and dining area.

Japanese and Scandinavian design objects are for sale at the Toronto homewares shop Mjölk, and are also on display in the apartment above it. Here, the store’s owners reside in a two-story space brought to life by Studio Junction. A courtyard spills into the living room and open kitchen and dining area, and translucent shoji-style screens provide privacy. Oak shelves, soap-treated Douglas fir floors, a custom hinoki soaking tub, and a soapstone bowl in place of the kitchen sink are all thoughtful, subtle details.

These include the Cesta floor lamp by Miguel Milá and the wall cabinet by Studio Junction in the living room. The photograph hanging above the cabinet is by Joshua Jensen-Nagle. A ceramic dove—a vintage piece by the sculptor Cleo Hartwig—shares space with an antique Zulu beer pot. The painting is by Max Papart.

Visit Mjölk in Toronto, Ontario, Tuesdays through Sundays at 2959 Dundas Street West or shop online at mjolk.com. Watch our slideshow of Daoust and Baker's favorite products in the shop.

The living room is anchored by a sofa and lounge chair, both by Børge Mogensen, as well as a Conoid bench by George Nakashima. An Isamu Noguchi pendant lamp casts a warm glow onto the Brasilia coffee table, designed by Claesson Koivisto Rune for Swedese.

A copper mobile by JF Jones hangs over a Leander crib and a vintage Moroccan rag rug in the nursery. The rocking chair is by Hans Wegner for Fredericia.

Daoust and Baker sit among a Siwa tote bag by Naoto Fukasawa, Cutter benches and shelves by Niels Hvass, and Dots wall hooks by Tveit & Tornøe for Muuto.

The store was designed by Christine Ho Ping Kong and Peter Tan of Studio Junction Inc. in Toronto. (Watch our slideshow of Kong and Tan's own home in a renovated contractor's warehouse.)

These gloves by Quirky solve the problem of scrolling through touch screens in the cold.

“Using a very simple white oak material in repetition added a lot of texture without adding busyness,” says Solk.

Solk thickened the fireplace wall to two feet deep, and packed in storage capabilities around the newly refinished fireplace, which now has large-scale porcelain tile surrounding it.

"Crossing the ground and first floors, the shelf solves aesthetic and functional aspects," says Zooco Estudio.

Built-in units can solve storage issues while making your office space look like it was there all along.

The roof is angled to mimic the surrounding hills. It also solves “the practical issue of not having to clean the roofs,” the architects add.

Interior design firm & Daughters built the dining table, and the dining chairs are from Maruni and Mjolk. Harouna Ouedraogo artwork hangs on the wall.

The furniture is a combination of family heirlooms and newer items, such as the Hiroshima Woodseat armchairs by Naoto Fukusawa for Mjolk that surround the dining table. Two Glo-Ball pendants by Jasper Morrison hang in the living/dining area, while Drop 1 pendants by Peter Bowles light the kitchen.

One of the largest construction challenges was the plumbing in the showers. "After our bathrooms were finally completed, we found water leakage coming out the base of both the showers," says Elaine. "Nothing seemed to solve the problem. It turned out it was a faulty plumbing job, so we had to open up the showers, fix the plumbing, and redo all the tadelakt." This set their timeline back by months.

Slatted walnut walls are located on either side of the main living area. "We found in many modern homes with open floor plans that there is a really poor sound quality," explain the architects. "We wanted to design a solution that was not only aesthetically pleasing, but solved this issue—so both sides of the main living space have wood slat walls backed with acoustic felt."

“Try to group uses and find solutions that solve multiple problems,” Borowski counsels. As an example, Pozner cites the idea of having the loft stairs double as clothing drawers. Though he eschewed a handrail, preferring a cleaner look, Pozner says that the slipperiness of the stairs “remains a work in progress. We had grooves, but they hurt my feet.” The pair are now looking into heavy-duty felt treads.

According to Paul Raff, the biggest design challenge was creating a functional home that would accommodate the family's regular activities (dining, music, play, homework) all on one level. This was solved by "collaging spaces of different shapes and sizes together, and by interconnecting them all with a very open and seamlessly integrated kitchen." The airy family kitchen features Loire limestone floors, BassamFellows Tractor stools, and an Eames molded plastic chair.

Constructing a largely timber house in a bush fire-prone landscape wasn’t easy. “We had to negotiate with the council and building surveyor,” Crump explains. To solve the challenge, the architect designed an outer, protective skin for the home that’s clad with metal; it pushes beyond the building envelope to provide covering for outdoor living spaces. The inset walls are lined with local shiplap Celery Top Pine.

#bath&spa #bathroom #interior #interiordesign #modern #moderndesign #woodtub #shower #mjolk #boutique #toronto #japanese #hinokibowl #stool #mjolk #custom #hinoki #bartokdesign #tubroom Photo courtesy of Derek Shapton

The original house, a compact bungalow seen beyond the new living space, had no space for entertaining. A large dining area solves that problem.

The owner was motivated to build his own home to avoid a mortgage and to gain the know-how to undertake his own maintenance and repairs. “I was craving the personal challenge to cultivate a home for myself,” he says. “As it was the beginning of a new adventure, I wanted it to be personal. Also, practically speaking, if I built each piece of the home by hand, I would have a good sense of how to solve problems or improve it, without having to ask anyone else to journey through the forest, down the trail, and up the cliff to make an adjustment.”

Problem Solved T-shirt

A complex detail solves the landscaping of the perimeter of the terraces.

Down the street is Mjölk (pronounced mi-yelk). The shop specializes in Scandinavian and Japanese design and is stunningly curated by husband-wife owners Juli Daoust and John Baker.

Fontanez solved LOT-EK’s conundrum of how to situate the bed against the center wall while still maintaining closet access by suggesting an automated dry-cleaning rack in the narrow closet. He and Russell access the closet from opposite ends. “We just have to make sure we don’t spin it at the same time,” Fontanez says. Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!

What advice would you give an architect taking on a similar project for the first time? JH: It's critical to have several long conversations with the residents. It's different when you're doing a childcare center or school, but with a residence you really learn about the individuals. It's important to get a feel for how the family lives and listen to them closely. You can spend your entire fee on research and not be any closer to solving the design problems. Listening is critical to designing a successful residence for someone who has special needs kids.

The steel supports also solve a major design challenge of how to get the electricity, water, wastewater in and out of the elevated structure.

Solving the omnipresent challenge of where do I put my drink.

A large island with built-in storage solved two issues: It gave the family space for a pantry, and room to invite guests over.