Taking Stock: five Toronto trendsetters tell us what they can’t live without

We talked to five Toronto trendsetters from the fashion, art and design worlds who make a living selling style. Here, an inventory of home stuff they can’t live without

Daniel Faria

Co-owner of the Clark and Faria gallery and co‑chair of this year’s PowerBall, Faria is an art-worshipping man about town who calls a Victorian semi at Dundas and Euclid home

Describe your decor style
Easy modern, but you can still put your feet up. I like my home to feel welcoming.

Colour palette
Black and white—a blank canvas, so that the art and objects are the focus.

Favourite piece of art
I love them all. From the first piece I ever bought—a Roy Arden from the Fragments series—to the most recent: a Scott McFarland photograph called “Gorse and Sky.”

Biggest splurge
My first Scott McFarland photograph, “Inspecting.” I bought it six years ago when it was a real stretch for me financially. I cashed in my RRSPs, but I don’t regret it.

Item at the top of your wish list
I’m lusting after the Brad Turner decanter and glass set from this year’s Made exhibition, Radiant Dark. And Tom Dixon wingback chairs.

Most lived-in room
My home revolves around the den and the TV. Friends drop in to watch favourite shows or listen to music. It’s the nucleus of the house.

Most-used appliance
My PVR. I can’t miss Big Love, The Amazing Race, The Joy Behar Show, Nurse Jackie, Brothers and Sisters…

Cherished memento
The photograph of Madonna on my bedside table. My friends and I took it when we saw her perform in the West End play Up for Grabs. We waited at the stage door to see her leave the theatre. It was ridiculously cheesy but surreal to be that close.

Light fixtures
I have the As We Cascade design by Rob Southcott hanging in my dining room. It’s absolutely stunning. He’s a great young Canadian talent.

Your most recent purchase
I had always wanted an original, worn-in Eames lounger and ottoman. Luckily, a friend of mine was selling one from the early ’60s. I sit in it every morning while I check e-mail on my laptop.

Biggest reno project
Rewiring the house and waterproofing the basement—pretty boring. But I feel a major kitchen reno coming on soon.

Best bargain
My mid-century modern teak dining room set. It was $800 at Ritchies for six chairs, an expandable dining table and a hutch.

Best housewarming gift you’ve received
My friend Michael Macaulay gave me this pedestal fruit bowl. “You’re Portuguese, moving into Little Portugal—you need plastic fruit,” he told me. It sits proudly on the dining room hutch.

(Image: photography by John Cullen, light by Devin Jeffrey)

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