Karen Cole describes her practice, with long-time friend and business partner Melody Duron, as “classic with an edge.” In each of their residential projects, Cole and Duron aim for functionality and an overall sense of luxurious calm, instead of trying for steely hotel-lobby perfection. “Our spaces are not lived in, not shabby chic.” Instead, Cole says, “They’re about an effortless sense of comfort.” The results—country ranches, Forest Hill estates, Cape Cod–style cottages—are often photographed for the pages of Canadian shelter magazines. If they were fashion designers, Cole and Duron would be Marc Jacobs or Michael Kors—offering fresh interpretations of classic lines, where the form is elegant, the detailing is tailored, but the look is updated with jolts of colour or new takes on such luxury fabrics as mohair velvet.