An art deco–inspired book haven
WHO: Theresa Casey, an interior designer WHERE: Mount Pleasant and St. Clair
DESIGNER couple Theresa Casey and Robert Gray bought their 1930s brick home two decades ago. It’s square and compact, similar in scale to a coach house. “Books have always been my point of connection to the world,” says Theresa. The same goes for Robert, who designs books and exhibition spaces. His mother, a librarian, helped set up the collection at the Toronto Reference Library.
A sizable portion of Theresa and Robert’s large collection is housed in the combined living and dining room. Custom shelves, designed by Theresa, wrap around two deep-set windows, their sills lashed in bright red. The couple uses them to display book covers and artwork. On the opposite wall, two more bookcases flank a grey leather and black velvet banquette with upholstered seats and a chunky pedestal table. Theresa added grilles she found at an antique store to the bottom of the bookshelves.
The space is bookish yet playful. Framed sketches and oil paintings by Theresa, who studied fine art, hang on the walls. An area rug with a fat yellow snake on it, by UK-based designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, adds some whimsy. Theresa’s taste in both decor and books is influenced by her
Irish heritage. “We have a dark sense of humour,” she says. Her reading list includes Irish authors like Claire Keegan, Maggie O’Farrell and Nuala O’Faolain.
There are more art, design and fiction books in Robert’s basement studio as well as in Theresa’s backyard office (a converted garage). When she’s not reading, Theresa listens to radio host Eleanor Wachtel’s podcast, Writers and Company, where she discovers new novels to devour. “I always have a book on the go,” she says. “I’m an insatiable reader.”