Inside a serene country bungalow designed for working and entertaining

From the outside, Saty Namvar and Pratha Samyrajah's home is an unassuming bungalow, surrounded by farms. On the inside, it's a space completely personalized to fit their esthetic and lifestyle. 

The couple made the move from Toronto to Bloomfield in Prince Edward County, Ont., and thoughtfully renovated the house to let in natural light and highlight exterior views. It was also important for their space to be conducive to their work as photographers and directors, and welcome both collaborators and friends, who now come to stay often. 

Our home style is a mix of all the design ideas we love from previous design eras, in varying ratios.

With a main floor that comprises their living room, dining area and kitchen, they aimed to keep things streamlined by foregoing upper cabinets in the kitchen. "It would just bring the space down," said Samyrajah, gesturing to the home's eight-foot ceilings. This also allows the home's surroundings, visible out a pair of large windows, to become a real focal point.

A large picture window helps demarcate the living area, and allows dappled sunlight to flood the space and dance on the walls. "It literally looks like a Group of Seven painting," said Namvar. "I don't know how much more, like, Canadiana you can get."

Like the design choices throughout their home, the decor and accents on the main floor are functional and minimal in style, yet still meaningful. Sentimental objets from their travels line shelves, a beloved Eames moulded lounge chair purchased a decade ago sits in their living room, and behind one door is "a little hidden gallery" of artwork created by their niece, nephew and friends' kids. 

The home is predominantly neutral in colour, but there are two bold exceptions. One is the completely pink guest room. "When we first got our property, our best friend was like, 'Make me a pink room.' And, you know, people say things to us and we just do them," said Samyrajah. "We just thought it was so absurd!" said Namvar with a laugh.  

The other is a stairwell that the duo painted a really bright yellow to warm up the space and bring in some brightness to a dark area. "We're also fans of [architect Luis] Barragán, and we thought it would be really nice to use, like, a really fun pop of colour," said Samyrajah. "Something obnoxious," Namvar said. "Yeah, sufficiently obnoxious," Samyrajah agreed. 

Downstairs, the wood-burning fireplace was clad in fire-rated drywall, while the large area it overlooks was left open and airy. "It's also kind of overflow for when we have extra guests," said Samyrajah, pointing out two daybeds in the space. "It sort of mimics the upstairs in that it's just like a big, giant room that can be used in sort of different ways," said Namvar. 

One of their fondest memories in the space was hosting 22 people overnight for a friend's birthday. "It was like a commune," said Namvar. "Everybody had sleeping bags, everybody had their own corners."

"After the 20th person showered, we might have run out of water for a minute," he added with a smile.

Watch this episode of On the Inside to see Namvar and Samyrajah's serene yet whimsical home, and read on to learn more about their design inspiration and overall approach.

Saty Namvar and Pratha Samyrajah on home decor and design 

(As told to CBC Life. These answers have been edited and condensed.)

Our home's style is a mix of all the design ideas we love from previous design eras, in varying ratios. We love traditional Sri Lankan and Iranian country home layouts; Japanese and Korean craftsmanship and use of materials; German organization. So we try to pull from these — in a way that is suitable to a bungalow set in the Ontario countryside! 

The resulting mix for us is a very calming space. The white expanses of wall bounce all manner and moods of light, the natural and durable materials make us feel at ease, and there's just enough hits of humour and personality in our collectibles to make us smile.

We've been lucky to travel a lot for work, and will often seek out handmade objects or utilitarian, everyday items to bring back. It's much nicer to use these objects in our daily life because they are connected to fond memories of a place and the people we were with. 

We are also so lucky to have talented friends who make art, ceramics, furniture, et cetera. We love that our home is filled with objects made by people we admire.

When we are looking to add something, we really try to make sure it will just slip into the space like it's always been there.

Our space steals from classic eastern and western design of the past (low, linear furniture arrangements like Frank Lloyd Wright, handmade pieces that wear well with time). When we are looking to add something, we really try to make sure it will just slip into the space like it's always been there. 

Materials-wise, we keep anything large within a tight palette to maintain a sense of calm — unvarnished wood of any non-reddish undertone, black or white marble, concrete — and get more loud with smaller items and treasure from travels. Our goal is to keep everything we have forever, which sounds dramatic, but we really aren't interested in changing things up all the time for the sake of it — so we really tend to love what comes in.

The thing people notice the moment they arrive is the amount of light and that sense of calm. We thought it was just us at first — our job tends to be pretty raucous, and it always feels great to open the door and have our shoulders drop — but it's surprising to see that it has that effect on others, too! 

We are so lucky to have the countryside setting that we do as well; it's beautiful in an unjarring way. Everyone who stays tells us they sleep well here.