Skip to Main Content
Advertisement

Your Super Friendly Guide to Toronto’s Design Districts is Here

Advertisement

We asked our friends at some of the coolest Toronto design stores to share their favourite neighbourhood haunts – for grub, threads and culture

We visited over 373 shops, showrooms and other cool spots this year to bring you DL’s Annual Shopping Guide – a handy Toronto design resource for everything from the lowdown on that killer lighting boutique to inspirational pin-ups of Toronto homes. In the spirit of fierce new finds, we went a step further and asked our friends running our favourite shops to name the best of everything in their neighbourhoods. This is where they told us to eat, get cultured and window shop.

Toronto design guide


Queen West

Visit Queen West for wildly diverse art and Boralia’s pine-smoked delights ➞

 

Toronto design guide


Midtown

Visit Midtown Toronto for posh and practical design solutions ➞

 

Toronto design guide


West End

Check out the West End for quirky clothing boutiques and Persian brunch ➞

 

Toronto design guide


Uptown

Venture Uptown for Yorkdale retail therapy and ACE baguettes ➞

 

Toronto design guide


King West

Visit King West for the Aloette burger and the Bentway ➞

 

Toronto design guide


King East

Head to King East for European design and Soma chocolates ➞

 

Toronto design guide


Queen East

And don’t forget about Queen East’s family-friendly and vintage offerings ➞

Advertisement
Advertisement

Okay, but it clearly is

For the first 16 years of my life, the bat cave at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)—a reconstruction of an actual cave in Jamaica—was among my favourite places in the city. The cave was decorated with cast stalactites and wax bat models, which hung from the ceiling and threw jagged shadows on the walls. A few other features imbued it with spooky verisimilitude: the drip-drip-drip sound effects, the mirrors arranged to create the illusion of infinite depth, the strobe lights strategically placed to make the shadows flutter. When I visited as a five-year-old, the bat cave scared me. When I visited as a stoned fifteen-year-old, it scared me even more. Then came the renovation.

Advertisement

Newsletter

Your Weekly Dose of Modern Design

Sign up for the Designlines weekly newsletter to keep up with the latest design news, trends and inspiring projects from across Toronto. Join our community and never miss a beat!

Please fill out your email address.

The Magazine

Get the Latest Issue

From a sprawling family home in Oakville to a coastal-inspired retreat north of the city, we present spaces created by architects and interior designers that redefine the contemporary.

Designlines 2024 Issue