Rhythm & Thread

The title above possibly makes no sense to anyone but me, so take a comfortable seat and hopefully the text that follows will connect the dots.

 We have had a very busy March in the studio – multiple clients (old and new), guests (Christina’s mum visiting from Mexico, as well as a  designer-girlfriend lunch and the gorgeous Fogo Island Inn / workshop family) and multiple reps visiting the studio with the past week being particularly people heavy. 

Having new eyes in the studio always makes me want everything to be seen in its best light, for first impressions to simply make people feel good, and for all to feel in harmony. I call this the rhythm in the studio and its made up of multiple things, many of them unseen and somewhat intangible. 

From the studio fragrance in our diffusers at each entrance, to our blend of music, to Reba and the presentation table swing. 

I want our visitors, however fleeting in our four walls, to know that they have come to the right place, that their needs will be taken care of. 

The loveliest thing that guests can say is that the space is so me, so Gillian Gillies Interiors. What they feel and see in person in my studio is what we show on our socials and on our website, all these threads connect back to our brand of interior design and level of service.

The rhythm and threads are what I have been refining going all the way back to working for a design studio in Scotland and to opening up my own one here. 

If the rhythm is off or the threads become tangled all can feel forced and inauthentic. 

My studio, my team, the trades and vendors we work with all have to be in harmony or else things feel fake and forced.

I look at my studio and the selections I made a little over seven years ago and I still love and stand by them all, and that is the recipe for long lasting design and harmony at home. 

Our role is to find the magic in the space, find the unseen, get at the core of what our clients really need and bring these often and sometimes competing things together without them getting tangled or missing a beat. 

Its a craft and I am so lucky to have this career, this opportunity and to share it with my wonderful team. 

Self Care – Let’s Design A Sleep Sanctuary

Living through a global pandemic resulted in seismic shifts in how we live and flow in our homes. In almost every project, the need for wellness at home is a client request – from gyms to sauna’s, cold plunge pools and steam rooms,  all are aimed at improving our well-being without having to leave home to do so. 

I feel strongly that self care starts with a great nights sleep and if you often feel like you have to travel to get a good nights sleep its maybe time to consider a bedroom refresh. 

I think its one of the kindest things you can do for yourself (and those that you live with) is to start your day rested and refreshed. 

Let’s look at a few key areas to consider in your own Sleep Sanctuary!
 

1.Light Control

Darkness for most of us aides in making sleeping consistent regardless of the season. Blackout lined curtains to me are non-negotiable. I like mine to extend past the window and return back onto the wall so that you don’t get that awkward chink of light shining in your eyes as the sun rises. 

They are also great at muffling street noise, if that is something you contend with on a regular basis. From garbage trucks to car alarms and barking dogs, life in a city can be noisy and thick lined window coverings can be really helpful at dampening all. This bedroom has four windows split over two walls and so floor length curtains were a must! 

Darkness tells the body its time to decompress and to go to sleep. 

2.Great Bedside Lighting

Many of us have partners that read longer than us in bed or maybe we are in fact the culprit. Reading lights on the headboard wall can mend all bridges if someone likes to stay up later than the other and read. 

I do still like a bedside lamp for decor and general lighting, but a reading light is the mother ship and many come with an option to also illuminate as a very soft night light if you need to get up in the night and want a little light cast to lead your way, or if someone is coming home late, its a lovely thing to leave on. 

We like to pair our finishes with the headboard material so in this case, in the room above the heathered wool headboard blended beautifully with the oil rubbed bronze finish on the reading lights that complimented the ceramic base on the table lamps (rhythm and thread people, rhythm and thread!). 

3.A Tidy Space

I dislike clutter in a bedroom and something that is key for me to get a good nights sleep is a tidy room. 

Having tailored storage for you and your stuff is really soothing to me. The window seat in the room above is a perfect spot to place the decorative cushions from the bed when its turned down for sleeping. There is a ton of dedicated storage in this room that makes the space work really hard at keeping clutter at bay. 

4.An Area Carpet

Not only will your toes thank you on a chilly morning, but area carpets like window coverings add a layer of acoustic insulation. If your bedroom is above the family room and someone likes to stay up late and watch TV, a plush carpet on the floor can help to reduce noise transfer.

5.Bed Linen & The Perfect Mattress

Finding the perfect mattress is a lot like Goldilocks and the three bears, it can take time to find the right one but when you do its life changing. 

Competitive athletes know the benefit to finding and sleeping on a mattress that will work for your body and your ideal sleeping position (many travel with theirs) and there are specialists that we work with to assist our clients and fit them the right mattress a little like a bespoke suit.

We always want to ensure that headboard materials are free from any chemical solvents – its awful that we even have to research this, but in our society’s need for things to always look new and perfect a lot of awful things have been added to fabrics in recent years, so we ensure we source with care. 

The same goes for your bed linens and how you launder them. Toxic and fragrance free laundry detergent should be the only things in your home for washing your bed linens.

I hope this Sleep Sanctuary insight was helpful. 

Sleep is so important and a few aligned changes can really make the world of difference. 

Thank You!

Thank you for being one of my readers! 

Hopefully by this time next month we will have warmed up a little, as here in Toronto its been one of those springs where you don’t know what way is up and what coat to wear in the morning. 

Wishing you a lovely April and hopefully there will be spring flowers in your future and less coats. 

Warmly 

Gillian 

Credits, images, musings and some more contents of my head.

Trio of header images 1. &  2. sourced on Pinterest. Eggs from Etsy and the Ceramic Pendant is from Boha.

All of the bedroom images are from GGI projects and are shot by Virginia Macdonald and styled by Me & Mo. 

Copyright © 2026 Gillian Gillies Interiors Inc., All rights reserved.