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Private residence, Pickering, Ontario. McClelland eventually left Citiworks for Volgeysi & Propst Inc., an architecture irm known for developing high-end residential. This was his foray into the luxury market. "Andrew Volgeysi was a talented and charismatic architect," he says. "He knew how to wow clients, and how to woo them." After some time, Gordon Ridgely Architects and Associates Inc. contracted McClelland to craft the interior of a home for Morey and Jennifer Chaplick in Toronto's pricey Rosedale neighbourhood. The owners wanted a modern take on their Georgian townhouse. "It was a large-scale project and I realized I couldn't do it on my own," McClelland says. "That's when I approached Peter." Lunney was working for a different design company, but he agreed to team up with McClelland on a part-time basis at irst. After a while he decided to go all in, and Fleur-de-lis was born. Fleur-de-lis' irst studio was, in fact, a small boardroom in Gordon Ridgely's of ice. Far from spacious, this compact location served the company for its irst few years. When it became unbearably tight, Lunney and McClelland bought a house on Spadina Road in the Forest Hill neighbourhood, and they promptly renovated one part of the old building to serve as a new of ice, and kept the rest for residential. Fleur-delis spent eight years here, but, once again feeling the space pressures associated with a growing business, the irm moved to a much larger location on Eglinton Avenue near the north end of Forest Hill. This is where you'll ind the company's of ice and retail space today. The retail, dubbed Room – Modern Concepts, features custom furniture and arrangements that exemplify 10/ OCTOBER 2012 p.08-11Fleur coverstory.indd 10 Fleur-de-lis' fashion-forward-yet-clean esthetic. While the company used to design a wider range of unique furnishings for sale to the public, Lunney and McClelland still create a few pieces. Their products are in demand. Cambria Stone, the quartz company, has incorporated Fleur-de-lis' distinctive wine storage system into its new Toronto studio in the King Street East design district. The apparatus consists of a steel backing and Jatoba wood rods arranged such that wine bottles are gently cradled yet securely ensconced. Since joining forces with Ridgely, Fleur-de-lis has gone on to design the interiors of numerous luxury homes in Canada and the U.S., garnering praise and impressing clients along the way. Alongside Toronto and Lake Champlain, you'll ind Fleur-de-lis interiors in Boston; Ellicottville, N.Y.; Haliburton, Ontario; Nantucket; Massachusetts; Vancouver and Winnipeg. The irm has won three ARIDO awards. Fleur-de-lis' principals pride themselves on an ordered approach to every project. This isn't simply a matter of buying furniture to suit the client's style. "We really look at space planning," McClelland says. "We're considering how elevations are going to look, the sense of order required." "We will not take a client on unless they pay us to do plans," McClelland says. The plan operates as a map that helps Fleur-de-lis and the client envision the inal product and understand the steps required to make it happen, Lunney adds. How has the business changed over the years? For one thing, Fleur-de-lis is much more well-known now than it was in the beginning, thanks in no small part to McClelland's public appearances. He is a regular guest on the Citytv television program CityLine, where he imparts design advice. Lunney says McClelland is Fleurde-lis' public ambassador. "He's wonderful with people." The business is also busier than it was at the start. When Fleur-de-lis opened in 1989, it had just one customer via Ridgely. Now the company has 20 projects on the go at any one time. "It's all word of mouth," Lunney says. "Clients would have somebody over and they'd be excited about the interior. We'd get a phone call." The irm also applies a wealth of experience to each project – expertise that only comes with time. So whereas Lunney and McClelland used to focus on delivering what the customer said he wanted, these days the duo can analyze and interpret customer requests to divine the client's true intentions. "We're a little more opinionated about what we think they should do," McClelland says. "We still listen, but we also guide them towards simpler designs than we used to." At the same time, however, Fleur-de-lis inds that clients are better educated about interior design than ever before, perhaps because customers can get a glimpse of innovative design concepts on TV programs. "I think television in general has upped the importance of having a designer and the bene it of listening to professional advice," McClelland says. Down the road, Fleur-de-lis plans to expand its reach. While the company has already completed a number of projects in the U.S. and one in Nassau, Bahamas, the owners hope to do even more work abroad. If they succeed, you can expect to ind Fleur-de-lis' modern, commercially inspired approach in residences (and its residential-tinged commercial designs) well beyond the company's home base in Toronto. ■ Fleur-de-lis Interior Design Inc. 9/11/12 11:31 AM