ABOUT
ME
Welcome to Mary Elizabeth Design - My name is Mary. I appreciate you taking the time to hear my story -- Let's start from the beginning. I developed an appreciation for design at a young age when my family began investing in real estate across Canada. I was born in Muskoka but grew up with my family in our home in Toronto while attending St Clements School. My parents shared a love for unique, one-of-a-kind properties & believed that Canada in and of itself offered so much potential in terms of beautifully diverse landscapes to build upon. With properties located in the mountains of British Columbia to the coast of Nova Scotia (and a few in between) — I was truly privileged to be surrounded by such beautiful homes.
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My parents are a dynamic duo -- my father has an eye for construction and architecture, following principals set out in "A Pattern Language" by Christopher Alexander et. all. While undertaking remodelling projects, renovations, and even some brand new builds from scratch, I watched my mom & her interior designer work together to develop, coordinate and implement a shared vision for each home through the years — an imaginative & collaborative process that still resonates with me today. And so began my love affair with design, beautiful spaces as well as quality furniture, fabrics, and materials.
I believe that having a few, good quality, staple pieces in a home is better than a large amount of low quality, less dependable pieces cluttering the space. As I grew older, I started to tag along with my mom & our designer — lending a helping hand & being involved in the process wherever I could. Upon high school graduation, life took me in a different direction…
I attended Queen’s University & completed my undergraduate degree majoring in sociology. I didn’t view my degree necessarily as ‘career training’… I wanted a grounding in the broad arts and humanities as a building block for my future. After Queens graduation, I decided to fully embrace my true passion — I enrolled myself in an Interior Design certificate program at Parsons School of Design. After 2 years of hard work & studying, I officially received my ID certificate — now here I am.
This site is meant to showcase an array of work I have completed over the years. I have dabbled in many areas of design in the past, some fields include graphic design, photography, drawing...the list goes on -- Whether it be past school assignments, professional projects, or personal undertakings, I hope my work gives you a little peak into who I am.