Seventeen and a half years ago, Shawn Gibson partnered with Michael Pellegrino to create Teatro Verde, Toronto’s “giant mixing bowl” of unique and luxurious gifts. Blending his theatrical background with Michael’s landscaping expertise, this pair of designers open their doors to a world all their own.

THE PITCH
“We pay attention to the trends, but then we try to interpret them on our own. That’s what makes us different; if you just go and do the trends nowadays, that’s not enough.”

“We do different ethnicities, we do different time periods, we do different styles and periods, and we kind of mix it all up in our big mixing bowl here and that’s how we come up with our own style language. And it’s definitely a language that we’ve evolved without really trying — we just do what we love to do.”

THE PIECE
“Multi-colour tartan is going to be a big trend this year. As we get away from colour blocking, we are seeing the need for more texture and pattern. These stools are great, made of porcelain, can be used as side tables [or] extra seating and are for indoor and outdoor use.”

THE CRAZE
“It’s going to be a combination of bohemian-eclectic-chic. There’s going to be a bit of steampunk thrown in there, there’s a bit of retro-modern ’70s style put
in there.”

THE PERKS
“What I like is I get to be creative and I don’t have to answer to anybody. We don’t have any partners or shareholders and we make all the decisions — whether we’re right or wrong, we make them. I want to be able to express what I feel is going to happen. And if it’s a failure or a loss, I’ll accept it. [We’re about] taking risks and going against the grain; kind of a little bit of a trailblazer.”

www.teatroverde.com