A FOUR-SEASON RETREAT IN ONTARIO’S SKI COUNTRY: inside the Collingwood home of designer BrittanY Wright

Tucked into the landscape of Collingwood, Ontario — a place long known for its weekend ski rituals and scenic views — interior designer Brittany Steptoe-Wright, founder of BSW Design, has transformed the property into a deeply personal retreat. Having spent her childhood weekends here, the town always held a sense of home for her and when her family’s original Collingwood house was sold, it left a noticeable gap. Drawn to meaningful projects and thoughtful restoration, Brittany saw an opportunity when this home came along at just the right moment. What followed is a design rich with personal touches — a place where muddy boots from long dog walks and ski days feel equally at home, and evenings are spent gathered around a wood-burning fireplace.

Photography by Britney Townsend | @bheathertownsend

There is a deeply personal sensibility that grounds Brittany Wright’s designs, an approach that is clearly shaped by both landscape and memory. First and foremost she describes herself as an animal lover — with two dogs Arthur and Gigi (affectionately known as “Baby G”), and a horse, Kratos, whom she considers her children. Her connection to nature has always been central, informing both her lifestyle and the environments she designs. Growing up in the rural pockets of Aurora and King, in what she describes as a distinctly “horsey part of Canada”, she was drawn to the equestrian world from an early age. “No one in my family was horsey,” she recalls, “but at five I decided it was all I wanted to do.”

Her childhood was split between Canada and England, where she spent many summers with her grandparents and where much of her family still lives today. Now a dual citizen, Brittany considers the UK a true second home and one that continues to shape her aesthetic sensibility. “I have such fond memories of my childhood there and really visceral emotional attachments to it,” she shares. “I often ache for it in the way one aches for home, and I think that’s why it comes into my design so prevalently.” That pull toward the English countryside, layered with daily routine as a lifelong horse owner, naturally weaves an understated equestrian influence throughout her work. “As a horse owner you truly live and breathe it,” she explains. “You’re born with it in your blood.”

Design and construction were also embedded early on. Brittany’s father, a trained English joiner from Henley, England, introduced her to the world of carpentry and renovation from childhood. Rather than dollhouses, she grew up with a tool bench; instead of colouring books, she sketched floor plans. Surrounded by building projects and guided by her father’s craftsmanship, she developed an enduring fascination with how spaces come together— a foundation that would eventually lead her to build a career that seamlessly bridges design and construction.

“My dad really instilled in me the importance of quality. His attention to detail as a joiner is just above and beyond. Details down to the type of sandpaper grit for specific wood species were regular topics of conversation for us”, she shares.

An antique bakers table, sourced from England by FARRIER, anchors the kitchen dining area. Mismatched antique rush chairs, sourced from France, add texture and warmth.

Brittany alongside her antique baker’s table to the left, and a vintage tapestry to the right, sourced at an antiques market in Canada.

At the heart of the home sits a solid oak dining table sourced from FARRIER — a piece Brittany describes as both meaningful and entirely unmistakable from the moment she saw it. Substantial in scale and rich in character, the antique baker’s table quickly became the anchor of the space, and the centerpiece for the rest of the kitchen design, with finishes being selected to compliment the table. Getting the antique into the upper level of the home was not without effort and proved to be “a definite challenge and marital conquest,” she laughs, but once in place it felt instantly at home. Surrounded by antique dining chairs imported from France, the table now forms a gathering point that feels as beautiful as it is functional.

More than simply a statement piece, it has become the heart of the home and a nod to her love of British interiors which often favour a central table rather than a fixed kitchen island. “When I saw it I just knew,” Brittany explains, likening the certainty to the moments she found her dogs, her horse, and even this home — an intuitive sense that the timing and place were right. Since settling in, the table has hosted everything from dinners and après-ski evenings, to board games and quiet workdays. “My husband and I have taken to working here when we can,” she says. “Recently we were both sitting at the table and thought to ourselves, what a life we have built — where we can enjoy our home and work at the same time, from such a beautiful space.” It is a piece that grounds the home both physically and emotionally.

Breakfast at Brittany’s: Arthur and Gigi, enjoying breakfast around the antique baker’s table.

Arthur, Brittany’s first companion, sharing in the morning ritual.

For Brittany, the process of shaping her Collingwood home began long before she ever held the keys. Like many designers, she describes herself as an avid collector — not only of objects, but of ideas. “As a designer, I am sure I speak for us all when I say we are collectors, and we absolutely collect things for our own spaces as we go,” she explains. With her primary residence already complete, she had spent years quietly gathering inspiration for a future project like this one, building what she calls a mental folder of elements she hoped to one day bring together.

“I had been collecting ideas of what I wanted for this kind of space for the last few years,” she shares. “A shower design I loved at Soho House Paris. A flooring a client turned down but I thought was epic. Some marble remnants sitting at my fabricator’s shop waiting for a home. Even the idea of a table in the middle of my kitchen instead of an island.” When the Collingwood house came along, those moments of inspiration found their setting, allowing Brittany to translate years of observation into something tangible and deeply personal.

Her material palette, much like her lifestyle, is grounded in the natural world. Drawn instinctively to colours and textures that echo the landscape, she gravitates toward earthy, tonal schemes that feel both calming and rooted. “Anything that Mother Nature puts together is a palette I am here for,” she notes. “I love earthy tones — all the greens you can imagine, charcoals, deep browns — textures and natural elements that bring the outdoors in, and add layers to a space.” Brittany used a combination of Benjamin Moore paint colours throughout the home; Ashwood on the walls, Gloucester Sage on the doors and trim, and Otter Brown on millwork. The result is a home that feels deeply serene — the kind of place that invites you to put the kettle on, light a roaring fire in the wood-burning fireplace, and settle into the quiet comfort of the surroundings.

Glass-fronted cabinetry painted in Benjamin Moore’s “Gloucester Sage” reveals Brittany’s vintage teapot and teacup collection, a daily ritual she has adopted from her English upbringing.

An antique confit pot from France, sourced by FARRIER, houses some spring daffodils.

Brittany’s design philosophy aligns with the English instinct to embrace age and imperfection— an understanding that things naturally soften, weather, and evolve over time. “If I’ve learned anything, it’s that nothing stays pristine,” she reflects. “Paint chips, wood weathers, we age, we break and repair along the way.” Rather than striving for perfection, her home celebrates this European mentality. When asked which parts of British design have left the biggest impression on her, she references, “pitted stone steps in an old home, ivy-covered walls, leaded windows, crooked beams, uneven floors”— forms that aren’t polished, but shaped by use.

This perspective carries seamlessly into how Brittany lives day to day, particularly with her dogs. “Homes are meant to be lived in,” she says, and in hers, that means they’re welcome everywhere. Rather than striving for a pristine space, she embraces the rhythms and realities that come with it— creating thoughtful systems like a dedicated place for coats, leashes, toys, and food, and accepting that “we clean more than non-doggy people.” There are small concessions, too — sofas covered (“unfortunately, but it has to be done”) — but they sit comfortably within a home designed around real life. Even her material choices reflect this mindset: a medium-toned rug that works for both a black and a beige dog, and an integrated gate that blends into the architecture while keeping both dogs and visiting children safely in place.

A curated arrangement of antique artworks, sourced as a collection from a local seller.

Art plays a defining role in the home, adding both narrative and a sense of continuity to the newly reimagined space. Much of the collection was sourced locally, including a remarkable group of works discovered through a Marketplace seller in Collingwood whose father was downsizing an extensive personal collection. “I like to think he would be happy to see it all displayed and loved,” Brittany shares. These pieces now hang alongside historical prints she and her family have gathered over the years, as well as finds from nearby antique stores, creating a layered arrangement that feels personal and closely connected to the places and memories that have shaped their home.

For Brittany, incorporating pre-loved pieces is as much about philosophy as it is about aesthetics. With a university degree in Sustainability and a lifelong appreciation for the natural world, she approaches sourcing with intention. “As someone who loves nature and the environment, buying old means one less thing going in the landfill,” she explains. “It also means one less opening for a new item to fill on a store shelf — it reduces demand, something very important to me.”

Antiques and vintage finds bring not only character, but also a sense of responsibility to the design process. A firm believer in refinishing, refurbishing, and reusing wherever possible, Brittany sees each sourced piece as an opportunity to extend the life of something well made. “I’m a huge proponent of repurposing,” she says. “Whether we’re buying or reworking something that already exists, I try to carry that mindset into every project. Growing up fixing or refinishing (rather than tossing out) was definitely a go-to in our house”, shares Brittany.

The living room fireplace— a place designed for cozy fires after a day on the slopes.

Gigi, relaxing on the sofa with a collection of mismatched pillows.

Brittany avoids overly coordinated interiors, favouring spaces that feel layered and collected rather than uniform. “Nothing makes a space fall flat faster than matchy-matchy,” she says. “Matching bedroom sets, matching dining sets, the same light in every room, the same finishes — it’s like getting dressed and wearing denim head to toe. You wouldn’t put on jeans, a jean shirt, a jean jacket, a jean bag, jean shoes, and a jean hat,” she laughs. “You’d layer, mix in high and low pieces, and combine textures and colours. It’s the same in a home.”

Within that layered approach, the antique often becomes the grounding element — the piece that anchors the room and informs everything around it. “It’s usually what a lot of the palette is pulled from,” Brittany explains. “The antique is the star.” Whether through patina, materiality, or a sense of history, these singular pieces introduce depth and character, allowing contemporary elements to feel more nuanced.

Brittany is the first to admit that her approach to sourcing leans decidedly intuitive — what she affectionately calls her “woo woo” side. When choosing antiques, instinct always leads. “I’m a big believer in the energy of objects — and all living things,” she explains. “I feel a lot of feelings when I’m around antiques.” That sensitivity often guides her process long before logic enters the equation. More often than not, she experiences an immediate emotional response to a piece, and if the feeling is right, the next step becomes clear. “I’ll first get a feeling, and if it’s a good one, I can pretty quickly pinpoint whether I have a home for it — either in my own space or in a client’s project.” It’s an approach rooted less in formula and more in trust, allowing intuition to shape interiors that feel alive with meaning.

Arthur, enjoying some R&R beside the wood burning fireplace.

When asked about a design detail that means a lot to Brittany, she shares, “We have a fun little nod to my husband's Dutch heritage in our guest bath with some new age Delft tiles that tell the story of our family.” The custom tiles feel both classic and personal, mixing the tradition of Delft with scenes that reflect their life today — including images of England, her beloved dogs, and even her horse. It’s a playful yet meaningful detail that turns an everyday space into something special, giving guests a glimpse into the places and animals that matter most to Brittany and her husband.

Throughout the home, that same thoughtful balance between past and present can be felt in every room. There is a sense of ease and authenticity that comes from choosing pieces with intention, and allowing the home to build organically over time. The result is a space that feels both curated and comfortably lived in — one that honours craftsmanship, embraces home life, and proves that a home layered with meaning will always feel uniquely special.

Pictured above (L-R): Brittany’s principal bathroom shower, unlacquered brass hardware selected for kitchen cabinetry, custom delft tiles in her guest bathroom, custom millwork in primary bedroom alongside a vintage rush chair and antique artwork. To see more of Brittany’s design work, visit @bswdesign on Instagram.