Jeffrey Douglas is the founder and sole principal of Douglas Design Studio, an interior design studio based out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Don't think that just because Jeffrey's practice is based out of Toronto, that he isn't internationally renowned for his work, because he has won many international design awards, as well as nationally, in Canada.

Jeffrey began sketching space when he was 6-7 years old and followed his path of design through teenage-hood and into university, where he landed his first summer job in design.

He began his professional career working for Brian Gluckstein, where he gained a great deal of experience before starting his own practice in 1995. The first studio Jeffrey worked out of was in a "loft" immersed with artists on different levels of the building, including some highly reputable artists, including the late Lynn Donoghue.

The practice moved from the loft space in Roncesvalles to Cabbagetown, where it's been for the last 20 years. With a staff that started at two to three people and as many as 12, he's found that his sweet spot is 10 staff. He leans in heavy on his team and they are committed to delivering.

He utilizes his ability to extract complex problems that clientele are looking to solve by having them use adjectives to describe what they’re looking for, without using words like “functional” - because who doesn’t want to have functional space?! 

And, that sketching that started at 6-7 year old, continues today as an integral part of his design practice.

Find out more about his overcoming being bullied as a child and teen to becoming one of the more highly reputable and prestigious interior designers in Canada, and his unique interest in writing, by listening to this week’s installment of Behind the Build.