Western Living Magazine
Photos: Peek Inside the Homes of NHL Stars
5 Reasons Homeowners Are Choosing Custom Aluminum Pergolas
6 Home Offices Worth Clocking In For
How to Support Summerland’s Wineries One Bottle at a Time
3 Delicious Recipes to Try for Your Next Taco Night
Say Cheese: Inside Whistler’s Tiny, ’80s-Inspired Cheese Shop
Where to Wine and Dine Around Kelowna in 2026
Farm to Glass: 13 Kelowna Spots That Celebrate Okanagan Bounty
The Best Okanagan Wineries for Architecture Lovers
10 New Furniture, Lighting and Decor Finds for 2026
In Living Colour: 8 Striped Home Finds for Summer
The Unsettling Wallpaper in A24’s ‘Backrooms’ Has a Very Vancouver Backstory
Introducing the 2026 WL Designers of the Year
Robert Ledingham Memorial Award 2026: Schédio Spaces
Industrial Designer of the Year 2026: Nolan Talbot-Kelly
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Aly Velji's winning home this year.
Many thousands of votes later, the people have spoken: “Holiday Magic” from Alykhan Velji Designs is our 2020 WL Home of the Year!
you've a very lucky client when your interior designer not only designs your home, but also comes back to help you put together your own holiday look€”as designer Alykhan Velji and his team did for these homeowners in Calgary. Velji and senior designer Katie Nelson worked with Alloy Homes to craft the interior design and build of this home in the city's Mount Pleasant neighbourhood for a family of three back in 2019, and then returned in time for Christmas to give it a little warm holiday flair.
The holiday decor riffs on the home’s design itself, where Velji’s team played with soft pastels against a black and white palette with marble accents. A strong midcentury influence is seen in the asymmetrical black millwork mantel, and the reupholstered dining chairs in pale pink and grey fabric.
The holiday decor plays off the casual sophistication of the space: peach, blues and mint greens that hint at its midcentury style, with a bit of black in the mix. €œYou don't see a lot of black when it comes to holiday decor,” notes Velji, “but we thought it would be an interesting add-on, and create a bold statement. Something totally different.€
Velji is a fan of using both silver and gold in a decor mix, and you'll see that throughout, too. Really, his philosophy on combining these two metallics might well serve as his overarching concept for this holiday design€”and the design of the whole home itself. €œSo many people are stuck on using gold or silver,€ he says. €œBut the mix makes it all so much better.€
Congrats to Aly Velji and his team at Alykhan Velji Design for winning our 2020 WL Home of the Year! And thanks to our sponsor, Pacific Art Stone, for their support of the program.Â
Scroll through the pics below to see the rest of of the space, and read more about the home here.
Anicka Quin is the editor-in-chief of Western Living magazine and the VP of Content for Canada Wide Media. If you've got a home design you'd like to share with Western Living, drop her a line at [email protected]
Are you over 18 years of age?
Get the latest headlines delivered to your inbox 3 times a week.