"My life is go, go, go," she says. "I want to come home and relax." Combing the west-end Toronto neighbourhood where she'd grown up, she found her oasis in a l00-year-plus, 1,200-square-foot duplex. "I liked the house immediately," she says.

"It had presence." It also had a sunny kitchen bathed in a colour that brought to mind shortbread cookies and lattes. "I loved the buttery colour," says Eduarda, recalling her first impression. "And I loved the tin-tile ceiling and silver knobs on the cabinetry. Plus the room was not too big, not too small, just comfortable."

She admits that was one of the elements that charmed her most. "Who would expect a fridge in a cabinet?" she asks. But she did decide to replace the white laminate countertop. "I didn't want anything too shiny," she says. Nor did she want marble or granite, settling instead on cement, a surprisingly "luxurious look," as she describes it.

Cabinet pot lights make glassware sparkle. IKEA baskets inside the floor-level cupboards store vegetables and supplies.

Eduarda designed the mobile island, inspired by a similar piece she'd noticed in a model suite. She had it custom-made with glass shelves for storage. "I wanted something practical, not fixed, so it could easily move from room to room when entertaining," she says.

Mixed in with all that practicality is a little dash of whimsy: mounted to one wall are three large plaster script signs that read "saute," "souffle" and "cocktail." Since the previous owners had done the major work on the kitchen, including removing a wall to make it an open-concept space, Eduarda was able to concentrate her efforts and budget on redecorating the rest of the house.

She settled on a lush but minimalist look throughout, with a calm palette for the living room, enhanced by chic, modern decor. After a day of constant interruptions from her pager, phone and BlackBerry, she retreats to her upstairs bedroom and bath.

A. Believe it or not, I do cook, but mainly on the weekends. Being Portuguese, I love seafood, especially lobster and shrimp.

Q. And on busy weekdays?

A. Salads or rice and some nice Portuguese chicken

Q. What is your favourite dish to prepare?

A. Seafood chowder and good hearty bread with roasted garlic.

Q. What’s your favourite late-summer meal?

A. Grilled sea scallops with lemon butter. Oh , and a glass of white wine.

Q. What’s the secret to a great meal?

A. Definitely good company and good wine.

Now that her home is organized and decorated exactly to her specifications, Eduarda enjoys finding opportunities to cook up her favourite Portuguese dishes for friends and family. Because of her hectic work life, she laments not having more time to entertain.

But a solution is in the works: she recently hired two assistants. Perhaps that means there will soon be a lot more saute, souffle and cocktails in store for Eduarda and her friends.