Articles
A renovation in the round
Curves, glorious curves!
By Margaret Anne Fehr
LIVING IN A STANDARD SOUARE-BOX BUNGALOW SIMPLY didn't reflect what homeowners, Tiffany and Patrick were all about. The couple had lived in their 1650 square foot, 70's built home on the river for nearly 7 years but had never felt quite at home.
"We just wanted to make it more us in terms of colour and function, because it didn't really work the way we wanted it to," says Tiffany. But once the decision was made to renovate, the couple agreed that this was no time for half-measures and decided on a full-scale main floor transformation.
A couple of positive first impressions helped get this ambitious renovation moving. Patrick and Tiffany found IDEATE Design Consulting and after just one meeting, the company presented a unique plan featuring the replacement of traditional right angles with a series of circular design elements that have stamped this home as one of a kind.
"IDEATE was totally able to read us and pretty well understood what we wanted," says Tiffany. "The curves are so unique and we totally fell in love with the concept."
Fortunately, finding a quality contractor proved just as easy. "We had a few bids but when Wayne Sage from Harwood Builders came to our house we just knew right away that he was the one that we wanted to work with."
Wayne and crew encountered some unwelcome surprises when it came to the stick frame roof assembly and a chimney leak. "We made some adjustments, brought in our engineer, figured out how to do it, and re-structured it."
After the remedial work was done, the project began in earnest. The plans called for the circle motif to be elegantly integrated from the circular ceiling medallion mounted above the round granite peninsula in the kitchen along with the stainless steel cylindrical hood fan above the cooktop, to the circular formal dining room with cut-out for bar seating that overlooks the living room and glass patio doors with sightlines to the river.
lntroducing a warm colour scheme is evident in the kitchen cabinetry. The combination of maple cabinetry, glass tile back splash in Dune and the slightly contrasting quartz countertop in Lagos Blue offers a unique colour and textural palette.
The open concept kitchen overlooks the lounge area with flat screen TV recess on one wall and directly opposite, a floating buffet and art alcove on the other. "lt's a casual area for people to sit and relax while we're working in the kitchen," says Tiffany.
The former wood-burning fireplace in the living room received a modern day upgrade to gas. The fireplace hearth was removed and the scale of the fireplace front was reduced to be less intrusive. New slate facing in a multi- colour combination of grey and 'rusty nail' orange front the fireplace and refer back to the maple stained cabinets in the kitchen.
As a stylistic foil to the circle element, a high-contrast horizontally striped wall using eco-wood slats defines the foyer wall and travels the length to the living room.
An open 'window' in the wall frames the pendant lighting overhead the basement stairwell and the wood slats extend slightly on the closet doors as handles while the remainder of the slats are flush with wall. "The design details are really fantastic!" enthuses Tiffany.
Both bathrooms received major makeovers. The main bath was fitted with a space-saving 15 shelf pantry-style cabinet in the wall beside the bathtub along with a trough sink and open vanity that makes the room feel a bit larger addsTiffany. "The light fixture mounted on the mirror gives the room a lot of sparkle as well."
The ensuite bath is very spa-like with a roomy shower, frameless show door and a continuity strip of glass and stone tiles that start above the vanity and carry through to the shower wall and even above the shower head.
Now that the renovations are finished, Tiffany and Patrick couldn't be happier. "lt's so nice to come home to a home that feels like us."
The couple took the time to write a letter of appreciation to the Harwood team and closed with the following; "Our home is absolutely beautiful, and every time we look at it we think of all the hard work and caring that went into it We highly recommend Harwood, and we look forward to working with you again in the future."
The good feelings obviously went both ways with Wayne commenting, "This was a really fun project. They were great clients to work for!"
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