a well lived life...

Ambleside Room by Room

I have a great client in West Vancouver with a beautiful sunny Ambleside home that I have been working with for the past couple of years. Recently, we completed bedrooms for her two teenage daughters.

This first room is soft and pretty - inspired by dreams of Paris, shopping at Tiffanys and everything that glitters. The wallpaper is warm white with silvery grey and pale aqua large scale damask. I custom designed the headboard and had it upholstered in a shimmery silver velvet. The buttons are clustered rhinestones - I thought these would be easy to find in Vancouver, but ended up having to get them shipped up from California! I love the ultra feminine touches - cushions, crystals and mirrored furniture pieces.

This room couldn't be more different! I had the headboard upholstered in this fabulous stretch vinyl from Casamance. Although it is difficult to tell in this photo, the fabric appears to be black gloss until it is pulled and tufted only to reveal an intense dark teal like the sequined cushions on the bed. It has so much attitude - modern and retro at the same time. The bedding is white and black, with hits of shine in the sequins, the smoked mirror over the bed and the gloss off the headboard.

Transformation on Alberni

This is really one of those times where I am just kicking myself for not having the "before" shots! This renovation was done on a two bedroom condo just off Robson Street. The client is a young couple that decided to move downtown into a smaller space to have a more urban lifestyle. They are just in the process of moving in so there is more work to be done - but here are the first pictures of the kitchen and bathroom!

The kitchen used to be a typical galley kitchen with a pass through to a dining room next to the windows. When you first walked in, directly in front of you was a wall. As you can see, this suite is quite high up and has a city view. By removing the wall and reconfiguring the kitchen, not only does the client get a beautiful large cooking space, but they now also have a bright, sunlit home where they are reminded as soon as they walk in the door that they are no longer in the suburbs!

The island is large enough to seat 6 people and easily takes the place of the dining room which was too narrow and awkward to seat a large group.

The cabinets in this kitchen have been custom built and painted in a warm light grey and a dark dramatic charcoal. The counters are the reverse. The hood fan cover was custom built over a motor to provide more of a furniture look. The backsplash is back painted glass.

These are a couple of pictures of the bathroom - keeping with the warm greys I used a dark porcelain floor, light walls and accents of glass bars and mosiacs.

Dream Bathroom

This master bathroom is in a heritage style farm house on an acreage outside of Vancouver complete with beautiful young couple, cute little boy, two great dogs and a horse! If that doesn't make you envious, perhaps the fact that the bathroom is 400 square feet will. What you don't see in these photos is the dedicated space for the home gym, the two walk in closets and the french doors opening onto the second floor veranda which wraps the house.

All the millwork is custom designed for the bathroom with a painted and glazed finish. The vanity floats in the center of the bathroom separated from the free standing tub by a floor to ceiling dividing wall.

The claw foot tub is centered on a tiled mat of natural stone. The fireplace is two sided between the bathroom and the master bedroom.

The tile selection was really important in this bathroom as the water source is a well and I could not use anything too light in colour. We chose a porcelain tile for the main floor in a noce colour and accented it with calcutta, and glass tiles, and mixed natural stone mosiacs.

These are a couple of pictures from my contractor's home. Room by room, when time allows, I have been helping him and his wife renovate a house they purchased last year. We started with his home office then moved on to the mud room and main floor bathroom. Currently, we are working on his (almost) 2 year old daughter's room and the kid's bathroom. Alexa's room is going to be very cool - stay tuned for pictures! In the meantime, here are a few shots of the completed rooms....

Dunbar Home - Master Bathroom

Here are a few quick pictures... The construction is done in this room - only three more bathrooms to go at this home. Only thing left here are some towels, a few accessories and some art for the walls. The objective here was to create a bathroom with cleaner more contemporary lines but blend it into a more traditional craftsman home.

Details - the tub deck is 1x2 glass from Stone Tile in a warm gray. The floor is an 18 x 18 porcelain from Tierra Sol set on a 45 degree angle in silver with a charcoal border of the same tile. The shower floor is really cool - it is also from Stone Tile - unglazed porcelain. For the shower walls the floor tile has been brought to the ceiling with a waterfall of gray and taupe glass cascading down to the floor.

In Progress....

It has been such a busy summer! I have recently completed six different projects in homes across the lower mainland. I just need to find the time to photograph them! Here are a couple of shots of a Dunbar home still under renovation - I have created a mud room/laundry room out of lower level bedroom. I have re-created a master bathroom with more contemporary materials used in a traditonal style and I am still working on three other bathrooms in this home.

Recent Project - Southlands Updated

I finally made it back to take a few more pictures of the Southlands home I completed construction on last year. Furniture has been added, and the family has had time to move back in, digest the changes and start looking forward to a few more finishing touches. Still coming will be drapery, small tables, a large mirror for the entry and a few more accessories. The furniture is a combination of antiques refinished and upholstered and newly collected pieces.

These chairs were custom designed - the seat and back are a large scale modern monochrome floral and the frame is a silvery gold vinyl.

The coffee table was a great find - we needed something large to bring the room together and this mirrored metal piece from Liberty was perfect!

Love the dining room light fixture - black solid shade lined with light gold metal. The table belonged to the client and was refinished along with the chairs which were also reupholstered. I selected a black and white contemporary fabric to tie in with the living room chairs.

The following pictures are of the kitchen. This was fun - the backsplash is a combination of stainless steel and light olive glass elongated subway tile, the counter is Calacutta Gold Marble, the cabinets have a painted finish in cloud white, the floor is limestone which is carried through out the entry, hallway and bathroom as well.

This lower counter surface does double duty - it can be used for baking when needed, but I designed it to be a computer desk on a daily basis. The rollout file drawer is a seperate piece, and the desk was designed like a harvest table and can be moved as well if needed.

Custom doors were created for the entry - they allow light and greenery from the front courtyard to be seen through to the kitchen. The light fixture is blown Murano glass and casts a beautiful patterned shadow across the ceiling in the evening.

The main bathroom was reconfigured to allow for a little more space. The niche where the new vanity and tower are located used to be a closet in the homeowner's son's room. Claiming this space for the bathroom makes it easier for two people to be in there at the same time. The tub was removed and a frameless glass shower put in its place. The limestone from the floor was cut to a small subway for the shower floor and large sheets were used for the walls. The toilet is wall mounted with the tank concealed in the wall - this achieved by framing out the wall a couple of extra inches.

The master bedroom is now a relaxing quiet space thanks to the serene colour scheme. The headboard was custom designed - upholstered in a blue/gray silk dupioni which was then slip covered in a luxurious charcoal light weight wool. This allows the homeowner to have two different looks.

Recent Project - Pied a terre

This is a garden suite in Kitsilano north of 4th. One of three suites in a triplex by Living Ventures. It is just under 600 square feet with ample storage, a great size kitchen, and a murphy bed. Despite its sub grade location, this suite gets tons of light. The warm colours and bold furniture make the space live large.

Recent Project - Triplex on Vancouver Westside

I have been working with Living Ventures on this project since the purchase of the land last year. Starting with the builder and the initial architectural drawings I completed design and specifications for three individual homes. The following pictures are of the South Unit which I also partially staged last week before it goes on the market on Monday.

This is the kitchen - huge kitchen! All the millwork is custom designed for the space, the counters are caesarstone, extra large single sink, 36" wide range, hidden hood fan, etc...