Tsawwassen West Coast Home gets a Face Lift...

Beauty is only skin deep. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty fell for the Beast. All three could be said for this 1979 west coast contemporary home. When I first toured the home it was only a day or so after they had taken possession, they had already ripped out the horrible carpets and removed any and all cabinetry. The home had been badly neglected and as with many demo's once you start it's hard to stop and can be quite therapeutic! I like the contractor fell in love with this house even in it's "Ugly" phase.
 My favourite part of  renovation design is determining which walls can come down. I love wide open spaces and many of my projects reflect this. The picture above is looking into the dining room and staircase from the living room. Once it was determined that the wall was not load bearing, down it came!

The wall to the left was also cut back to give the dining room a much grander feeling of space. The Dining room was not overly huge but I wanted to be able to view the magnificent great room from not only the Dining but the Kitchen as well. I chose beautiful maple hardwood in this space and the flow of the hallway through to the dining room turned out perfect.

Here is another angle of the dining room before

And After...

The light fixtures throughout the second level were Forecast Lighting and suited the contemporary architecture while also being warm having the wood accents.

The kitchen had very little work space for it's size and it also had an eating area adjacent to the dining room which is a design no-no in my book! I really wanted to salvage the wallpaper...totally kidding, and the door between the two mismatched windows was walled in. I also had them remove the wall between the dining room and the kitchen to really maximize the kitchen.

having two kitchen windows that were the same size was also a priority in this kitchen and you can see in the finished picture the fantastic light all the windows and patio doors let in.

The kitchen is one of my favourite rooms in this home. The challenge from the beginning was to provide ample workspace within a fairly narrow space.

The kitchen cabinets were solid maple from Merit kitchens and the stain is Carriage Black. It is more of a black brown and is a fantastic contrast to the warm Maple brown floors. The Thermador cook top is a beautiful appliance and the wall oven cabinet beneath actually extends about 2 inches to break up the large bank or cabinets.

The counter top is Caesarstone: Misty Carrera and is one of my absolute favourite colours. To add drama to the cabinet doors the hardware pulls were 9 inches long!

The right side wall originally was going to house the oven beside the fridge. I guess the electrician didn't get the memo and I didn't get my oven outlet! So instead the microwave and fridge ended up being paired together and the cabinets were staggered back to make the space feel wider. The Fisher&Paykel fridge was regular depth as opposed to counter depth due to the budget. But by staggering the cabinetry it worked out beautifully.

The mosaic back-splash was a total find from the Home Depot in the USA and I actually made two trips across the border hunting down all I could get my hands on to complete the look. The mosaic came in little 3x12 strips and I'm very thankful for my very patient tile setter and wonderful homeowner who had to painstakingly remove all the little plastic covers from the 1x1 stainless tile after it was grouted! I think I still owe her a manicure.

 The kitchen before looked out onto a rotten deck with a rickety awning...

Now it looks out to a fabulous backyard and a new deck with glass railings.

The Great room had "oodles" of potential but certainly wasn't great to start with.

This is the backside of the wall in the previous pictures looking into the dining room. once it was removed it was time for the Feature wall to get a proper Focal point!

You can see the outline on the wall where the original brick fireplace extended to. It actually made the ceiling feel low and the beam just seemed to protrude for no reason.

Once the floor to ceiling cultured stone was mortared into place the ceiling soared! The living room before had a ton of directional pot lights and above the sliding doors was an odd ledge that had no purpose at all.

By removing all but two pot lights, directed at the fabulous new fireplace, and adding 3 to the bulkhead over the sliding doors the lighting plan was far more dramatic.

The builder also had me stage the home once it was complete to give it's best chance on the market showcase.

The casing, crown and baseboard were also replaced throughout. it can be a challenge in a space that has so many angles and vaults so the Crown was used only in rooms that had level ceilings and in the hallway. The hallway before was somewhat dungeon-like.

The fresh crown,casing and baseboard made you want to explore down the hall to the other rooms rather than turn and run!

The bedrooms didn't require too much structural change, however the 70's rage bulkhead-for-no-reason were removed. The Master bedroom had a beautiful ocean view and the colour I chose was Benjamin Moore CC-606. The pale green brought the exterior colour in and the colour from the water in the bay.

Before:

After:

Before: Nasty Vanity complete with mirror and Make-up lighting (UGH)

After: Perfect nook for a long dresser.

Now let's head into the en suite...

The nasty "cave" that was the en suite was completely gutted in every sense of the word. I think there may have even been a critter nest removed from the ceiling above the shower, talk about "heebie-jeebies". I was only in that room to take a quick picture and would go back in for my measurements until after it had been completely  gutted.

This was one of the smallest en suites I've worked on and so to maximize the feel of the space I chose a mosaic tile floor that continued from the shower out to the rest of the floor so visually it seemed wider. The wall tile was a fabulous ceramic that looked like ledge-stone and the glass and metal mosaic accent tile was another great find from Home Depot.

 Rather than choosing a pedestal sink I found a modern beautiful vanity from Art Bathe that provided much needed storage. the mirror was custom made and the shower glass company, White Rock Glass. They did a beautiful job on both seamless showers in this home.

The second bedroom was a nice size and also took advantage of the front facing view. The original window did nothing to improve the view however!

After taking out the divider between the two windows and installing one large window the bedroom felt much bigger.

The main bathroom was another cave-like tunnel.

The door swung open into a wall and the tub area had a drop ceiling and was very narrow.

I replaced the door with a pocket door and had the wall on the right removed as it housed a linen closet on the hall side.

There was nothing above the tub area so by removing the whole area it expanded the bathroom by almost 34". This allowed a soaker tub and shower combination. For more pictures on this bathroom transformation you may wish to read on of my archived blog "Bringing a Bathroom Drawing to Life"

The home features 3 bedrooms on the second floor,main living level. The smaller bedroom was a very cute space that really appealed to me. It had a wonderful large window and tons of potential.

I decided to stgae this room as a little girls room as the other bedroom seemed more masculine wiht the strong chocolate accents. Ikea is so great for white furniture and I think it turned out great.

So now that you've seen the second floor transformation all that is left is the main level that includes a basement suite. For that please visit my previous blog, "1970's Beach Grove Home Get's a New lease on Life"

This beautiful home is still available and more info on this active listing or if you wish to attend the next open house this is the MLS#V795177

The location is wonderful, the setting picturesque, and is basically a new home inside and out.

Be sure to Stay tuned for more of my projects currently on the go, I don't get to blog near as often as I'd like but hope to have my latest New Home Design up and blogged by Christmas!!

~Emily

Emily Hagerman Design.

Have Your Cake and Eat it Too!

  Fall is in full force on the Lower Mainland. It's hard to believe Halloween is just around the corner. I have always loved this time of year, the comfy warm sweaters, my favourite shows back on schedule (except for True Blood but I'm willing to wait), and that awesome smell in the air of fallen leaves and wood burning chimneys. November brings many birthday's in my family including mine! Some people dread an impending birthday but I've embraced all 33 of mine!
   So I started thinking about cake today, okay I think about Cake every day, but I always get asked in advance what I would like and my family will usually try and find one that out does the last. However last year will be very hard to beat.
TV viewers have been inundated with Home Decor, Home DIY, Interior Design and Staging, and lately there have been some great shows focused on some extremely talented Bakers and Cake Designers. Cake Boss, Ace of cakes, Cake Boss, to name a few. In fact one of the blogs I enjoy following, Jenette's Projects is also doing some amazing cakes of her own.

My sister's very good friend and another gal have started their own cake company as well called Sweet Cakes. Be sure to check out their gallery of other fabulous cake designs by clicking on the link Sweet Cakes Custom Designs. These talented ladies made my birthday cake last year that will go down as my favourite of all time! This is my birthday cake from Last November. 

The inspiration, one of my favourite Coach bags! My husband managed to sneak a picture from his cell phone and from the grainy photo those amazing girls made me a Coach Purse Cake! This is the original bag...

and this is the cake...

People from all over the restaurant came to our table to have a look at it and couldn't believe the entire thing was edible, the pictures just didn't do it justice! And edible it was, in fact it was DELICIOUS!

Believe me it was hard to cut in and ruin such a piece of art!

This was such a fun Birthday evening with friends and family and fabulous cake so now my wheels are turning to come up with another bag from my Coach collection. Maybe this year my Python Lindsay will be the inspiration! ~ Emily

Wills Creek Showhome Captivates a Buyer...

We have had such an amazing Summer here in the South Surrey it's hard to see it end. But with a new season comes new adventures. Last Fall I had the oppotunity to re-design the showhomes for Wills Creek. If you missed my blog on the "A" Suite- click here. The second showhome was the "C" plan. What is so fantastic about these townhomes, aside from their awesome finishes, is their unique layout. Once the homes received my finishing touches the atmosphere in each was truly it's own. Feedback from the realtors was interesting, they knew even before clients had finished the tour of each which one they would most likely gravitate to depending on their age. Even our friends who had been through the showhomes, whether they knew I had re-designed them or not, were always partial to the "C" plan. This plan had a bit of a hip vibe to it. Even before I re-designed the space I envisioned this home being a little more modern and contemporary.

The problem was the original set up was such a mishmash of stuff that "cool" wasn't the word often used. Beginning with the Entry, this is a homes first chance to make a good impression. The large art canvas was beautiful but overpowering and out of place. By adding a sofa table, which was not only useful but also grounding, I then added a light to give drama to the new artwork.

The showhomes had a great deal of furniture that was already going to be used in the re-design, the artwork was all being sent back to the gallery and I chose new prints. I also added the ever important window coverings to break up the white walls. The den was an interesting task as the family room was adjacent to it, by adding pop's of pattern and colour the bland sectional begain to welcome you into the room.

The living room had beautiful furniture however the amount of arm chairs was not only confusing but also interrupted the flow to the patio doors. By completely re-arranging the seating configuration and removing two of the four large chairs the space felt open and made sense. The dining room was as large as the living room and had an enourmous, solid (heavy too I might add) birch wood table with 8 pinstripe chairs. The large canvas was again beautiful but this space just wasn't right for it. The long buffet needed more "oomph".  I searched for almost a week before I found this beautiful round mirror at Bowring. I could have gone larger but I was running out of time between getting these homes set and ready for the re-opening.

The table before seemed to float on the cherry floor.

An incredible rug from Chintz & Co. did the trick and tied the striped rug from the den in nicely.

The long low buffet was a beautiful built in feature and I chose huge Hurricane Lamps from Bombay to complete the vignette. If these baby's hadn't been the last ones I'd have them on my own buffet! The main level had a generous size powder that was in need of some serious accessorizing!

It's the simple touches that make the most impact in a bathroom.

The top floor landing had a perfect area for a den or office. The original office set up was dark, stark and BORING. I took the one large bookcase and gave it a new home in the downstairs den. The lifeless windows received custom vallances and the extra chairs from the living room were added. Did I mention I love clocks?! My favourite clock store is actually Target! Worth the wait in the border line up!

The master bedroom needed some life and colour injection, but the original silk drapes and custom duvet were utilized.

The lamps were changed out and cushions added.

The only thing the Ensuite mastered was being ugly.

So to create a Master Ensuite the teal blue from the Master Bedroom was injected with the towels and shimmering accents made the soaker tub more appealing.

The second level also included two good size bedrooms, in the first I changed the positioning of the bed and replaced the orange headboard with a new queen size bed. The plain white bedding was also removed.

The second bedroom just needed some interest and finishing. Can you believe the before picture was actually being shown to prospective buyers?

With the top two floors finished the focus then became the basement. At the bottom of the stairs was a large room that had ben left empty.

At first the simple solution was okay, a bedroom.

But then that put the house at FIVE bedrooms, not to mention this room didn't have a closet. After much discussion the marketing team decided to order a complete gym system and had it delivered. I added the full length mirrors and 'Viola', home gym.

The basement did have another bedroom but at least this one had a closet!

I just love these beds, you can find them at Lofty Living 

A generous size basement bath...really needed a little love. By re-using some of the many accesories from other areas of the home the bath when from "Blah" to "Spa".

Now if you remember from my blog about "A" plan, the basement there featured an amazing wine room. In this home the basement featured a fabulous Home Theatre. Well.. maybe not so fabulous at first unless you were Joey and Chandler!

Having to use what was there, I pushed the leather recliners together for a much better look.

Inject a little colour and some fun and this home theatre was a hit!  

Not to mention the fabulous bar area, complete with an added popcorn machine!

With the new look complete, the showhomes have been extremely well received. I received an email last week letting me know that both the showhomes had in fact been sold and that they were preparing to choose a new site for a new Showhome. Stay tuned, I'm meeting with the marketing team tomorrow to find out the details. Hopefully I'll have another blog for another day on these fabulous townhomes! ~ Emily