Before & After: A Victorian House Is Brought Back To Its Heritage Roots

home [Music] we are on the border between Leslieville and Riverside South our clients are Shane and Al we're a wonderful couple that are near and dear friends of ours funny stories they actually came to our housewarming when we bought our place about four years ago and sought after we had done our sort of phase one of our Renault and you know as a good host we went over to make sure everything was okay and they were actually like no no we're great we're actually admiring your place and we really want you to design ours so it was very humbling and exciting also to have someone who wanted more or less my style but with their personality and some of their own touches to it entertaining was probably the biggest wishlist directive I would say I was all about how can we increase the flow for parties typical Victorian home it had an entrance vestibule with a separate door system from the hallway to sort of block in any drafts in the cold weather months it was closed off and not connected to the rest of the home so we removed that wall entirely but replaced it with a glass and black metal double door system to still let the light through expand the space visually but also retain the function of protecting the interior from the drafts in the cold winter months and from there I found this beautiful floor tile from Allison Rose and it has green marble Calcutta Viola with its beautiful burgundy purple veining and a bit of black and some Calcutta gold through it as well so it has a beautiful mixture of different palettes and colors that really then became the jumping off place for the rest of the home so the front living room was relatively unchanged in size we did open up a couple of the doorways from the hallway into the living room as well as the doorway between the living and the dining space the one between the living and dining room actually had like old virgin and Colonial columns like it was it was a hodgepodge of architectural style shall we say so it was bringing it back to the original Victorian era and feel of the home a lot of the moldings throughout had been replaced or stripped back over the years so all the moldings in the space although they feel original and authentic they're actually all new and put back during the renovation so in that front living room we didn't change a lot the size more or less was the same but the dining room we did do extensive renovation to opening up that space we open up the wall between the dining room and the hallway to allow for an increased flow especially during those larger holiday meals or cocktail parties boots still wanted to retain the character of a Victorian era home by having actual walls and structure we didn't want it to feel like a blown out open all one big contemporary space so we still retained the header above cased it out in the term work to still have a doorway feel so there is some definition between the dining room and the hallway but there's a lot of openness in terms of floor space so you can easily pack a bunch of people in there or extend the table if need be in this home there are a lot of Radiators as well throughout the space that are necessary for heat but not necessarily the most attractive to always look at so we did a lot of built-ins in the living dining to conceal the radiators in an integrated storage above that so that there's additional storage in the dining room there's a built-in that actually houses all the glassware that's within Arm's Reach at the cocktail bar the cocktail bar Under the Stairs used to actually be the entrance to the basement when the clients purchased the home the basement was converted to a rental apartment so there is no need to access the basement from the main floor so we closed off the entrance to the basement put in built-in storage under the stairs for shoes mitts and gloves and then we built in a cocktail bar complete with a beverage fridge and alcohol cabinet one of their other wish lists or directives for the project was to have some South Asian influences throughout the space so if you're zooming closely the elephants are different characters from Sanskrit epics and sort of have a Bollywood influence as well which was really near and dear to the clients there were a lot of really awkward obstacles and ceiling Heights in the kitchen so solution to that was built-in Cabinetry to sort of Disguise some of the ins and outs of the wall there were a lot of jogs you know plus minus a couple inches as well as enveloping that entire space in a dark Moody neutral green really just draws your eye away from any of those obstacles or eyesore shall we call them and down to the lighter brighter surfaces being the arabiscato marble porcelain countertops and the white oak hair and bone floors I have a real passion for English inspired framed kitchens as well as built-in concealed everything so I'm not a fan of seeing fridges or dishwashers I like to hide bar fridges Al one of our wonderful clients manages a group of restaurants so it was really important to him to have a space in his own home where he can sort of recreate his love of food for his guests and friends and family being a galley kitchen you know it's quite narrow and you have sort of two runs of Cabinetry to work with but you're constantly Crossing back and forth and in this case we have a main walkway or through fair to the backyard through the kitchen so it created a lot of congestion or what I like to call Kitchen accidents where you run into each other or you bump into someone walking by you so we put all of the Necessities for a chef like Al along the one wall so that he can really move laterally rather than back and forth across the kitchen so it increases his workflow and function and also minimizes any of those bumps or accidents that can happen The Powder Room Before was a three-piece bathroom it had a clawfoot tub as well as a pedestal sink and a toilet all in a space of about five feet by five feet so the size of most people's powder rooms we had almost a full bathroom not necessary on the main floor so first thing we did was remove the tub and convert it to a proper powdered room with two peas we did a floating lilac marble vanity that's reminiscent of the jacaranda tree with its beautiful dark veining and soft lilac Hues into the stone and did a Nero marquino tumbled marble that has this sort of reminiscent history there where it feels like it's something that could have been in the house long before as well as the wallpaper in there again bringing through the South Asian influences with this beautiful dramatic peacock wallpaper that symbolizes the national bird of India on the second floor we have an office that was previously actually a four-piece bathroom and the office space was what is currently now the spa bathroom so we did a bit of a flip there where we brought the office to the back of the house where there's more natural light has the Terrace air client chain often will have Zoo meetings or in-person client meetings so we wanted to give him a space that could double for both so he has a beautiful Zoom background behind him with the deep dark blue walls as well as the outdoor space and a couple of chairs for visitors if he does have meetings in person in the office the bar I mean what office is complete without a bar and again back to my love of built-in Millwork to hide and organize everything in your life we have again another Radiator in this beautiful old home we did a full built-in floor-to-ceiling to not only conceal the radiator but also give us a bit of storage for a concealed cocktail bar and coffee bar so at the end of the day whatever your Bevy is of choice there's something in there for you the spa bathroom the clients wanted to have the steam shower and a separate freestanding tub so we took over actually the closet that belongs to the room that we're sitting in here which is the TV Lounge and added that space to the spa bathroom to allow us to have that freestanding tub in the middle unlike the rest of the house the color palette in there is a lot more soothing and calm we went for a beautiful sort of taupey gray Hue from Farrow and ball called worsted which gives just a soft Serene feel to that space and then we amped it up with a bit of color the beautiful lady portrait hanging above the tub was actually in the client's dining room when we first Saw the space and as soon as I thought I knew that that piece was meant to be in the spa bath sort of front and center over the tub and it was the lady of the house shall we say we're sitting here in the TV Lounge this room didn't change a lot in terms of size of the space but the orientation changed quite a bit previously the sofa was in front of the window the room is more rectangular and long and narrow so the sofa being in the middle of the long wall felt very tight and sort of cramped in here so we went with the shape of the room and went without elongating feeling of putting the TV on the shorter wall and the couch opposite it with this beautiful palace mural behind me reminiscent of again in Indian Palace to bring in the South Asian influences I'm not opposed to white or light spaces but I definitely am someone who appreciates and yearns for drama and boldness so you know whether that be through a black and white space that's very high in contrast or a space that's very sophisticated with its use of colors I love jewel tones and those deep saturated Hues of the aubergine and the studio green color that we used in the kitchen but it was just so lovely to have clients that were very trusting of the vision and at the end are Beyond excited and ecstatic to show off their home and it had multiple parties since we completed the Renault [Music] foreign

Channel: House & Home

Views: 98,598

Keywords: House & Home, House, Home, Decor, Decorating, Decorated, Design, Designer, Decorate, Decorator, Interiors, Interior Design, Interior, House Tour, Home Tour, Homes, Architect, Architecture, Style, Styling, Stylist, Inspo, Inspiration, Tips, Advice, Expert, Ideas, Best, Beautiful, decorating with color, victorian house, historical home, design with color, heritage house, kitchen Reno, kitchen design, coloured cabinets, custom cabinetry, jack creasy design

Id: x3z1BE8ZQXI

Length: 9min 35sec (575 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 22 2023