Urban Living - New York Inspiration!

Neighborhoods in the urban core areas have always been desirable for those who love the accessibility of great food, culture, and the convenience of being able to walk to the grocery store or their favourite coffee shop. Some people, however question the community of these urban neighborhoods and worry that living downtown can be just a party scene.


Coming from someone who lives in the suburbs, but has been spending a lot of time in downtown Calgary lately around places such as 17th Ave and Mission, I would say that if anything there is more community. Whenever we are down in these areas for work, Shannon runs into a friend of hers, and it's great to see!


Furthermore, for our next build that is right in the downtown area, we are going with an urban feel, but something that works well for a close knit community. We are going to combine residential and commercial into one. (Residential on top, and commercial below.) Our goal is for these homes to work well for families, couples, single people, and people of all ages. For the commercial units we are aiming for a great spot for everyone in the community to go to and hang out.

In order to achieve this desired look and feel, we thought what better way than to get inspired by one of the most urban places; New York! 

Shannon recently went on a trip to New York and loved the brownstone look of so many of the buildings, combined with classic, but clean details. So with that in mind we started doing some brainstorming on looks that would work for this neighborhood and style. And who knows, maybe we'll both have to make a trip to New York for some inspiration? Hmm....

This brownstone style detailed with black iron railings and windows is really the look we are going for!

This is the front of Julianne Moore's home in New York! The red door is subtle but a nice touch of color on the brick

For the interior of the units we would love to do an interior brick feature wall. Very New York loft style! The red brick gives a very different look than the lighter look which really brightens up the space, but both gorgeous and eye catching,

Simple Solution

It's amazing what a coat of paint can do, and we put that to the test recently with these patio chairs! We are staging a clients home, and we all know that with staging, finding an inexpensive way to make a space look great is very important. Our client had these adirondack chairs which were a little beat up and worn from the weather. His patio needed a little sprucing up, so with a coat of some red semi gloss paint and an exterior toss pillow we made the patio look bright and fresh for the remainder of summer!

"Green" Project - Update

The renovation is getting close to being complete. The new shower tile, tub, and shower head has been installed, with the bathroom now being complete! The tile is a simple cream subway tile, detailed with a green glass mosaic. The green is close in color to the feature wall done in American Clay which we wrote about earlier.

New cork flooring is in throughout the remainder of the condo. We are just waiting on the new concrete countertops to be installed so the kitchen backsplash can go in, which will be the same as the tile used in the shower. This will create flow throughout the entire home. After this is complete we can begin the furnishing portion of our staging/renovation.

"Green" Project - American Clay

Earlier we wrote about some eco friendly finds that we discovered at a great little store in Inglewood, Riva's Eco Store. This inspired us to create a "green" home for a renovation we had just begun. New flooring, countertops, backsplash, and paint are going into the condo renovation. We made it our goal to make all of our finishes eco friendly.

As you enter the condo, a plastered feature wall was already there. Instead of trying to strip this wall and paint over it, we thought we would use American Clay, a natural earth plaster that is non toxic and uses natural dyes in their product. In our previous entry about these finds we also mentioned that American Clay actually takes toxins out of the air, making your home that much more fresh.

It was a product we had never worked with before, and wanted to give it a try ourselves to see if it is something we would use again. It was definitely a new experience, and once at the job site, we realized it wasn't as simple as we expected.

A sanded primer is required. Which is basically a "green" primer, also from Riva's Eco store, mixed with a sand. This allows for the plaster to have something to hang onto once applied to the wall. Next we had to mix the first coat, "Loma" to apply once the primer was dry. In order to mix the clay itself a drill with a long attachment to stir it was required. We weren't sure at first we would need that, and while at Home Depot we were just going to get a large stick to stir it, but these men overheard us and strongly recommended we rent a drill to do this. Good thing too! It saved us a lot of time. So once that was mixed we let it set for about half an hour and began to apply it with a trowel. The application itself wasn't difficult, just messy so it is a good idea to lay a drop cloth on the floor underneath the wall you are applying this too.

We let the first coat set over night, and the next day mixed the "Porcelina" coat, which requires the tint. Two coats of the Porcelina are required, then smoothing with a spray bottle of water and a trowel once dry to seal the American Clay.

Loma Coat Mixed 

Beginning of application on top of sanded primer

First coat complete

2nd coat complete

(Photos of the complete renovation to come!)

Duplex - Marda Loop is complete!

After months of design plans, development permits, decor choices and working with a great team, our first duplex is now complete and on the market! A very open concept floor plan was used, designed with clean, but classic elements.

An exterior shot of the finished duplex. The clean lined grays and blacks followed by the warm cedar soffets, doors, and balconies, give the exterior a very mid century modern feel.

Above are a few shots of the kitchen at different angles. Classic white cabinetry was chosen with a shaker style door to keep with the clean lines. Industrial elements such as the light fixtures and the black hood fan were also used for an interesting twist. 

After this side was complete, we were told it is important to stage the space to show every day homeowners how to functionally use and decorate an open concept home. We had less than a week to do it before the open house. After long days, hard work, and lots of help, we managed to get it done on time!

They always say the kitchen is the heart of the home, and in this case it is very true. The functionality of the kitchen and the flow of it into the rest of the home is great! It is also where the design inspiration for this project came from. It is very important that when designing a kitchen, or even a whole home that countertops are chosen first. This is where you can pull colors out of for paint, decor, and almost everything. This large slab of gray and white granite was the start of the remainder of our design choices. 

Above is the built in desk area, located just off of the kitchen. Perfect area for laptops, charging your phone, or for kids to do homework! 

The two pictures above show the living and dining room area, which are open to each other and to the kitchen. At the back of the living room, french doors open out to a large south facing patio allowing for plenty of sun. 

When staging these areas, we kept to clean lines, but wanted to keep it warm and inviting. 

Main floor office has a built in desk area with upper shelves and storage. This saves the homeowner time trying to find a desk that will fit, while leaving space for a seating area, extra storage, or whatever the homeowner requires of the space.

Above are photos of the master bedroom and bathroom. The master bedroom has the area for the bed, as well as around the corner a den area with a wet bar. We staged this room with neutral colors and hits of warm to tie in with the pendant above the bed. 

The master bathroom has the same granite as the kitchen island, and the same marble subway in the shower and around the tub. A smaller version of the pendant from the master bedroom is used to flow the rooms together & crystal hardware is used on the cabinetry to make this room that much more special.

Main bathroom upstairs was kept simple, with plenty of storage. Instead of your regular size subway tiles, we used longer ones to mimic the shape of the window.

"The kids rooms," or how we staged them to be are the extra two bedrooms upstairs. We staged the home for a family, making one room a boys room and one a girls room

Kitchen Update - Duplex

The duplex in Marda Loop is just about done, and now all of the final touches and finishes are going in. The backsplash in the kitchen has been completed and cabinet doors are on. Today we chose hardware for the cabinet doors for around the home. Pictures and updates to come soon!

Eco Friendly Finds

The other day, while sourcing items for a client, we came across some really great eco-friendly products at "Riva's Eco Store" down in Inglewood. Everything in this store is environmentally friendly, and seems to take "green" products to a whole new level.

One of the products that really interested us, was American Clay. It is a natural earth plaster for your wall, that comes in different colors and textures. It is non toxic, and uses natural dyes, but the coolest thing about this product is it's ability to actually take toxins out of the air. American Clay also has humidity regulation so it is great for a bathroom because your mirror will not fog up!

While some of American Clay's textures and colors give a very southern feel you can still have a clean contemporary look with it.

(photos from American Clay's website)

While talking to the staff at Riva's they also told us about a new product they are trying out...hemp walls!  They were just in the process of testing the product themselves and from what we understood it would be a substitute for drywall. I came across a website called Hemp Crete which better shows what the product is.

Riva's also carries eco-friendly countertops. A product called Ice Stone is available, which is made from 100% recycled glass and concrete. Another counter top they carry is called Alkemi which is made from recycled aluminum flake, scrap waste, and recycled acrylic. The alkemi countertops is definitely a unique look but gorgeous nonetheless! These are only two of the many countertops that are found at Riva's. Check out the pictures below! 

Ice Stone

Alkemi

Riva's Eco Store is definitely worth checking out! They have pretty much everything you would need to make an eco-friendly home and so much more! This gave us some inspiration for our next project. We have a staging coming up that needs some new flooring and updates around the space, so why not use environmentally friendly products!

Pictures & updates to come!

Granite is in!

Check out this gorgeous slab of granite that just went in at the duplex! This island is about 8 and a half feet by 4 feet, and is just stunning when you walk into the kitchen! On the other side is a white apron front sink. We pulled colors from this granite for other colors around the home, including the pendants above the island, which also bring that industrial feel. 

Shower Tile

The master shower tile is in at the duplex! Marble subway tile all throughout with strips of a dark gray stone. So gorgeous! Eventually the bench will be a slab of granite also! Can't wait until it's all done.

Staging Project

In the midst of building and designing a duplex, we took on a staging project as well. It's amazing how a coat of paint and some different furniture and accessories can make the world of a difference. However, it's important to remember when it comes to staging that neutral colors are the best choice for paint. Also, consider your target market and ask yourself who would be buying that house, depending on location etc.  Then you can dress the room with color brought in with accessories and artwork!

The master  bedroom was a fun one! We wanted to keep it simple and adult, but with staging finding inexpensive alternatives is very important. Here we upholstered our own headboard with some contemporary fabric just from fabric land, and a staple gun. Overall we stuck with neutral colors, bringing in color with toss pillows and artwork. 

Before we got started on the staging, the master bathroom had carpet. In a 25 year old house, with carpet in the en-suite we knew that for selling purposes that had to be replaced. We replaced the carpet with a neutral tile and framed it with simple glass mosaics. 

"The Girls Bedroom." In this house, we expected the target market to be a family. Therefore we made the home family oriented, with this being a girls room. We kept the walls neutral of course, and brought in color with everything else. While it is girly, it isn't a typical pink girls room. The colors were pulled from the floral pattern in the artwork and the draperies. The colors were kept light and fresh for spring, and suitable for a girl without being over the top. 

"The Boys Bedroom."  With this room we went a little darker in the woods, and dressed the room with dark blues and reds making it suitable for a boy. Some lighter blues were used sparingly to keep the room light and fresh for spring. We also created the illusion that the window was larger, by layering the draperies across the entire wall.  Again, working on a budget with staging means sewing a lot of the toss pillows, and draperies! 

The kitchen probably had the biggest change in this house. Before the staging the cabinets were a dark mahogany stain, leaving this kitchen feeling dark and cold with the other dark finishes in the space. We had the cabinets painted white to brighten it up, and bring that classic but clean look. Amazing what a coat of paint can do!

In the dining room, we found a fabulous orange mirror. (Too bad we don't have a better pic of the mirror) But we took the inspiration and color for the room from that mirror. We grounded the room with dark parson style dining chairs and layered a bright patterned table cloth over a dark chocolate. 

Paint made the world of a difference in this room as well. Previously, the walls were a forest green with a fuschia feature wall where the fireplace was. Using a neutral, but light color really opened up the room. 

In the front room of the house we went for a very eclectic feel. We used some pieces that the owners already had, found some great deals for some other pieces, and accessorized the room with a variety of tosses and interesting pieces we found!