Every renovation starts with a vision. After replacing all of the dated oak cabinets the key inspiration for this project was the stunning and visual photography by our client. For their home in Strathcona, we helped them create a visual foundation that turned their living spaces into an in-home contemporary gallery.
LIGHT, BRIGHT, AND TRULY NEUTRAL
The areas of the home that we focused on were the kitchen, dining room, and the living room. Overall our biggest challenge was finding the right wall colour to use. We knew that if we went too dark, it might shroud rooms too much where artwork was not present. If we choose something with too much colour or undertones, it might take the focus away from the artwork itself.
Our starting point was a grey pallet. Not all greys are created equal. Based on both the natural and in-home lighting, some of the swatches ended up looking slightly blue when we tested the colour on various walls. We tried ten different greys before landing on the best one for our purposes.
LAYOUT VERSUS FINISHINGS AND MATERIALS
For this project, the kitchen was a good starting point. The key focal points here were the cabinet colours and the countertop finishes.
We had a lot of available sunlight from the windows. We did add some additional lighting to lighten up the space and even out the shadowing in the room.
Our kitchen featured a three seat bar where visiting and discussion could happen while food prep or any culinary delight was being created! To bring focus to this important area, we slightly darkened the island cabinets with a complementary grey and chose some beautiful medium grey bar stools that offered smooth lines that perfectly contrast the ridged lines of the kitchen cabinets.
For the rest of the cabinets we decided to use a much lighter colour so that the stainless steel appliances could showcase their lustre.
THE FOCUS OF THE DINING ROOM IS THE COMPANY AROUND THE TABLE
Open to the kitchen was the dining room that was well separated from the rest of the home. This room offered very similar natural light to the kitchen but required a little more privacy for those more intimate dinner conversations. For this reason, we selected a single lighting fixture above the dining room table.
The grey that we selected for the kitchen island was also featured in this room to bring more focus to the built-in buffet in the dinner room. So that we didn’t darken the room too much, we added some lighting to the cabinets to ensure that the main counter was well lit, as well as the overhead glass cabinets to help visually raise the ceiling just little.
Melissa is the principal designer and founder of Inspired Interiors in Calgary, AB. Melissa brings over 8 years of experience in residential interior design working alongside architects, contractors and other trades to coordinate and bring her clients designs to life. Specializing in custom millwork & residential design along with a keen attention to detail, Melissa ensures a smooth process from design development to completion.
ADDITIONAL HOME FEATURES AND UPDATES
A REDESIGNED FIREPLACE
Their strathcona home originally had an old brick fireplace that we replaced with a new gas insert and new fireplace ledgestone. We added a minimalistic gas fireplace with a feature wall adorned in a stone pattern to bring a sense of home to the sunken living room area.
ENTRANCE AND FEATURE STAIRCASE
The entrance was updated with some new closet doors and updated stairway colour and materials. We carried the flooring throughout the home to keep the place bright with some nice open wall space to feature our client’s photography.
DETAILS AND OTHER FINISHINGS
To complete the project, we added window coverings, some new furnishings, a new backsplash in the kitchen as a part of the Kitchen renovation, and made sure to keep our colour palette consistent.
PERSPECTIVE IN DESIGN
This was a very unique renovation project because the home furnishings and finishing materials were not the focus. Rather, our clients were really interested in featuring their photography and artwork in the home instead. Where some homes feature a particular appliance, feature wall, or even a furnishing centerpiece, we wanted to make sure that while these aspects of the home existed and had their place, that each piece of art on display was provided the opportunity to speak it’s own presence in our newly renovated contemporary gallery style home.