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.
EVERY BASEMENT RENOVATION IS DIFFERENT
Sometimes our clients look for particular design details, while others are particular about the details. In this project, our client wanted to handle the general contracting, and work with Elle Cherie to create the design details.
After discussing the design needs and wants with our customer, our goal was to create a wet-bar, wine room, guest room, office, gym, bathroom and living room area with a fireplace. The aesthetic they wanted was a modern minimalist design that felt light and bright.
“Planning, layout, materials and design were all equally important – the key aspect was design; Melissa and Elle Cherie provided creative, professional ideas and options that we were able to review and revise, with a view to aesthetics and function for our new space.”
PLANNING IS EVERYTHING
Although our clients put equal value to the planning, materials, and aesthetic design to their basement, we felt that we needed to ensure that we had all of our t’s crossed and i’s dotted before moving into purchasing or construction aspects of the project. It certainly paid off leaving less headaches for our customer as the project moved forward.
First, we measured up the existing space that helped us create two new floor plans to consider based on design meetings.
They ended up choosing the first option out of the two plans because it had a larger bar/wine room and did not require as much structural work. In this case, we designed around existing plumbing and mechanical locations. We added a few slight modifications from this design by making the bathroom a little smaller, the guest bedroom a touch bigger with some french glass doors while creating a bit more storage into the wet-bar area. We made sure that the design included all of the key features that they wanted.
SELECTING MATERIALS AND FINISHINGS
Selecting finishings isn’t always an easy task. Sometimes customers can have a whole different perspective than us as designers. In anticipation of this, we made sure to present a few options to give us a good head start on which direction to take.
Neither of my clients liked a lot of clutter so that was easy to keep in mind for this design but when it came to finding the right materials for the space we had to figure out a way to bring two design styles together. In this case the way that we achieved this was by providing light and dark cabinet accents, a medium grey fireplace tile that had lots of character, but the size was large so it felt more contemporary, and we opted for a lighter wall colour to ensure everything felt light and bright.
The flooring that was chosen was a luxury vinyl plank in a lighter brown colour with some rustic accents that added a warmer feeling to the space. basically it was all about balancing dark masculine materials with softer more feminine ones to satisfy both style preferences by the clients and it all came together in a very cohesive way.
...AND ON TO CONSTRUCTION
Even though our clients wanted to handle the general contracting and trades management of their renovation, we helped with getting some initial quotes and providing guidance into items that could be scaled back if there were budget constraints.
In the end, the only major compromises that were made after the trades and contractors were selected, was the flooring material and the cabinet supplier. Understanding how construction ties in to the overall plan is important so that we can achieve the overall design goals that we all envisioned.
“Acting as my own general contractor, my biggest challenge was material selection and availability. Melissa’s recommendations for suppliers and installers were invaluable in assuring me of her vetted sources providing great quality and service.”
AS THE PLANNING, CONSTRUCTION, AND DESIGN CAME TOGETHER
THE CABINETS
The cabinets were a flat panel door painted in the recommended colours with a matte finish. This was done to keep a clean contemporary feel.
THE COUNTERTOPS
The counters were a dark charcoal engineered quartz for durability. We kept the counters dark in case wine was ever spilt on them.
THE FIXTURES
The plumbing and lighting selected were a chrome finish accented with matte black touches for a lighter modern feel.
THE WINE RACKS
The wine racks were ordered from a company called Vintage View who specializes in supplying metal display wine racks that can be mounted to the wall or made to stand off the wall on floor to ceiling racks. We selected a floor to ceiling style. We ensured that we designed the bar with a window looking into the wine room so that our clients and their guests can see the display racks from the bar. Since this was a key feature, we wanted to make sure that this element remained a prominent aspect of the bar and basement development.
OUR RESULTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES, AND OUR CUSTOMERS ARE HAPPY!
“Thorough planning and execution requires professional guidance. I would not hesitate to use Melissa and Elle Cherie for my future projects. I also have great confidence in referring my clients to Melissa and Elle Cherie.”