With a rich palette of amber, burnt sienna, ochre, umber and aged bronze, Debbie Mineault has created a dramatic mood in her Fairfield home, and a heightened sense of volume.
Together with her husband, Willie, they have spent the better part of the past two decades renovating their once pedestrian-looking house, into something much more interesting, exciting 鈥� and colourful.
鈥淚 prefer warm colour tones over cool ones,鈥� said Debbie. 鈥淥f course, it depends on the furniture and style, but to me, white walls don鈥檛 look right.
鈥淲e moved in 20 years ago and it was very much a cookie-cutter house, with white tile, cream carpets, shiny white cupboards and pink counters. It was very blah,鈥� Debbie said.
They lived there for a few years to get to know the space, before starting to develop a plan and then launched into remodelling virtually every space.
鈥淲e would take one room at a time and do it, and then we did another and another. We did that all though the house.鈥�
First, they turned the former garage into a large bedroom for their son, 鈥渁nd then our daughter snagged it when he left,鈥� and now it has morphed again, this time into a man cave media room, with black lounge chairs, hardwood floors and a fireplace.
Behind the row of loungers is a high table with stools, for eating.
A wall of built-in cabinets once used as hanging closets, now hold files and business papers as the two are semi-retired, but still have a couple of businesses
After leaving her job at a bank in 1980, Debbie started working for Stockley Home Appliances, which her parents started in the 1960s. Her husband, after retiring from 25 years in the RCMP also worked in the family business for 15 years, They sold it and now run a laundry business, and she has a small interior design business on the side that she does with her girlfriend, Jill.
The kitchen is the glowing heart of this home with extensive cabinetry and tile work.
This is where they do a lot of entertaining because it鈥檚 where everyone gravitates, thanks to the cosy, warm atmosphere.
鈥淐hris Marshall from CJ Building was general contractor and all the amazing kitchen cabinets were by Griffin Design,鈥� she said, adding they were a great creative team.
The inside door to the garage, used to be down the hall and round a corner from the front entry, but the owners decided to move it. They cut a new double glass entryway by the front door instead and those French doors match the glass in the front door.
These new glass entries on two walls completely open up the whole space, making it appear brighter and more elegant.
The owners expanded the front hall even more by taking out a small wall at the left, and eliminating a little-used kitchen nook and television alcove.
By removing this lounging area they extended the kitchen and made it possible to add a seven-metre expanse of counter ending in a breakfast bar.
The multi-coloured tile used throughout the front entry, hall and kitchen features a variety of earth-tone colours ranging from golden caramel to deep chocolate.
鈥淚 saw a piece of it and liked it very much, but when it was delivered, my contractor opened a package and was really worries,鈥� recalled Debbie with a chuckle. 鈥淗e called me to say it was pretty orange so I rushed home. Every tile is different, but it definitely has lots of brown tones, and I love it. 鈥�
She and Willie replaced the cream carpet with hardwood everywhere else on the main floor and painted all the walls a taupey green or deep butterscotch.
The extensive kitchen facelift cost about $60,000, not counting the high-end appliances, and costs rose because they had to jackhammer the floor to bring water service to the bar 鈥� and many other details.
The kitchen also has a new island at the front door end, with a glowing, free flowing Elkay sink that looks like more like a serving bowl than a sink. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so attractive, we put ice in it and appetizers for parties.鈥�
鈥淏efore we took down the wall and changed the layout, the kitchen was quite small because the counter ended with a peninsula in the middle of the room,鈥� she said.
Now, it is roomy enough for two wall ovens, a warming oven, a steam oven, a coffee station, wine cooler and the semi-circular bar, which has curved doors below that swing open to reveal huge storage capacity.
The rich brown cabinets glow like cognac and are solid wood with pillow-edge doors and huge drawers below, while all the countertops are granite.
The whole renovation started with a vessel sink in the powder room, explained Debbie, as she patted the interesting piece that looks like a piece of stone.
鈥淚t was the very first thing I bought, and I matched all the other colours in the house to it. I love the taps coming out of the wall and chose some cool looking lamps by Hubbardton Forge.鈥�
Because the living room was so large, and the dining room so small, she decided to re-envision the two areas, turning the former dining room into an intimate sitting area and den.
She then clustered all the living room furniture on one side, creating a smaller seating area, and positioned the dining table and chairs at the fireplace end, where people like to linger after a meal.
鈥淗anging the light fixture, which came from Chintz, from that high ceiling was a challenge as it鈥檚 about 20 feet high.鈥�
She and her husband added a new deck off their master bedroom, completely redid the upstairs bathroom counters and mirrors, and three years ago, they decided to redesign the garden, creating a long patio that spans the entire back of the house..
It started one day when Debbie went outside and started yarding out lots of brambles that had created a chaotic maze at the bottom of the garden.
鈥淚 discovered a whole new area out there. Then my friend Jill and I decided to put an old bench there and decorate it.鈥�
She and Willie added a barbecue area, hot tub, gazebo and a huge mirror at the back of their property too, which looks like a doorway into another garden room. The new landscape is maintained by Julie Flatt from Sweet Pea Gardens.
鈥淥ur son was married last summer and we had 100 people here 鈥� among the more than 100 ferns that make it look incredibly lush,鈥� she said.
