Pure Green Living, Issue 2

When Kareen Burns first moved in, the first night she wandered the house thinking, ‘what have I done?’

The century home had been on the market for nearly two years, yet Kareen had always been drawn to it – ‘it just felt like me’ she says, but the scope of the repairs the house needed felt like too much. However, her fortuitous real estate agent could see that an immediate spruce up was desperately needed, so as a realtor gift she donated her husband for a day. “The simple act of filling nail holes and taking down horrible, cheap light fixtures, and other things I just couldn’t stand made a big difference. All of a sudden I could see myself living here!” Having always lived in old homes, Kareen is drawn to their character and uniqueness, and so, over the next four years she has been fixing it up, one room at a time. She started with the kitchen – she hired Yule McGregor, a local builder who specializes in recycled design, because she was attracted to his reclaimed style and felt it would fit the house. The result in Kareen’s kitchen is a multi-functional space, that has an urban rustic flair to it.