Western Living - AB, April2016

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WESTERN LIVING // APRIL 2016

Alykhan Velji Brings the Modern to a Mid-Century Home in Calgary Where Graffiti and Modernism Meet in Edmonton PLUS Head to the Arctic for the Ultimate Cruise

PM 40068973

Great Makeovers

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A P R I L 2 016 A L B E R TA // V O LU M E 42 // N U M B E R 3

MAKEOVER MAGIC 24 // Second Life

A vintage Calgary home gets a rare fresh start with help from designer Alykhan Velji.

30 // Recent Refit

A major overhaul turns a new(ish) house in Edmonton into an art-filled dream home for one young family.

STYLE 13 // Ones to Watch

Calgary architecture firm Hindle designs with community in mind.

14 // Shopping

24

A mix-and-match modular sofa, statement lighting and other hot new finds.

17 // Openings

Your first look at new rooms, expansions and fresh locations across the West.

FOOD 38 // Bites

How to make fresh ricotta, disarm a snooty sommelier and peel like a pro.

TRAVEL 42 // True North Velji home: Martin Tessler; pasta: Kevin Clark

The tundra may be cold, but in the Canadian Arctic, there’s a spirit of warmth.

PLUS 48 // Sources

Get the looks you see in these pages with designer contact info and local resources.

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14

50 // Trade Secrets

Create a chic Euro-style fireplace with this tip from designer Amanda Hamilton. westernliving.ca / A P R I L

2016 3

WESTERN LIVING editorial

#10 - 102 BOW MEADOWS CRESCENT, T1W 2W9 CANMORE, ALBERTA CANADA 403.678.6131 RUDIPEETGOLDSMITH@GMAIL.COM RUDIPEETGOLDSMITH.CA

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The Western Living e-newsletter brings you inspired home and entertaining ideas three times a week, including:

editor-in-chief Anicka Quin art director Paul Roelofs food and travel editor Neal McLennan senior editor Stacey McLachlan associate art director Naomi MacDougall assistant art director Jenny Reed staff writer Julia Dilworth contributing editors Amanda Ross, Nicole Sjöstedt, Barb Sligl, Jim Sutherland, Julie Van Rosendaal city editors Karen Ashbee (Calgary) Jyllian Park (Edmonton) Shelora Sheldan (Victoria) editorial interns Ellen Koehler, Sally Michael White art intern Ying Tang email mail@westernliving.ca

westernliving.ca online editor Stacey McLachlan online coordinator Kaitlyn Gendemann production manager Lee Tidsbury designer Swin Nung Chai marketing & events manager Dale McCarthy events coordinator Laura Lilley marketing assistant Kaitlyn Lush administrative assistant Kaitlyn Gendemann tel 604-877-7732 fax 604-877-4848 customer service/subscriptions web westernliving.ca tel 855-626-4200

• Exclusive home tours • Design advice from the pros • Wine picks • Fabulous events • Must-try dishes from our Recipe Finder PLUS entertaining tips, fantastic contests, getaway guides, cooking tips, and everything else you need to know to live life well in the West.

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THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA Book by Craig Lucas Music and Lyrics

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“The most intensely romantic score of any musical since new york times West Side Story” the Produced in arrangement with Turner Entertainment Co. Owner of the original motion picture Light in the Piazza Based on the novel by Elizabeth Spencer Directed by Michael Shamata photo by david cooper

APRIL 26 to MAY 22, 2016

#tcPiazza Tickets: 403-294-7447 theatrecalgary.com Original Broadway Production by Lincoln Center Theater, New York City, 2005, The World Premiere of Th e Light in the Piazza was produced by the Intiman Theater, Seattle, Washington, Opening Night: June 14, 2003, Bartlett Sher, Artistic Director, Laura Penn, Managing Director and the Goodman Theater, Chicago, Illinois, Opening Night: January 20, 2004, Robert Falls, Artistic Director, Roche Schulfer, Executive Director, Developed with the Assistance of the Sundance Institute Theatre Laboratory

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2016-02-23 12:05 PM

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WL // EDITOR’S NOTE

ANICK A QUIN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ANICK A.QUIN@WESTERNLIVING.CA 6 A P R I L 2 0 1 6 / westernliving.ca

Q& A This month we asked our contributors, if you could renovate one aspect of your life, what would it be?

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24 My wife would like me to move my office from the kitchen table to anywhere other than our apartment. No more dinners with stacks of magazines, the computer and a bunch of hard drives pushed to one side while we eat with our fi ve-year-old.

y C , p ‍ה‏r “RÂ? Â?tRefitâ€?

30 I would upgrade how I use social media to connect with my clients and share the projects, ideas and designers that inspire me with more people.

Behind the Scenes Photographer Martin Tessler wears his comfy shoes (and takes advantage of the sunny day for a little more elbow room in the shot) for the shoot of a Calgary home designed by Alykhan Velji (“Second Life,� page 24).

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Anicka Quin portrait: Carlo Ricci; styling by Luisa Rino, makeup by Melanie Neufeld; clothing courtesy Holt Renfrew. Photographed in home designed by Kelly Deck Design.

OLD HOMES, NEW IDEAS

When I was a kid, I had a bit of a thing for century-old homes—I suspect it was rooted in the fact that these odes to another time were in stark contrast to my ’80s-era suburban digs.

I was particularly fascinated with one friend’s Victorian, decorated with period-perfect artifacts like butter churns and wood-fire bellows.

My friend’s parents had lovingly stripped back years of lead paint and bad renos to bring the house back to its 1900s glory, and walking through its doors was stepping back in history, a celebration of a lost age. (The family’s heating bills, however, were less thrilling, I’m sure.)

The homes in this issue take the idea of honouring age a step further. Rather than creating strict homages to a particular point in time, the homeowners have renovated to pair modern design with historic preservation—with the era they preserve sitting in our much more recent past. Not yet whiskery enough to attain heritage status, many ’60s- and ’70s-era homes in the West have become ’dozer bait (with esteemed architect Arthur Erickson’s Graham House one of the most recent to fall). But the homeowners we profile here have spotted gems worth celebrating and saving—without losing a modern convenience or two.

Designer Alykhan Velji, for example, worked with a Calgary couple to save a diamond in the rough—a 1950s rancher with cramped rooms and wood-panelled walls—in Elbow Park (“Second Life,� page 24). Velji calls his take on the update “modern midcentury,� rather than mid-century modern— an important twist. It’s not a period piece but a reno that’s family-oriented—those pokey rooms are now open-concept spaces, the wood-panelled walls now bright and white.

But it’s not ignorant of tradition, either— you’ll see ’50s-era accessories adding a layer of character to the clean and open design.

Not every home can or should be renovated. But these beauties show that we can both celebrate and preserve a bit of our history—without creating museum pieces. And that’s a great way to live.

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LETTERS, ETC.

Tweet, message, ’gram or email (mail@westernliving.ca)— we love to hear from our readers!

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CHilDliKE WONDEr Re: “21 Great Spaces,” Jan/Feb 2016 I think I may need to have this cozy teepee in my life… i.e. corner of my living room. @Western_Living. @PaPeRnIC

The natural light!

“Thanks, @Western_Living for some great ideas for renovating your kitchen island.”

noRma Love KeIth

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How to Prep for Resale

Master a Sunchoke Terrine

Love It or List It Vancouver co-host and Realtor Todd Talbot shares his top tips for making your home irresistible to buyers.

Vancouver’s Burdock and Co. chef Andrea Carlson shares her locavorefriendly recipe for a sunchoke terrine.

Find it online on our WL Recipe Finder.

8 a p r i l 2 0 1 6 / westernliving.ca

Want a retro-cool Smeg toaster to call your own?

We’re giving away this cream Smeg toaster from Pacific Specialty Brands— head to our contest page for details.

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Kelly Deck kitchen: Barry Calhoun; teepee: Janis Nicolay; kitchen island: Ema Peter; resale: Barry Calhoun

You loved this Frenchinspired kitchen reno by Kelly Deck Design.

Artifacts® Pull-Down Spout Kitchen Faucet & Wall-Mount Pot Filler The task-oriented faucets of Kohler’s Artifacts collection bring an eclectic elegance into any kitchen. The Pull-Down Spout Kitchen Faucet displays vintage style with its high-arch spout and turned lever handle, while the Pot Filler allows you to conveniently fill large pots directly on or near the stovetop. The Artifacts collection displays a vintage style while bringing professional convenience to home cooks.

Vancouver • Coquitlam • Kamloops • Penticton • Edmonton • Calgary • Saskatoon • Brandon • Winnipeg

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lberta Hardwood Flooring has found the cure for the dreaded common floor. The company—whose reputation is built on thirty years of unparalleled customer service and industry expertise— has expanded well beyond hardwood with a broad inventory of hard- and soft-surface flooring options including cork, laminate, carpet and tile.

Calgary’s Director of Sales, Paul Rivington, explains that AHF’s product knowledge and holistic approach benefit both individual homeowners and commercial developers. “We sit down with the customer, gather all of the details and walk them through the process,” he says. “With experience in design, construction and installation we can offer invaluable product advice.”

Rivington explains that there are many reasons why hardwood may not be the right choice, ranging from budget to flooring environment.

“If a customer is designing a bathroom or basement where moisture or subfloor is problematic, we can suggest the latest tile manufactured to look like hardwood,” he shares.

Home décor trends are also turning to a mix-and-match aesthetic.

“Often customers may find that hardwood flooring may be a bit too hard

and cold for their bedrooms or family rooms,” tells Rivington. “In these cases, they may opt for heated tile or carpet to add texture and warmth to these areas. We can help with that!”

When it comes to hardwood, AHF is still a cut above the rest. As the only authorized dealer of Mirage Hardwood Flooring in Calgary and Edmonton, they offer unrivalled access to a world leader in quality and versatility—plus a stress-free investment.

Rivington lists their Edmonton and Calgary showrooms as yet another advantage for those looking to renovate. “Sometimes, it can be hard for people to wrap their head around a product based on a small flooring sample,” admits Rivington. “Our showrooms offer vignettes where people can see what a floor looks like with paint on the walls and furniture in place.”

The company’s website also offers digital ‘Inspiration Galleries’ where flooring is categorized by product and by treatment type. Rivington says that many customers use these images to source ideas before visiting the showrooms. “We are set up to ensure that you make the best possible choice for your space.”

Created by the Western Living advertising department in partnership with Alberta Hardwood Flooring

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STYLE

S H O P P I N G // T R E N D S // P E O P L E // S PA C E S // O P E N I N G S // I N T E L

ONES TO WATCH

Community Builders

Jesse & Laur a Alvey Hindle, Hindle Architects, Calgary

Jager and Kokemor Photography

Jesse Hindle and Laura Alvey Hindle may have trained abroad in London, but their practice is hyper-focused on the local—even with private projects. The airy Lassiter Court residence embraces views of prairie sky and the passersby outside; the interior design of the Telus Sky building celebrates human interaction in the centre of the city. But as the architectural advisors for the regeneration of the Currie Barracks, a former federal military base, they’ve got an opportunity to foster urban regeneration on a much larger scale: the gig involves developing design guidelines for some future buildings on the 195-acre parcel of land. “It’s really interesting for us to be involved in how Calgary’s evolving,” says Jesse. —Sally Michael White

Design for All “We want to create wonderful streetscapes that also create social diversity,” says Laura Alvey Hindle, pictured here with partner Jesse.

Read more and see Hindle’s portfolio at westernliving.ca

westernliving.ca / A P R I L

2016 13

WLSTYLE // shopping

Anicka’s Pick Ikea Giltig Teacups $10, available at Ikea, ikea.ca At the risk of entering into crazy cat lady territory, I’m kind of crazy about the new Giltig collection—in particular, these cat head teacups and saucers—from Ikea. The company’s product designers met with fashion designer Katie Eary at London Fashion Week and partnered with the visual artist for a capsule collection of fashion-meets-furniture—think bright blue fish-emblazoned tabletops, leopard-print bedding and, of course, so many cats.

Cut a Rug Moooi’s latest collection of carpets features designs from some equally quirky designer friends, like this Scribble area rug ($34,153)

by Swedish design firm Front, which brings a colouring-book whimsy to the living room floor.

Robert Sweep Homefurnishings, Calgary, robertsweep.com; Dwell Modern, Edmonton, dwellmodern.ca

Softly Lit The LED Pablo Lana lamp (from $319) is surrounded by a wool felt shade and designed with a magnetic module that allows for ample experimentation: hang it on the wall or stand it on a pedestal base. Tech meets craft.

Lightform, Calgary and Edmonton, lightform.ca

Pillow Fight This punchy cushion ($75), part of designer Samantha Pynn’s collection of mix-and-match textile pieces for Simons, instantly infuses any space with tropical cool. Simons, Edmonton, simons.ca

For more of Anicka’s picks, visit westernliving.ca

NOTEWORTHY New in stores across the West

Win this chair!

Head to our contest page at westernliving.ca for more details!

The Switch-Up Mix and match the pieces of Gus Modern’s Mix Modular collection (from $4,165), then customize your fabric options, too. It’s almost like having a new sofa daily. 4Living, Calgary, 4living.ca

1 4 a p r i l 2 0 1 6 / westernliving.ca

Royal Seat Roche Bobois’s Ava Bridge chair ($575) may look modern, but it’s got some historic roots: the shape of the stackable polyamide piece is inspired by the Ming dynasty Kau Yi Ming chair.

Roche Bobois, Calgary, roche-bobois.com

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WLSTYLE // shopping

OPENINGS Hot new rooms we love

VancouVer Provide The move from Crosstown to Vancouver’s buzzy Armoury District was a smart one.

The corner location offers big, beautiful windows to let in plenty of natural light and allow passersby to take a peek at the wares inside: handwoven pillows and throws from Teixidors, an impressive selection of Martha Sturdy designs and modern light installations from Matthew McCormick. providehome.com

1/3 Non Bleed

Natural Selection o n e - q u e s t i o n i n t e r V i e w with DaviD Keeler Co-owner, Provide

Why is texture so appealing to you?

We really gravitate toward materials that are honest: wood, metal, glass, hand-woven textiles, stone, clay. We love texture, as well as items with neutral tones and just that little bit of colour. The idea of taking something handcrafted and putting it into a modern space...it kind of humanizes the environment. It’s an element of surprise and delight.

NAPOLIA

more new rooms

(2½ – 8½)

AN

Chester Fields: William Shepherd

SH

VancouVer Maaas The web boutique got its start in Rotterdam, and now founder Manon Garritsen has set up her home base on the West Coast— though the pieces she’s stocking (simple, beautiful handbags, minimalist pottery, geometric cushions) still have a serious Dutch design bent. maaas.co

Victoria Chester Fields A newly expanded showroom takes over the heritage space next door on the edge of Chinatown, with 2,700 square feet of modernist furniture and accessories.

Source more smartly designed pieces from Bensen, Bocci, Jonathan Adler and Anglepoise. chester-fields.com

Victoria Sitka Canadian surf and lifestyle store Sitka— started back in 2002 with just hoodies and boards—has set up a new camp on Government Street with more goodies than ever before: elegant saddle-stitched notebooks, Ursa Major skin care and ruggedchic Topo Klettersack day packs. sitka.ca

edmonton Plum Home and Design Fabric Showroom An addition to the cozy design store’s square footage makes room for a new fabric showroom, packed with plenty of swanky textiles for purchase by the foot and instant access to upholstery options for Plum’s new custom furniture line, coming this summer. plumhomeanddesign.com

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ROMANTIQUE

Pale pink becomes a power colour and takes center stage as one of two hues chosen by Pantone as Color of the Year. Large-scale blooms and botanicals bring nature inside. Grey reigns as a classic complement to lighter, chalkier hues. Metals, woods, glass, and ceramics bring textural interest and keep pastel rooms from becoming too cutesy.

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In her role at Budget Blinds, the world’s largest window coverings franchise, Tracy travels the world to bring the newest must-have window fashions to your door. Her strong relationships with leading manufacturers help her identify the colours, styles, and trends that will transform your rooms, beautifully.

For even more of Tracy’s style forecasts and ideas about how you can incorporate them into your home, go to blog.budgetblinds.com

GLOBAL ARTISTRY

Inspired by travel and adventure, the trend is a modern take on global patterns, fabrics, and crafts. It’s all in the mix. Embroidery, caning, animal hides, even macramé, give a handcrafted, organic feel to accessories. Soft pastels contrast with deep blues and greys. Ethnic accents complete the look.

MASCULINE MÉLANGE

Black continues to be a strong colour preference for walls, windows, and metal accents. Vintage details add a timeless quality. Rustic woods contrast with classic shapes in furnishings. Leather, copper, wire, and natural elements give texture and shine throughout a room.

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ASTORIA CUSTOM RENOVATIONS A Name You Can Trust

s glamorous as it initially seems, renovating your home can quickly turn from exciting to exhausting. “With so many things to consider it can become an overwhelming experience,” says Astoria Custom Renovations President and CEO Jim Stinson.

Stinson’s advice is to avoid the stress altogether by hiring an experienced company whose guidance you can trust, and when it comes to choosing who you want to work with he emphasizes thoroughly researching your options. “Look into company legacy, request a full detailed quote, check references and view past work,” he suggests.

Stinson, who runs Astoria Custom Renovations and Astoria Custom Homes with wife and business partner Lisa, knows that a reputed company is able to bring out the best of your pre-existing home. “Our goal is to enhance the function and feel of a living space by thought-

fully planning and designing the appropriate updates,” he explains. The award-winning team at Astoria works directly with customers to seamlessly integrate old and new into a refreshed aesthetic that reflects the original character of the home.

“There are many reasons people outgrow their homes,” says Stinson. “Perhaps the location is still great but it no longer fulfills your specific needs. Moving doesn’t always make the most sense.”

A consultation with Astoria, on the other hand, does. The business, established in 2004, is in good standing with the CHBA, RenoMark and Alberta Renovation Warranty, giving you total peace of mind throughout your renovation. Overall satisfaction is their main goal and their loyal clientele vouch that Astoria renovations are both timely and on budget.

“We ultimately want to help you fall in love with your home again.”

Created by the Western Living advertising department in partnership with Astoria Custom Renovations

At every stage of life you have the potential to dream bigger.

Learn more at ASTORIARENOVATIONS.CA

DREAM BIGGER WITH ASTORIA CUSTOM RENOVATIONS Fall in love with your home again with Award Winning Designs and Renovations by Astoria Custom Renovations. Call Garth for your in-home consultation 403.860.3454

HOMES I N T E R I O R S // A R C H I T E C T U R E // D E S I G N // L I V I N G

Modern Love

Martin Tessler

Though this Calgary home is decades old, a loving renovation by designer Alykhan Velji has restored it to its former glory—and then some. There are plenty of elements that nod to the space’s mid-century heritage (a classic Saarinen dining table, vintage-inspired upholstery and smartly curated antique finds, to name a few), but a sleek wall-mounted lacquered credenza, chic leather poufs and crisp white walls infuse the home with 21st-century charm. Turn the page to see more from this stunning reno.

westernliving.ca / A P R I L 2 0 1 6 2 3

WL HOMES // makeovers

SECOND LIFE A vintage Calgary home gets a rare fresh start.

by stacey m c lachlan // photographs by martin tessler

Blast from the Past This modest rancher has been transformed into a threestorey open-concept home, but it still celebrates that mid-century character with modernist furniture and vintageinspired touches—like a textured white brick fireplace.

westernliving.ca / a p r i l

2 0 1 6  2 5

O

ld houses don’t often get a second chance in Calgary’s Elbow Park neighbourhood, where teardowns of the 60-year-old-plus housing stock are the norm. So when this mid-century home went up for sale, its odds didn’t look good.

But when the current owners first saw it, they spotted the potential in a 1950s rancher hiding behind a cramped layout and wood-panelled walls. A rescue mission began with gusto, with the couple knocking down interior walls before they even contacted a designer.

When they reached out to Calgary designer Alykhan Velji of Alykhan Velji Designs to figure out what to do next, they picked the right man for the job: someone who understood the importance of preserving the heritage of the space while bringing in a modern edge.

“When I saw the exterior, I immediately fell in love,” he laughs. “And then we were so lucky to have freedom to suggest design elements that we thought would suit the space. When you get that trust from a client and get to run with it, you can end up with something really special.”

Velji sourced plenty of vintage pieces (like the beautiful teak credenza in the living room and the quirky brass-and-gold accessories that pepper the custom millwork shelves around the fireplace) to celebrate the home’s design roots, and they fit perfectly alongside treasures the homeowners have collected from their travels over

2 6 a p r i l 2 0 1 6 / westernliving.ca

Warm It Up The intricately patterned Persian-style rug from Dasan Interiors adds a dash of warmth to the chic, modern office (top left). A sleek white dining area (above) pairs up with cozy fabrics and vintage wooden pieces (like a teak credenza) in the nearby living area. In the kitchen, a rich brown marble surrounds the window, while cheery Country Furniture stools line a pristine white counter (left).

the years. But it’s not a home that’s living in the past. “I like to call it ‘modern mid-century,’ rather than ‘mid-century modern,’” says Velji.

That flip of words is telling: the contemporary design comes first in this space, with the vintage and vintage-inspired elements adding a secondary layer of character. This is no period piece—Velji has brought the space into this century. The dated wood panelling was replaced with fresh white paint and sleek, clean-lined moulding profiles, while glossy white cabinetry (you’ll find it in the dining room, kitchen and bathrooms) provides elegant contrasts with the warm wood furniture pieces throughout, creating a design that’s both cozy and bright. The kitchen, living room and dining room were originally segregated, but it’s now an open-concept space with a family-friendly layout: the couple’s twin daughters can play in the living room while Mom’s in the kitchen keeping an eye on what’s going on. “It’s stylish and modern,” says Velji, “but very multi-functional and family-oriented.”

It’s a perfect set-up for entertaining, too: good news, considering

Make no compromises‌

Quality, Transparency, Value

A Big Thank You!

Thank you Calgary for selecting Trademark Renovations again this year as the recipient of the 2016 Consumer Choice Award!

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Do the Slide The master bedroom (top, left and right) finds its character from a few clever sliding mechanisms: a barndoor-style entrance to the master ensuite and a wall of heavy curtains that block out awkwardly placed windows in favour of showcasing luxe linens.

In the bathroom (right), a chic white-and-grey palette gives the space a spa-like feel.

See more of this gorgeous home (and before photos!) at westernliving.ca

the homeowners are avid cooks and frequent party hosts. “There was a lot of emphasis on designing it appropriately, with the right appliances and a smart flow,” Velji explains. In the kitchen, a row of mustardyellow bar stools and warm brass pendant lights draw in the eye—and guests—right away. The range and oven were installed into the island (with a minimalist hood vent above) to give the home cooks full view of the main floor while dinner prep is in full swing.

Installing a feature fireplace was important to the homeowners, and though wood, marble and travertine were all thrown around as options for cladding, the final iteration is done up in simple brick, painted white. It adds a hit of texture and a focal point to the living room, all at a relatively low cost. Staying on budget was important (you’ll find plenty of Ikea sprinkled into the design), but there are key splurges throughout the space: showpieces like wallpaper, custom 2 8 a p r i l 2 0 1 6 / westernliving.ca

millwork and furniture. “These are the long-lasting elements,” he notes. “It makes sense to invest there.”

The staircase is a perfect example. It’s a major focal point, so doing it up right was a must; now, custom floating treads and a quirky swath of metallic Cole and Son wallpaper bring the wow factor. “We clad the side of it in glass, which helps expand and open up the space to make it feel so much bigger,” says Velji. “It lets all the natural light filter in.”

It’s not the only place in the home where wallpaper has a starring role: the twins’ room is decked out in a flamingo print that coordinates with the custom-upholstered Ikea beds. “We wanted to ensure the room exuded their personality,” says Velji. “They love pink and purple, like little girls often do.” They’re five right now, but it’s easy to see how they’ll be able to grow with the space.

In the master bedroom, a wall covered in awkwardly positioned windows resulted in an innovative solution. Moving the windows wasn’t an option, so Velji covered the whole wall with linen blackout curtains. “They add a beautiful softness and texture and help create a hotel-style vibe,” Velji explains. The curtains cover the whole wall when in use and draw up behind the bed like an oversized headboard when it’s time to let the sunshine in. The attached ensuite (airy and spa-white; the only retro tie here is the vintage-inspired brass light fixture from CB2) is accessed through a barn-style sliding door. The industrial hardware adds sculptural interest to the room, but it’s also a practical choice—a swinging door would have encroached on too much space in the master bedroom’s limited square footage.

As unique as each room feels, there are plenty of visual clues that pull the house together. “It’s about creating unity through repeating materials and finishes,” explains Velji. In the master ensuite, the high-gloss custom millwork references the kitchen cabinetry. The grasscloth paper that backs the built-in shelves in the home office is echoed in the powder room. Beautiful textured rugs—a Morrocan -inspired shag number in the living room, intricate Persian designs in the bedroom, a flat-weave kilim in the office—add an overarching sense of warmth. “There are so many mid-century, rustic and industrial touches,” says Velji. But that’s precisely what makes it work. “It’s that mix of different elements that makes a house a home.”

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RECENT REFIT A new(ish) home in Edmonton gets a major overhaul for a young family.

by NEAL M C LENNAN // photographs by BARRY CALHOUN // styling by AMANdA ROBiNsON

WL HOMES // makeovers

Art Walk Visitors to the renovated Edmonton home are welcomed by David Cantine’s Still Life Large (opposite), which hangs above a built-in floating shelf. Above the stairwell (left), artist Phil Darrah’s The Beach makes a splash.

T

Divine Details Modern furniture with clean detailing, like the B&B Italia dining table (above left) and sofa, where homeowner Mike Yasinski lounges (above), keeps the space airy and bright. A custom built-in cabinet above the fireplace hides the television wires (right).

here’s a classic story arc to the major house reno.

A homeowner discovers an ancient gem of a house hiding under decades of additions and bad decorating, and with some elbow grease and TLC, the house triumphantly returns to its former glory. This was not that sort of reno.

This one started with homeowner Mike Yasinski driving by a barely 20-year-old home in the relatively new Henderson Estates area of Edmonton and thinking that the house might work well for him and his two young sons. There are dozens of brand-new neighbourhoods a short drive away that would have allowed Yasinski to build entirely from scratch, but he knew Henderson Estates well and loved the idea of the mature trees and established community on the river valley. “The house had great bones,” he recalls, noting that it was a bungalow, had a flat roof, and had a high ceiling in the basement, three major checks on his wish list. So he took the next step and called up designer Louis Pereira of Thirdstone.

The two had worked on a project previously, but nothing on a scale like this. “I knew the house was built in the 1990s, but when I first pulled up it looked more 1980s,” noted Pereira—and not in a retro-cool way. The house was a custom-built executive bungalow, not a builder’s special, but it had a very traditional layout. Distinct, separated rooms hearkened back to a time when the idea of open-concept living had not yet caught on. Further, some original design cues, like a sunken wet bar, dated the layout even more. Cue the sledgehammers.

Yasinski owns Hudsons, a successful chain of pubs in Alberta and

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The Hideaways Marble covers the master bathroom (left) for a sophisticated finish. A clerestory window lets natural light filter in without compromising privacy. The master bedroom (top right) is another room

in this renovated home that’s now filled with sunshine, thanks to floor-toceiling windows. Though the home is filled with abstract art, the most striking work of them all is a custom graffiti tag in the kids’ room (below).

“The house had great bones,” homeowner Mike Yasinski recalls.

It was a bungalow, had a flat roof, and had a high ceiling in the basement—three major checks on his wish list.

Find more of our favourite renos at westernliving.ca

Saskatchewan, and had already been through numerous renovations and site improvements, so he was ready to play a very active role in his own reno. The first step was taking down the walls that created the compartmentalized feel of the old residence. At the top of the list for a guy who makes his living in the restaurant industry was a showstopper of a kitchen, so Heart Kitchen and Bath was brought on board to realize the design that Yasinski and Pereira dreamed up. To begin, they demolished a massively long existing island in order to free up some space for a sit-down eating area that could double as flex space in between meals. The rest of the kitchen was finished in a mix of highgloss white lacquered cabinets with wood accents that creates a space that’s both sleek and warm. A built-in wall of Miele appliances finishes a swoon-worthy space fit for a chef.

Once the interior layout was complete, Yasinski called up designer Denise Matheson and gave her the marching order of making the space a perfect fit for the young family. For Dad, she picked out elements that spoke to his love of modern design, like spare, brushed white 3 4 a p r i l 2 0 1 6 / westernliving.ca

oak floors, a good fit for the cozy-yet-streamlined sofa from B&B Italia that’s suitable for lounging in front of the TV but also channels a pared-down version of beauty. But it was for the boys—Max and Zach— that she saved the most fun surprise: she hired noted Edmonton street artist Trevor “Kurly” Peters to paint their bedroom wall in what is probably the only graffiti in the entirety of the upscale neighbourhood.

The more traditional art, heavy on geometrics and abstraction, came from artists David Cantine and Mitchel Smith, who show at the Peter Robertson Gallery.

“People thought I was crazy to renovate a 15-year-old home,” Yasinski recalls, and when he looks back at the renovation schedule—which doubled in time and cost from the initial plan—he concedes that “the path of least resistance would definitely have been to buy new.” But then he wouldn’t have all the things that are now so key for his family: great neighbourhood, a seamless outdoor space and a home where he and his boys can relax in a place that is both carefree and easy while still offering a modern design aesthetic.

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FOOD

R E S T A U R A N T S // E X P E R T A D V I C E // E N T E R T A I N I N G // W I N E // R E C I P E S

Foodie DIY

Andy Sewell

The phrase “I’m making some cheese” was once reserved for, well, cheese makers. But with our new fascination with the provenance of our food, heretofore hidden practices have come out into the open. Butchering your own cow might be an extreme first step, but making cheese is surprisingly easy, as long as you choose a variety that needs no aging—like the Italian classic ricotta.

Turn the page for the recipe.

Whey Cool While the Italians love ricotta in desserts, it’s also wonderful when used as a mayo substitute in a tuna salad.

westernliving.ca / a p r i l

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WLFOOD // BITES

N l’s W e Pi

RECIPE

Jura Juice

Homemade Ricotta

Meet the obscure wine region the nerds are going gaga over.

I love ricotta and use it a lot in cooking: to fill ravioli or to spoon over warm vegetables, for example. I started making it when I was experimenting with young curd cheeses. Although it is often referred to as a cheese, ricotta is actually a by-product of cheese making. The whey that is drained off from the cheese curds is reheated to make ricotta—hence the name, which translates as “recooked.�

DOMAINE LA ROSIĂˆRE JONGIEUX 2014 $20

My recipe for ricotta, however, is made by gently heating whole milk, then adding a little vinegar to encourage little curds to form. I’ve tried using buttermilk and lemon juice, but I’ve found vinegar gives better results. The quantity of vinegar is all-important: too little and the curds won’t form properly; too much and the end result will taste unpleasantly acidic. Because this recipe is so simple, it is essential to use fine-quality ingredients. The best ricotta I have made used raw, unpasteurized milk, though this is hard to come by. Ricotta tends to spoil easily, so it needs to be used within a day or so of making.—Skye Gyngell 2Ÿ litres organic whole milk Ÿ tsp sea salt 3 tbsp good-quality distilled white vinegar Pour the milk into a large, non-reactive pan, add salt and put over medium heat. Heat the milk slowly, stirring from time to time. When almost coming to a boil, i.e., when steam and small bubbles begin to appear on the surface, check temperature with a thermometer; it should register between 179°F and 185°F (82°C and 85°C).

Remove from heat, add vinegar and stir gently.

You will see curds starting to form. Continue to stir for 1 minute or so. Cover with a clean cloth and allow mixture to sit a couple of hours.

Once ricotta has rested, line a colander with a piece of dampened muslin and put over a larger bowl or pan. Spoon ricotta into the colander and allow to drain an hour or so. To test whether the cheese is ready, gently lift muslin up by the corners and twist lightly—the liquid should be slightly milky in colour. The ricotta is now ready.

Transfer to a container, seal and store in the refrigerator until ready to use. Best eaten within a day or two. Makes about 2 cups (500 grams).

Excerpted from Spring

by Skye Gyngell.

Photographs by Andy Sewell. Copyright 2016

by Quadrille. Excerpted with permission from Quadrille. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

3 8 A P R I L 2 0 1 6 / westernliving.ca

N l McL n

BITES

What we’re eating and drinking

A few months back I was eating at Sexy Fish, a current darling in London’s Mayfair, when I came face to face with that most loathsome of all creatures: the upselling sommelier. As soon as I picked up the wine list, he materialized unsolicited and pointed to either the most expensive, or a few times—magnanimously—the secondmost expensive bottle of wine in each category, describing them as “magnificent,â€? as if he were letting me in on a revelation that a ÂŁ400 bottle of wine would be magnificent.

In such situations you can simply demur and hope the pest leaves, or you can put them back on their heels.“Do you have any wines from the Jura?� I asked. He fumbled and muttered, “Ah no, they seem to be quite the thing these days,� before mercifully beating a retreat. The truth was I didn’t even want a wine from the Jura—my wife is not a fan—but it’s important to have it as a go-to to counter wine snobbery.

The jerk was right: the wines from the Jura—a mountainous area near France’s border with Switzerland—are quite the thing these days.

Their signature wine is vin jaune, a slightly oxidized wine that resembles sherry more than anything from the neighbouring wine region of Burgundy.

It’s made from the obscure savagnin grape, picked at an advanced stage of ripeness and then placed in oak barrels for an extended time, and as evaporation happens, the wine is exposed to oxygen and oxidizes. Oh yeah, it’s expensive, too.

But in a wine world that’s increasingly homogenized, it’s that rare bird—a unique wine, all nuts and waxiness, with a crazy sense of history.

To dip your toes into the Jura, try this widely available, well-priced white from Domaine la Rosière—it’s all chalky and minerally and works like kryptonite on bad sommeliers.

Custom salad and soup bowls by Janaki Larsen in use at Field and Social.

c h ef ’s t i p s How to peel (almost) everything, by Reuben Major, executive chef, Belgard Kitchen

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Walk through midtown Manhattan and you can’t take a few steps without running into another casual takeout salad spot, but here in the West those desiring a healthy green lunch option have been confined to the dreaded clamshell-packaged salads that don’t exactly scream fresh. Cue this new Dunsmuir Street spot, which aims to fill that gap with a roster of made-fresh salads that can be customized with dressings, grains and toppings, along with kombucha on tap. fieldandsocial.com

Hard-Boiled Eggs Place the egg in a rocks glass half full of water. Cover with your hand (watertight) and shake the glass firmly. The water will get under the shell and remove it from the cooked egg.

Mangoes Cut the mango in half, removing the pit.

Using the lip of a rocks glass, separate the mango flesh from the skin by following the contour of the mango.

gadget

Kiwis Trim away the ends of the kiwi.

Slip a spoon between the skin and the flesh of the fruit. Turn the kiwi until the flesh is separated from the skin.

See more valuable chef’s tips at westernliving.ca

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TRAVEL

T H E W E S T // W O R L D W I D E // W E E K E N D G E T AWA Y S // N E I G H B O U R H O O D S // R O A D T R I P S

Northward Bound

Lee Narraway

It’s an oft-quoted stat that 90 percent of the people in our country live within 160 kilometres of our southern border, and while “seeing the North” is a mainstay on many people’s bucket lists, too few of us ever make it a reality. This month, writer Omar Mouallem (coincidentally, as an Edmontonian, he’s not part of that aforementioned 90 percent) takes the lead and shows us that a trip up the globe can be as exotic as Marrakesh, as exciting as Maasai Mara and as isolated as the moon. And you don’t even need a passport.

Motley Crew One of the great perks of a northern journey is the diversity of your fellow travellers: a group of true explorers.

westernliving.ca / a p r i l

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TRUE

NORTH STRONG In the Canadian Arctic, you’ll find polar glaciers, epic icebergs, a frozen tundra—and a warm, warm welcome. by omar mouallem

WLTRAVEL // the arctic

Lee Narraway

I

I’d been blinded by my own privilege. The child, no older than three, was clamouring for my iPhone, which I’d been directing down a gravel road like a wifi divining rod. My only weakness greater than Internet, I guess, is an adorable Inuit girl with eyes glinting in the eternal Arctic sun and a chubby grin smeared with deception. My stupidity didn’t sink in the moment she made a run for it. Nor the moment she realized she couldn’t outrun a grown man (only outwit him) and sent the phone tumbling down the gravel road until the screen was so cracked and blotched that it wiped out time.

It sunk in the moment she unlocked the home screen of my southern technology, opened the camera app and pointed it at me.

This is the touch-screen generation of babies, after all, even in the Far North. Of course they have iPhones. And Internet—which is more than the 196 passengers and 124 crew aboard our ship could say.

It was day five of a 12-day excursion from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. Passengers had come from seemingly every continent but Antarctica, though at least a couple of dozen had visited it before, perhaps on this vessel, engineered with an icestrengthened hull for both poles. Much of what sends someone to the southern pole sends them to the northern: camera-ready icebergs, awesome fjords and humbling wildlife, plus you get Viking ruins, Inuit art and maybe a nibble of beluga blubber. There’s also the thrill of charting terrain rarely witnessed by the human eye, habited and uninhabited destinations accessed by small rubber boats called Zodiacs, but only if they’re not first blown out of reach by wicked winds or choked off by ice floes.

But great forces of nature are matched by forces of habit. I checked my phone at the first spare moment. Following a five-hour flight from Ottawa to Nunavik (Quebec’s northern Inuit region), a long wait in the Kuujjuaq airport, a shuttle to the coast, a bumpy Zodiac ride from shore to sea to the great ship that would take us through the enigmatic North—there was her name! Ocean Endeavour, and beside her: four beautiful bars in the network list.

But. It. Just. Wouldn’t. Connect.

Neither was there 3G, despite my “unlimited national plan” (thanks, Rogers). The receptionist explained to a small group of digital junkies that cell phone towers are rare here. Locals rely on satellite communications. The receptionist was trying to fix the onboard wifi. westernliving.ca / a p r i l

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WLTRAVEL // the arctic

They’d made fresh bannock and a cheesecake-like paste with fish eggs, and carved for us samples of cured caribou roast, jellied black seal and rubbery beluga. Two teenagers, throatsinging partners for over a year, hummed and croaked songs both beautiful and beastly.

It may be the world’s largest land carnivore, but to a blind eye, across the Ungava Bay, it looked like a flea. I twisted a longer lens onto my Canon and pulled focus. The pale white dot sharpened into a polar bear scraping up a Vancouver-sized cliff that jutted from the Arctic Sea like a helipad for the millions of murres for which the Inuit named it.

Their fledglings make Akpatok Island a feeding trough.

“Spotting polar bears on Akpatok is like spotting yellow cabs in New York,” said naturalist George Sirk, an exuberant guide aboard one of the seven Zodiacs surrounding the island, standing next to a gun-slinging “bear monitor.” Sirk redirected our attention to a mother and cub on the rocky beach. Then, a few hundred metres west, to a lone male twice her size who had climbed ashore. In mid-July, bears prepare for winter by consuming all that they can, including cubs, which they can smell from kilometres afar and sneak up on with their massive pillowed paws. He sniffed the air and trudged toward them.

My camera rattled as the gap between predator and prey narrowed.

Then, as suddenly as he appeared, the male slid back into sea. He was a 300-kilogram teenager, noted Sirk, with four to six inches of fat on his back. “He’s not interested because he’s full this time of year.” But after we return to the Endeavour, the images are downloaded, blown up and an alternative story emerges: on closer inspection, the photos reveal that the male was not so healthful that the meal wasn’t worth the fight.

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All Aboard Zodiac boats take explorers to see icebergs up close and personal (top left and opposite). Back on the Ocean Endeavour, acclaimed Vancouver sushi chef Hidekazu Tojo (left) coaches passengers—and locals—how to craft dishes that make the most of the area’s fresh seafood.

Rather he’s too emaciated to battle and may not survive the year.

The threat of climate change can’t be ignored here. Glaciers melt, raise the sea, deplete the ice growlers (shards of icebergs) that wildlife relies on for hunting, and invite new species of predators that Inuit don’t even have names for. But one thing it’s good for is mass tourism.

Melting polar ice caps have simultaneously expanded Arctic summers, permitting multiple excursions from various outfitters, and have attracted masses of people to this slipping beauty with the urgency of eclipse watchers. The endangered polar bear isn’t just the symbol of this trend, but the symbol of Adventure Canada, one of the oldest of a few companies capable of sailing the Northwest Passage.

Adventure Canada selected midsummer for this route along the South Baffin coast and across the Davis Strait for the mammalian wildlife sighting opportunities, but, unluckily, I spotted only two bobbing seal heads, a whale breach and a rotting de-tusked walrus (and the aforementioned polar bears). If passengers were disappointed, however, they stayed hush. With wildlife lacking, the onboard programs delivered.

It’s said that cruises are like summer camp on the water. Adventure Canada’s Heart of the Arctic trip is more like community college at sea, but with profs who have lived it and bring you into their world. I took Inuktitut lessons with Order of Canada recipient Aaju Peter, a lawyer and activist critical to protecting Northern peoples’ right to

Lee Narraway

The cruise company even flew in its IT guy. Heroic as it sounded, she wasn’t optimistic, and that would be devastating for her family in Romania, as crew are assigned to the ship for months at a time.

For us, it was a simple nuisance, and by “us,” I mostly mean the fraction of passengers not old enough to have read first editions of Farley Mowat. But we all knew the tales of Arctic explorers: they withstood deadly icebergs, storms, starvation, scurvy . . . syphilis.

John Franklin lost 129 men upon HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, resorted to cannibalism and, worse yet, was sentenced to become part of Stephen Harper’s legacy. And we were grumbling about email.

That subsided by about day two.

Lee Narraway

sealing and whaling. I navigated marbling icebergs with Sirk, whose flamboyance is ripe for children’s television (but, unfortunately for children everywhere, he only does talk radio). I retraced artist James Houston’s steps in helping make Cape Dorset the artistic hub it is today, where as many as a quarter of the residents are working artists, and I did it with his son, John Houston, the prolific documentarian.

So this is not a cruise with magicians and Elvis impersonators. In fact, the word “cruise” draws shudders. Second-generation co-owner Matthew James Swan calls it an “expedition,” and he our expedition leader. Though it does have Tom, heartthrob of septuagenarian women, who counts among his party tricks the uncanny ability to memorize every name on the 196-person passenger list—the 29-yearold company’s largest ever.

Needless to say, this attracts a different kind of traveller. Among my shipmates are members of the Explorers Club and Royal Canadian Geographic Society; innumerable professors, researchers and writers; a dog-semen expert; a Kiwi sheep farmer on his twelfth Arctic excursion; and Japan’s version of the Most Interesting Man in the World. Between them existed two-thirds of Wikipedia, plus a Google consultant for good measure.

But, habits. The second we were ashore in Kangiqsujuaq, on day three, passengers like me disappeared into the nearest community centre to bring the Internet to its knees. Only after the broadband

resources were puttering low were we deflected toward a people who take welcoming very seriously.

Their word for welcome is “tunngasugit.” It quite literally means “being on solid ground.” Inuit so wish for visitors to feel grounded that many of their villagers came out to meet us.

“This is all very new to us, but we like to think this is one of the more interesting places you could visit,” said Yaaka Yaaka, Kangiqsujuaq’s youth counsellor (and plumber, and electrician, et cetera), speaking into a microphone before a packed gymnasium. There are so many locals who share his name that he had the Js legally changed to Ys after one too many mistaken RCMP visits, and surely the other Jaakas were in the room too. They’d made fresh bannock and a cheesecake-like paste with fish eggs, and carved for us samples of cured caribou roast, jellied black seal and rubbery beluga. Two teenagers, throat-singing partners for over a year, hummed and croaked songs both beautiful and beastly.

It’s a simulacrum, of course. “Youth today are caught between cultures,” explained Yaaka on a walkabout of Kangiqsujuaq, past the Pingualuit National Park museum dedicated to a meteorite crash nearby and, as an afterthought, Inuit history. He pointed to contemporary murals blasting needed colour onto the barren town bowled in by mountains. The faces depict real people, living and deceased, who are westernliving.ca / a p r i l

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important to its history, he explained. More actively, he takes young people spear and harpoon hunting to retain traditional memories.

“But those are the lucky ones,” he said. “The not-so [lucky] do what they want.”

This was apparent upon meeting three young men getting high in a plywood shed at 9:30 a.m. Mobile providers aren’t the only ones who have neglected these towns, obvious as the stark statistics Canadians read about, but rarely consider, were elucidated before our eyes. But the young men were unwaveringly warm. Following a brief conversation, I thanked them. A 20-year-old from the Jaaka clan, missing front teeth and wearing an outsized wool blazer over pyjama pants, replied, simply, “Welcome.”

“As a Canadian, how does it make you feel?” a Japanese translator with a documentary crew asked me, citing the unpaved roads, teenage mothers and poor dental health among his observations of Nunavut. Some of the social ills were somewhat shocking to the international traveller who had held a different picture of Canada in mind, and even to one French Canadian woman whose hearing aid was looked upon as foreign by a young deaf Inuit man. But one 4 6 a p r i l 2 0 1 6 / westernliving.ca

could also point out Inuit people’s resilience—in spite of isolation, Christianization, colonization, Greenpeace and climate change. It was apparent in the young throat singers, ubiquitous ulus (all-purpose knives found across numerous Northern cultures) and occasional passersby wearing amautis, embroidered cloaks with drooping pouches to cradle babies. It was especially apparent in the children with plastic dolls in their amautis.

The window to the past remains; I just had to look up to see it, a lesson reinforced when I met the girl on the road while dowsing for wifi. (Better: she’d been recording video so, in slow motion, I could relive the lesson frame by frame.) “Fifty percent of the welcome is your responsibility,” said Aaju Peter. “Nothing is more important up here than to show we are welcoming.” Throughout, Adventure Canada reciprocates not just with money but with its own cultural exchanges: inviting residents on board to the breakfast buffet to eat with passengers or to make sushi with Hidekazu Tojo, the legendary Vancouver chef who invented the B.C. and California rolls. Tojo hopes that with a little bit of cheap rice, this seed of knowledge will grow to become part of a sustainable, healthy Northern diet.

And there’s also Tom. On day six, in Kimmirut, where the Hudson’s

Andrew Stewart

WLTRAVEL // the arctic

Melting polar ice caps have simultaneously expanded Arctic summers, permitting multiple excursions from various outfitters, and attracted masses of people to this slipping beauty with the urgency of eclipse watchers.

Eagle Eye Tours

Bay’s initials for old aviators faded in the hilltops, when we were treated to a tournament of Inuit sports, like muskox push (think sumo on your knees) and one foot high kick (think soccer meets high jump), Tom arrived in the gym in a bejewelled suit to perform “Hound Dog.” So the ship did harbour an Elvis impersonator all along—just not for the passengers.

He broke out the guitar again on the last leg of the cruise, in a concert he cheekily called “All I Want Is a Wifi Signal, Is That Too Much to Ask?” But by then, we’d all found a better connection in each other (enough to strip to our swim shorts and take a “polar dip” in the Arctic Circle) and in the communities we visited.

Tom’s guitar strums must have been quite the force, because the next day I awoke to my phone pinging and pulsing. I glanced at the blotched screen. It was “Œ” o’clock. The near permanent sunlight further betrayed time, but I could tell we’d arrived in Greenland. The capital city’s developed seaport and stacks of Royal Arctic shipping containers were directly outside my porthole.

For a city of 17,000, Nuuk punches well above its weight. It’s home to geometrically interesting architecture and Godthaab Bryghus, a brewhouse named after the capital’s former Danish name. There are also concept boutiques, an impressive contemporary art gallery and Qiviut, a fashion line of strictly seal fur, cashmere-like muskox yarn and other native textiles. To the city folk aboard the Ocean Endeavour, the minuscule Manhattan was a needed change of pace. But even as the ship sailed off the coast and into Evighedsfjorden (the “Fjord of Eternity,” appropriately named for its 75 kilometres of breathtaking vistas), the cell reception remained. Not that I needed it anymore.

It was the first sign of the many advantages Greenland’s Inuit ancestors had over Canada’s. Towns of 200 had not just developed

Three Amigos The North is where this trio of the continent’s largest mammals call home: the always welldressed muskox; the super chill walrus and the big daddy of them all—the polar bear.

seaports but thriving fishing plants. The reasons were environmental, historical and political, explained Peter, who emigrated from Greenland to Canada in 1981 in search of her ancestral roots.

Greenlanders had their nationalist movement almost 40 years ago and are closing in on independence. They’d long switched over to Roman alphabets from syllabics and had benefited from colonization’s undeniable advantages for hundreds more years. They could also fish year-round, since ice floes don’t drift northward. And there’s the plain fact that Greenland’s ruling empire, Denmark, is a high-tax nation.

But, she noted, when she sought to find and revive the forgotten tradition of Inuit women’s facial and body tattoos—which Peter now bears on her chin, head and fingers—memories of the practice were completely wiped from Greenlanders. It was Canada’s Inuit who had kept traces of it.

However much their culture and languages diverged, the essence of tunngasugit and tikilluarit was identical. After arriving in Itilleq, Peter’s hometown, there wasn’t a soul left in the 120-person town’s quaint, colourful houses. Instead they met us on a dirt pitch with a soccer ball for one last cultural exchange, a great goodbye and an unforgettable welcoming. westernliving.ca / a p r i l

2 0 1 6 4 7

WL // SOURCES Shower head, Hansgrohe, across the West, hansgrohe-usa.com.

For complete retailer listings, please visit the manufacturer’s website.

Recent Refit

PAGES 30 -34 Designers, Thirdstone, Louis Pereira, Edmonton, thirdstone.ca; Denise Matheson Interior Design, Denise Matheson, denisematheson .idesign@gmail.com.

WL HOMES // makeovers

SECOND LIFE A vintage Calgary home gets a rare fresh start.

Blast from the Past This modest rancher has been transformed into a threestorey open-concept home, but it still celebrates that mid-century character with modernist furniture and vintageinspired touches—like a textured white brick fireplace.

PAGE 30 ENTRYWAY Still Life Large painting by

David Cantine, Peter Robertson Gallery, Edmonton, probertsongallery.com. B&B chair, Le Belle Arti, Calgary and Edmonton, lebellearti.com. Rug, Simons, Edmonton, simons.ca. Lamp, HomeSense, across the West, homesense.ca.

by stacey m c lachlan // photographs by martin tessler

westernliving.ca / a p r i l

Second Life

PAGES 24 -28 Designer, Alykhan Velji Design, Calgary, alyveljidesigns.com.

PAGES 24 & 25 LIVING ROOM Footstools, Robert

Allen Design, online, robertallendesign.com. Coffee table, CB2, Vancouver, cb2.com. White lamps and horse head statue, HomeSense, across the West, homesense.ca. White and black rug, West Elm, Vancouver and Calgary, westelm.com. Sofa, chairs and brass accent piece, Country Furniture, Vancouver and Calgary, countryfurniture.net. Small white rug, Ikea, across the West, ikea.ca. Red lamp, Louche Milieu, Calgary, louchemilieu.ca. Poufs, Peridot, Vancouver and Calgary, peridot.ca. Cabinets, Bex Vintage, Calgary, bexvintage.ca. Gramophone, homeowners’ own. Curtains, Maxwell Fabrics, Vancouver, maxwellfabrics.com. Curtains, Alykhan Velji Designs, Calgary, alyveljidesigns.com, fabric

by Maxwell Fabrics, Vancouver, maxwellfabrics .com.

PAGE 26 OFFICE AND HALLWAY Striped chair and

gold lamp, West Elm, Calgary, westelm.com. Gold accent piece, HomeSense, across the West, home sense.ca. Artwork, Thedor, Calgary, thedor.ca.

Frame, Impact Framing, Calgary, impactpicture framing.com. Artwork, Louche Milieu, Calgary, louchemilieu.ca. Triangle stools and white desk, Country Furniture, Calgary, countryfurniture.net.

Vases, HomeSense, across the West, homesense .ca. Rug, Dasan Interiors, Calgary, dasaninteriors .com. Wood flooring, Maguire’s Flooring, Calgary, maguiresflooring.com.

DINING ROOM Dining chairs, Country Furniture, Calgary, countryfurniture.net. Dining table, Style in Form, Burnaby, styleinform.com. George Nelson chandelier, Ylighting, online, ylighting.com. White poufs, HomeSense, across the West, homesense .ca.

KITCHEN Barstools, Country Furniture, Vancouver and Calgary, countryfurniture.net.

PAGE 28 BEDROOM Rug, House of Persian Rugs,

KIYA HOME Deerfoot Meadows 8180 11 Street Southeast Calgary 403.265.5492 info@kiyahome.com kiyahome.com

Calgary, hprgallery.com. Lamps, HomeSense, across the West, homesense.ca. Vase, Louche Milieu, Calgary, louchemilieu.ca. Bedside tables, CB2, Vancouver, cb2.com. Throw pillows, Alykhan Velji Designs, Calgary, alyveljidesigns.com.

Exclusive brand partners with

BATHROOM Light fixtures, West Elm, Calgary, westelm.com. Tiling, Ames, Calgary and Edmonton, amestile.com. Countertops, Caesarstone, across the West, caesarstone.ca. Drawer handles, Banbury Lane, Calgary, banburylane.com. Black frame, HomeSense, across the West, homesense.ca.

2 0 1 6 2 7

PAGE 32 DINING ROOM B&B table and chairs, Le Belle Arti, Calgary and Edmonton, lebellearti.com.

Light fixtures, Vivid Concepts, Calgary and Edmonton, vividconcepts.ca. October painting by Mitchel Smith, Peter Robertson Gallery, Edmonton, probertsongallery.com. White oak flooring, Ador-A-Floor, Edmonton, adorafloorhardwood .com. White bowl, Joe Fresh, across the West, joefresh.com

LIVING ROOM The Beach painting by Phil Darrah, Peter Robertson Gallery, Edmonton, probert songallery.com. B&B sofa, coffee table and chair, Le Belle Arti, Calgary and Edmonton, lebellearti .com. Blanket, Top Knot Style, online, topknotstyle .ca. Gray pillows, H&M Home, across the West, hm.com. Yellow pillows, Simons, Edmonton, simons.ca. Vase, Joe Fresh, across the West, joefresh.com. Rug, HomeSense, across the West, homesense.ca.

PAGE 34 BATHROOM Faucets, Blu Bathworks, Vancouver, blubathworks.com. Flooring, River City Tile, Edmonton, rivercitytilecompany.com. Bath mat and towels, Simons, Edmonton, simons.ca. Table, HomeSense, across the West, homesense.ca.

MASTER BEDROOM Rug and B&B chair, Le Belle Arti, Calgary and Edmonton, lebellearti.com.

Bover lamp, Vivid Concepts, Calgary and Edmonton, vividconcepts.ca.

KIDS’ ROOM Ligne Roset shelves, Le Belle Arti, Calgary and Edmonton, lebellearti.com.

Trade Secrets

PAGE 50 Designer, Amanda Hamilton, Calgary, amandahamiltondesign.com. Architect, MoDA, Dustin Couzens, Calgary, moda-architecture.ca.

Statuario marble, Jade Stone, Calgary and Edmonton, jadestone.ca. Montigo fireplace, Hearth Fireplaces Distributors, Calgary, hearthfireplace depot.com; Fireplace Gallery, Edmonton, fireplace gallery.com. Custom vegan leather Alison sofa, Alison table, Camerich, Domicile Contract, domicilecontract.com. Linden pillows, Brenner pillows and bowl, Crate and Barrel, Calgary and Edmonton, crateandbarrel.ca. Ligne Roset Balaa side table, Ligne Roset Bul lamp, Ligne Roset Moel chairs, Ligne Roset Soft and Doux rug and Ligne Roset Trinitas floor lamp, Le Belle Arti, Calgary, lebellearti.com; Dwell Modern, Edmonton, dwellmodern.ca. Vase, Wild About Flowers, Calgary, wildaboutflowerscalgary.com. Jonathan Adler Peace Hand sculpture, Kit, Calgary, Calgary, kitinteriorobjects.com; The Artworks, Edmonton, theartworks.ca. Cashmere throw, Restoration Hardware, Calgary and Edmonton, restorationhardware.com.

Andy Young Site Supervisor of Homes by Avi

“ WE’RE NOT BUILDING HOUSES, WE’RE BUILDING HOMES.” Every step of the way, we partner with our clients to help build their dream home. For the majority of our clients, building a custom home happens once in a lifetime and the journey is as important as the final result. Seeing the joy on our client’s faces when we turn over the keys is what drives us to do what we do.

Artesia at Heritage Pointe, where the real luxury is the way in which you’ll live.

Hear more of Andy’s story by visiting our website, liveatartesia.com or on social media at #FacesofArtesia.

VISIT OUR ARTESIA SHOWHOMES, OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK!

WL // TRADE SECRETS

DESIGNED BY

T‍ ה‏L k

CHIC AND COZY

Create a Euro-cool look for your mantel with a visual trick.

5 0 A P R I L 2 0 1 6 / westernliving.ca

“We wanted to create a statement piece,� says designer Amanda Hamilton of the stunning marble slab that tops the fireplace of this sophisticated Calgary living room.

It stands out in part because of the beauty of the material, but Hamilton also employed a colour trick to give it an extra pop: the walls around it are painted black to create a striking contrast. And below, the fireplace itself is clad in black metal so the whole thing disappears when the fire’s not lit. “Suddenly, you’ve created a seamless look,� says Hamilton.

Tammy McGregor

A a H n d ar i ct Dus n C ns

Photo Michel Gibert. Special thanks: Stanislav Fiala, architect - TASCHEN. *Conditions apply, ask your store for more details.

French Art de Vivre

Connexe. Modular seating in leather, design Roche Bobois Studio.

Connexe. Cocktail table, design Roche Bobois Studio.

Geom. Pedestal tables, design Piks Design.

Manufactured in Europe.

VANCOUVER - 716 West Hastings - Tel. 604-633-5005 - vancouver@roche-bobois.com CALGARY - 225 10 th Avenue SW - Tel. 403-532-4401 - calgary@roche-bobois.com

∙ Complimentary 3D Interior Design Service*

www.roche-bobois.com

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