Panorama Hills Renovation

Easy Living in Calgary

MEET THE CLIENTS:

Martin & Connie had recently retired and moved across the country to be near family and the mountains. After purchasing a bungalow in need of updating, their realtor recommended Room Service Interiors. Having worked in different cities for the 14 years of their marriage, this was the first home they would share full time and they desired a retreat they could enjoy in tandem after a day out kayaking or hiking. Although in good health, they struggled with minor back and hip problems and needed an ergonomic design for their 4’11” and 5’6” frames. Given these issues and their desire to remain in their home for the next 20 years, we agreed that adding some aging-in-place elements to the scope would be beneficial.

SCOPE OF THE PROJECT:

Albert Hadley said it best when he proclaimed that “the essence of interior design will always be about people and how they live”. We were confronted with a kitchen layout that just didn’t work, bathrooms with linoleum floors and some seriously original fixtures and vanities. Add to that green laminate countertops for a home that was firmly stuck in the 1990’s and completely out of sync with their wish for a pared down, highly functional design.

To help them create a modern, yet timeless home together, Room Service Interiors was tasked with designing a complete renovation of the main rooms and a refresh of the remainder with paint, lighting, and minor construction (those wall nooks HAD to go). We crafted design concepts for each space and drafted dimensioned construction and 3D drawings to help the clients fully imagine what their home would look like upon completion. After sign off, we selected and sourced each of the finishes and fixtures and worked with the GC to ensure the design direction was carried out. Finally, styled each space upon completion, right down to the fluffy new towels gracing the bathrooms.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS:

Principal Ensuite

  • The clients must have list included a rainhead shower, double freestanding soaker tub, and double vanity. No small feat given the constraints created by three doors in the room.

  • We kept the walls in place to create additional budget to develop a barrier free wet-room design with bespoke plumbing fixtures and living-in-place features.

  • We installed a custom wall hung shaker vanity of white oak laminate with motion sensor toe kick lighting for late night visits.

  • We chose an organic white quartz countertop with integrated backsplash, designed to be both hard-wearing and easy to clean.

  • Accessories and fixtures were kept streamlined and the palette restrained with layered elements of wood to keep the ensuite from feeling clinical. That collapsible teak bench is both a stylish and practical addition.

  • To enhance Connie & Martin’s bathing experience, we added deliberate touches such as a long herringbone tile tub niche for wine glasses, teak shelves over the tub-end for amenities and additional handheld attachment on the floor mount tub filler for effortless cleaning.

I am incredibly proud of the tailored and thoughtful solutions created to meet their space challenges, future needs and taste.  This project is currently a finalist in the DDA Design Awards, a national design competition.

Kitchen

  • We completely gutted the kitchen including the space-sucking corner pantry that made the kitchen appear even smaller than it was. This meant removing the existing pantry bulkhead and matching it to the new cabinets.

  • The new layout created additional space for pull out pantry storage and a few extra critical inches on the end for a microwave drawer and appliance garage. Overhead microwaves can be dangerous when removing hot items but is also impractical for below-average height individuals or anyone with mobility issues.

  • We added customized (and ergonomic) storage that would work for how Connie and Martin cook, including a pull out oil & spice base cabinet on one side of the new gas range and a pan pull out on the other side for easy access. Next to those, we added two banks of drawers to house pots and pans, mixing bowls and any utensils the cook requires.

  • We chose a soft warm white for both the perimeter cabinets AND the tile to keep the kitchen feeling bright and airy. While white is definitely classic, we didn’t want boring, so we did these three things to keep the design both classic and visually appealing: we installed the ? tile all the way to the ceiling as a backdrop for the stainless rangehood and grouted it in a blue-grey to highlight the pattern, we added those gorgeous classic polished nickel pulls from ??, and we topped it all off with a dramatic Cambria Portrush navy & white

  • We replaced the old island with a larger one and painted it in a beautiful navy that has just a hint of plum by Sherwin Williams to energize the space and appeal to the clients love of the water.

  • The IKON anthracite apron front sink is indeed gorgeous, but also allowed for a slightly lower basin for Connie to access (when you’re under 5’ tall, 2” matters).

  • The new size allowed for a touchless trash and recycling pull out as well as cabinets on the backside for dishes and glasses and a full 15” overhang for a proper depth counter height eating bar.

  • We topped it all off with a beautiful linear LED pendant that just barely fit between two of the skylights to add better task lighting.

Basement Bath

  • Again, we gutted this space, taking care to keep the vanity cabinet intact to be resprayed that same Sherwin Williams blue.

  • The bathroom floor tended to be cold, so in-floor heat was added for the benefit of guests.

  • In place of the previous tub enclosure, we designed a custom tile shower with a stunning elongated vertical shower niche. The clean white of the subway tile and subtle pattern of matte glass statuario floor tile offset the deep grey-blue of the niche tile from Saltillo.

  • We repeated the look of the statuario shower tile with a larger hexagon on the bathroom floor, keeping the overall colour palette simple and clean, choosing to add visual interest with pattern instead.

  • We again topped this space off with a clean white quartz, but used less expensive brushed nickel hardware and a dimmable LED vanity mirror.

Laundry Room

What do you do when your client is below average height and they need more accessible storage in their laundry room?

  • Add a base cabinet pull out between the washer and dryer for everyday cleaning supplies

  • Bump out the drywall to bring the wall cabinets flush to the edge of the countertop and hang them at a lower height.

  • Place a closet rod between the wall cabinets for a practical hanging space for delicate clothes.

  • Top it all off with a clean quartz countertop for folding laundry

  • Finally, you bring in the beautiful palette and finishes from the remainder of the home, to make it all flow.

TOTAL TIME:

8 months