What is your one favorite element in your small, cool home? The open plan --- it's one big room!
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What was one of the biggest challenges you faced in furnishing your small home? The open plan! The biggest challenge was how to preserve light,openness and a feeling of spaciousness, while providing for all the functions of daily life for two busy people. We added a glass block wall to separate off the bedroom, while still allowing the light to flood the space corner to corner. We installed a raised platform in the tip-out area to provide variation, a change of rhythm and a different vantage point on the views inside and out.Both the glass block wall and the platform are curved for a sense of ease and grace, balancing the hard industrial elements like the concrete floor, exposed pipes and ducting.We used a mix of vintage, contemporary and modern elements to warm up the space and add character.
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Hey Janel - This just came out and voting is closed?
I wanted to give a big thumbs up because it's such a beautiful, rich and layered space!
This is very cool! I love that there are so many traditional elements mixed with some modern.
http://thebluepearlgirl.blogspot.com
I love the variety, the elegant furnishings, the different levels, the layering...
...Big thumbs up!!!
Thanks for fixing the voting, Janel!
What a nice, harmonious blending of styles. And I think you've handled the floor plan wonderfully.
Where abouts in Vic? Looks like a new development...
Downtown? Songhees? Langford?
I love James Bay!!
Lovely home. And way to represent the Garden City!!!
Victoria is the best!!
This is really neat- I love the mix of modern and traditional elements.
I must admit, a glass block wall is something that would usually make me cringe... but yours looks wonderful!
Harmonious palette, natural light, and layers... love it!
Victoria IS a delightful city with lots of beauty & character, just like this home! Love to know where you got alot of your furniture & accessories, Susan.
Very nice, but impersonal and lacking in soul. Like a pretty model suite or show home. Glass block wall is dated and the bedroom bordering on cheesy. The curtains are lovely as are the chandeliers and the ottoman.
Sherry: "Cheesy"? really? ouch.
I think it's a warm, inviting space. Susan must be an interior designer as the place is immaculate.
ilovebc- This does look like Songhees, doesnt it?
I would have to agree...it does look like a show home. I don't know if it lacks soul but it does kinda lack personality. Love the oversized ottoman!
Do you find that black ottoman table useful? I like the idea, but am always afraid of spilling soda or soup all over one (despite the tray).
Yeah. Something about it looks staged - like a TV show or catalog pick.
But that also means it's very very well put together.
Nice work Susan!
I think it is perfect! It is stylish and compact. The light coming into living space from the glass blocks is refreshing yet the deep colors and textures in the living space are cozy. Your climate certainly appreciates inside coziness. 2 thumbs up if I could!
What gorgeous styling! I understand where Elizcrtv is coming from. These images appear carefully staged and photographed. Apart from arrangement and selections, the pallet is so rich and tasteful. Compared to my rag-tag, eclectic homey home I couldn't even attempt something this mature, but it's lovely, Susan! I even appreciate how you handled glass block, a material I really dislike. Amazing! If designing interiors isn't your day job, I think you're onto something!
Lovely I could totally imagine myself visiting or staying. I love the natural earth tones and textures. Only thing that is a bit off for me is the stretched James Dean kid in the painting.
Simply the most stylish of the entries. Delightful!
Stylish, posh, grown-up and very cool.
It's grown-up. A very mature home. Established, attractive, elegant & chic. Everything has a place. That's why it resembles a catalogue show home as spoken by many. And what a compliment! It's stylish & swanky. That's what I love about it.
Wow! What a treat to get all this positive feedback. You guys are amazing! Thanks.
As to the questions...
Yes, we're close to Songhees in Vic West, near Dockside Green. A fast-changing, up and coming area, we think.
The black ottoman started its life as a chaise. When our needs changed, it morphed into an ottoman. Great for putting your feet up; not so great for balancing liquids. That's why it's not white.
Some of our furniture came from family, and is older than we are. The rest came from local stores: Chintz, Urban Barn, Designhouse, Liberty. Accessories are my passion and I'm always on the hunt. Best of all, designing interiors recently became my day job. Pure joy!
One more thing --- the drapes.
They are actually very inexpensive pieces of sheer fabric in a metallic gray hung from Ikea $4.95 coat hooks!
Neat! I wish my place looked like this.
An amazing space... so well designed, utilized... looks soooo much larger than it is! Very creative! Uniquely furnished... lovely colors... great accent pieces adding lots of character... absolutely love it!
It's absolutely gorgeous - this is what my home will look like when I grow up :)
Also, it really reminds me of Frasier's apartment on the show - anyone else?
This place looks like it cost a mint to furnish it. Lovely high end look. Beautiful!
This does look professionally done and expensive. To me decorating is much more challenging and time consuming when you have limited funds, as you have to work around what you are able to find. That said, this is beautiful and I would live there in a minute.
What's not to love about this home. I watched it evolve from the inception. While it looks expensive---trust me, Susan, is the consumate bargain hunter with an eye for detail and a wonderful creative visionary. I only wish she came with me when I moved from Victoria to Ottawa.
Susan has managed to make a 1,000-foot apartment look like 2,000 square feet. Quite an accomplishment!
Very beautiful and polished. Love it. Automatic thumbs up!
It's a fabulous space with so much light and character. Small vignettes mixing antiques an contemporary and the colours are excellent. It is cozy - believe me it is NOT staged, it's livable and lived in! Susan you are great. Way to go girl.
Chic!! What a nice space!
It's perfect! You have an eye.
Great mix of Contemporary and Traditional. Looks effortless and relaxed and very cosy.
Hey, I LOVE the glass block!! Very well used here, too.
More staid than I would choose, but the floor plan and levels are absolutely spot-on!
Thumbs up, of course!
This could easily be on the cover of any design magazine. It is impeccable....full of style and elegance.
Simply perfect. Wonderful mixing of styles. The lighting is fantastic, paint choices are warm and welcoming.
Thank you for sharing your lovely home.
Dated or not, I love glass block and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
A lot about this place isn't really my personal style, but it's really well-done, and I like the color palette.
I like the blending of muted, deeper colors. They've blended together in a way that makes the small space feel sophisticated. Nice job.
Really beautiful...elegant and tasteful. It looks harmonious and elegant. I really think you have exceptional taste and style!
Very chic and good use of colours! Love the simplicity of it all! Great use of space and very elegant! Great work Susan!
I see a sure hand at work here. Everything flows beautifully, and the antiques and textures she uses elegantly compliment the hard-edged modern design of the building. This is a warm and inviting space and undoubtedly functions beautifully. Good thing you quit your day job, Susan!
this is absolutely fabulous! I am in love with the furniture, the colors, textures everything is so well placed. It looks comfortable and chic and just very welcoming. I'm def. inspired!