This House Features Furniture These Renters Built Themselves

Name: Shanna Flodstrom and partner
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Type of home: House
Size: 800 square feet
Years lived in: 1.5 years, renting

Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: My partner and I moved into this home a year and a half ago and we have pretty much been updating it since day one. We like our home to function efficiently in our day-to-day life so we have spent a lot of time creating a space that works and makes sense. It wasn’t the most functional place to start with and it needed a lot of love. Every square inch of this place is utilized to its fullest potential.

We are both very creative people; I am an interior designer and my partner is an artist/illustrator, so our home is a huge reflection of that. We love color and aren’t afraid to use it. We also appreciate unique pieces so we have a good mix of handmade, secondhand, and vintage. We are also both very organized people so while we do have a lot of things, everything has its place and its purpose.

Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Colorful and innovative with a mix of modern and vintage.

What is your favorite room and why? That’s a hard one; I feel like that tends to change but at the moment I love our kitchen. We cook a ton so we tend to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. We recently built a new kitchen island and our kitchen table with the bench. This room is quite small so we had to build our own furniture to make it fit properly.

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? I found an amazing mid-century metal chair on the street that was completely covered in rust. I cleaned off the rust and painted it matte black and it’s one of my favorite pieces now!

Any advice for creating a home you love? Don’t be afraid! The more brave you are the better the outcome will be because you will end up with a home that is truly you

This submission’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.

Share Your Style: House Tour & House Call Submission Form