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A Beautiful Place In The Neighbourhood

A couple buy a waterfront home near where they live to improve their views of the sea

by Elisabeth Kalbfuss
July 8, 2019
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PHOTOGRAPHY: JANIS NICOLAY
STYLING: RACHELLE GERVAIS

For years, a Nanaimo couple strolled around their neighbourhood admiring the waterfront properties not far from their own family home. Then, once their three boys had grown up and moved out, one of those houses went on the market and they couldn’t resist.

The homeowners wanted their kitchen and living area to be light and bright. The combination of white cabinetry and warm wood on the islands and floors creates a look that designer Rachelle Gervais describes as “contemporary coastal.”

Its views out over the Strait of Georgia are stunning, says Rachelle Gervais, principal designer of RG Design Inc., who handled the home’s remodel. “Your eye goes straight out to the water. You don’t want to compete with that.”

Built in the 1980s, the four-bedroom, three-bathroom home had been meticulously maintained by its previous owners as far as its structure was concerned, but they had never updated the original decor. The new owners found the space dark and closed off; they wanted to make it light and bright. Most important, they wanted to be able to see the water from everywhere on the main floor – not just from one side of the house.

Before starting this project, they had remodelled a bathroom on their own and briefly considered managing the main-floor renovation themselves. They planned to put in larger windows and glass doors to let in the light, and knock down a few interior walls to open the space and create those sightlines to the sea. 

A microwave drawer was installed in one of the two walnut islands. They add storage and contrast to the white Shaker cabinets. Countertops and backsplash: Statuario Maximus (5031) by Caesarstone.

That’s when they called in Gervais who collaborated on the project with Westmark Construction Ltd. “She (the homeowner) was perplexed. She was losing all this storage space and wanted input,” the designer says. 

To better appreciate the view of the sea, the homeowners enlarged the windows and glass doors. White oak floors: West Coast Collection by Timeless Wood Floors.

Gervais helped reconfigure the rooms, adding the original dining room on to the kitchen, and carving out new dining and living areas on each side. The design is flexible, she says, and the living and dining spaces could be switched if the homeowners ever decide they want to change things around. 

“Then the space just lent itself to having two islands in the kitchen,” Gervais says, islands that would make up for some of that disappearing wall storage.

“On the BC coast, you get grey days. I knew I wanted it light and white,” says the homeowner. “The view is what gives us all the colour.” In addition to the white upper cabinets, the countertops and backsplash are white Caesarstone, with light-grey veining.

To add warmth and keep the kitchen from being too white, Gervais chose black walnut for the island cabinets. “It’s the cabinet maker who decided to bookmatch them,” the homeowner says, so that the adjoining wood panels mirror each other. “We really like it.”

The children might be gone, but there are other family members who influenced some of the design choices – the couple’s golden retrievers, Sam and Ruby. “Our other house had dark floors and they showed all the hair,” the homeowner says. The new floors are seven-inch-wide-plank white oak, with a wire-brushed finish. “It has a lot of black knots and I like that.” Her other reason for choosing it was hoping it would hide any scratches from all the paw traffic. “It’s all about camouflaging.” So far, she says, it’s holding up very well. 

In both the master bathroom and hall bathroom, Gervais used the same walnut cabinetry, opting for a double cantilevered vanity in the master and a smaller one in the hall bath. She wanted continuity and the open, contemporary feel that had been established in the rest of the house.

The homeowner found a pedestal-style freestanding bath that she loved from a local supplier of reclaimed building materials; it was installed in the master bathroom. “In our old house, the kids were always throwing the dog in the tub,” she says. “I said, ‘No dog goes in this bathtub.’ ” 

Designer Rachelle Gervais used the same style of flat-panel doors and drawers on walnut vanities in both the master and hall bathrooms. Both countertops are in Caesarstone (Nougat 6600). Textured accent tiles in the shower designed to repel soap residue are Modern Line Acero by Porcelanosa.

Because the tub is a traditional element in the room, Gervais says, she chose more contemporary-style fixtures to add contrast.

The homeowner says the renovation would never have come together this way had she tried to manage the project herself. “The scope was much larger than they originally thought,” Gervais says, and trying to do it while working full-time would have been very challenging. “TV shows make it all look so easy, and it all comes together in 30 or 60 minutes. It’s not like real life.” •

RG Design Studio Inc.
www.rgds.ca
250-739-2641

Westmark Construction
www.westmarkconstruction.ca
250-729-7540

Timeless Wood Floors
www.timelesswoodfloors.ca

Tags: mid-centuryopen-conceptremodelviews

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