66 avenueJANUARY.18
DECOR
ABOVE Building an inner-city bungalow
allowed homeowners Tricia and Mike
Flanagan to downsize for retirement
but not at the expense of having a yard
for “putzing around.”BELOW The homeowners xeriscaped the
property (a style of landscaping designed
to minimize the use of water, fertilizer and
labour) for easy maintenance.BOTTOM LEFT The home features
an outdoor living room with tabletop
fireplace and overhead heaters.
BOTTOM RIGHT The bedroom opens
out to a private courtyard.5 TIPS TO TURN EVERYDAY
MATERIALS INTO SOME-
THING FRESH AND NEW
Even if you’re using ubiquitous
building materials, being creative
with the way you use them can
make your home stand out, says
home designer Marvin DeJong.
“Your house can come from Home
Depot,” he says, “but it doesn’t
have to look like it.”
- Cut up HardiePlank in different
configurations to create a
unique siding look. “With the
Flanagan home, we wanted to
use the panels to create some-
thing unique, as the house
really did not suit typical bev-
elled siding and stucco didn’t
offer the texture we wanted,”
DeJong says. - Use flush railings on a flight of
stairs (just be aware of the strict
building codes for height and
clearance of railings). - Create a walk-in European-style
shower room by having the
shower basin flush with the rest
of the bathroom floor. Keep
in mind that this requires the
floor below the shower basin
to be at least four-inches lower
than the adjacent floor. It’s very
difficult to achieve if the house
is already framed or if the base-
ment floor is already poured,
says DeJong, so make sure it’s
in the plans from the beginning. - Get creative with excess space
above shelves or below stairs
— depending on the space
it can become a loft bed or
a hideout/play space for kids. - On upper kitchen cabinets
increase the wow factor by
selecting a wider door and
changing the hardware to an
upswing mechanism. “I am also
a big believer in below-counter
drawers,” says DeJong. “There
is less bending and things tend
not to get lost in the back of
a drawer.”