by lisa@lisacanning.ca | May 13, 2016 | Interior Design
Well 6 weeks certainly flew by! So excited to share this little cottage kitchen project I have been working on for the 6 week #oneroomchallenge hosted by Calling It Home. I had so much fun working on my home gym, and my laundry room in past challenges, I thought I would give it a go with this cottage kitchen- a sweet little retreat that has become such a special place for my family. My 5 kids absolutely adore this space- so it was wonderful to give the kitchen a little bit of love.
Here is the before (check out that tin backplash! boob lights!)
After lots of demo, some Certainteed insulation, and more hard work- it was transformed. And here is the after!
The first major change we made was with these laminate counters by Belanger Laminates. As the homeowners wanted to keep this space budget friendly and durable for renters going laminate was a great option- in this neutral grey it provides a lovely modern element to this cottage kitchen. We used the same material in floating shelves to add a textural element to the wall.
Another modern element we added was in the cabinet doors and drawers. As I mentioned in this post, while I of course could have designed a brand new kitchen from scratch, these cabinets were in great shape and knowing the long term plans of the cottage owners, it was in their best interest to reuse them. So we gave them a little upgrade with Grass quiet close hinges and outfitted the drawers with new quiet close glides. The original cabinet pulls got a hit of Krylon Oxford Blue.
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We used a very simple white long subway tile for the backsplash from Creekside Tile and organized the counters with some stylish vessels from Bouclair.
A gorgeous new range from Maytag with a super easy to clean cooktop is a great option for this rental property.
This Trinsic faucet in chrome is honestly a go-to for me for so many reasons. It is just so elegantly designed- and with a pull down spray that is so elegantly integrated into the arc of the faucet- you get great form and function in one.
A mix of woods and metals was important to me throughout the space like in these counter stools by Bouclair.
And finally, I wanted whimsy in the accessories, including this cute water station (shaped like a chair!) and breakfast spread- how gorgeous are those patterned Ted Baker mugs- and that marble and blue serving board! All sourced from HomeSense.
This one was another race to the finish line- but very pleased with the results. For me, this was a great experience in that you can create massive change, with great function, without having to do a large sale renovation or sink in lots of money. I'm grateful to the homeowners who worked extremely hard- and now we all get to enjoy summertime in this new kitchen space.
If you're new to my blog- thanks for stopping by! Great to have you here : )
Source list:
Insulation- Certainteed
Backsplash- Creekside Tile
Spray paint- Krylon
Cabinet paint in back of cabients (colour matched to Krylon Oxford Blue)
Cabinet hinge and drawer quiet close hardware- Grass Canada
Counters & floating shelves- Belanger Laminate
Chrome lights, island pendants, counter stools, storage vessels, metal round tray- Bouclair
Faucet- Delta Trinsic
Range- Maytag
Wooden cutting boards, marble / blue platter, cake stand, Ted Baker mugs, water station, blue / clear water glasses, aqua bowls, kitchen linens, blue patterned rug- HomeSense
Lisa's shirt- Ted Baker
Photos- Dan Tardif
Now go look at the amazing transformations everyone else did! Search the hashtag #oneroomchallenge on instagram (I have been highlighting my favourites all day!) and visit the featured 20 designers here and guest participants here.
by lisa@lisacanning.ca | May 6, 2016 | Interior Design
My friends, the last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. Before I jump into my ORC post, I would love to share a brief personal update on where things are post my sabbatical.
My recent break from work and social media gave me a lot of clarity on where I should be spending my time. One exercise in particular that I did while on my break, from the book Living Forward by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy, challenged me to examine how I live out my Catholic faith. After lots of prayer and some fun brainstorming, my husband and I and another friend started a membership site called UEvangelize. I'm grateful for the chance to use my skills to hopefully help people in their own faith journeys.
Additionally, I've been navigating the dance of balancing work and family. While I write articles like this on how to get more done in less time, I am very truthfully a massive work in progress. "Balance" is hard. Really hard. If you're joining me here after watching my recent interview with Michael Hyatt on balance and you think I have it all figured it to perfection- I assure you I do not. I am writing this blog post at 11:34pm, after hosting a webinar for the first time for our membership site, in an incredibly messy kitchen with piles of laundry to be folded in the corner. I am a work in progress. I was encouraged this week by the words of Michelle Cuchatt on her own struggles when career and family collide.
All this to say that it has been a heck of a month- and I decided to throw in completing a kitchen in 6 weeks for the wonderful thing that is the One Room Challenge, a blogging experience where a room is completed in 6 weeks, real time, and progress shared from bloggers and designers all over the world. It is amazing- but SO INTENSE. You can check out the featured 20 designers here and the guest participants here.
On top of the all the fun things happening in my life over the last month, I chose to work on a project about 2 hours away from my home in Toronto in remote cottage country. No "quick run" to the Home Depot or HomeSense- once you're up there, you're up there.
So I thought for this last week I would share some strategies for completing a space in a remote location. I have many designer friends who take on clients all over Canada and the US and beyond. I have worked on television shows in the US and Canada but all were situated in urban settings. So here are a few tips if you're ever going to tackle a project in a remote location- all in the hopes of saving you time, money and stress.
1. Measure everything on day 1
And I mean everything! I learned from designing rooms for television shows, that short timelines mean you need all relevant info on a space at the get go- it's a waste of time to go back for that missing piece of information. Remote locations are similar- when it's a far drive down dirt roads and simply inefficient to make multiple treks, measure thoroughly. For a kitchen this includes: ceiling height, window dimensions, backsplash dimensions, counter run dimensions, openings for appliances, style of appliance if you are trying to match existing ones, height of pendant lighting if you need something cut to size, depth of upper cabinets if you are doing any floating shelving beside them, linear feet for trim around windows and baseboard etc., number of cabinet pulls, distance of center to center holes if re-using existing holes on cabinet doors, width of sink, etc. etc. etc.
And of course take lots of pictures. There are apps like Photo Measures that conveniently allow you to record the dimensions right on your photo.
2. Batch create
Plan how you will spend your time so you are not doing unnecessary runs into the city. For this project, we had a couple messy things to tackle. Mainly, 1) replacing the cabinet doors and drawers with soft close hinges 2) replacing counters 3) replacing all fixtures 4) tiling 5) insulation and drywall. When completing a project, think carefully about what supplies you need- can they all be purchased from the same retailer? What can be done on the same day? Can you create an online order first so you don't forget anything? The whole concept of batch creating essentially means to do similar tasks at the same time since you are already in the zone of doing it- I like to be strategic and get all the shopping done in one trip, then all the messy work done in one phase, so you aren't changing in and out of dirty clothes and wasting time with unnecessary travel.
3. Outsource where possible
Massive love note to the owners of this gorgeous property- they have done an incredible job of rolling up their sleeves and doing a ton of this work themselves, good 'ol fashioned DIY sweat equity styles. But they have also been smart and outsourced a ton of the work as well.
For this space, the cabinet doors were fairly new so we decided to re-use them. I really wanted to add a touch of luxury to this kitchen however and went with a soft-close hardware from Grass Canada (an industry leader in developing soft close systems for drawer and cabinet hardware).
We took the doors and drawers off, brought them to a cabinet maker who then drilled and installed the hardware. Then the homeowners were able to fairly easily put the doors and drawers back on and now the space has a completely different feel to it – cupboards that slam with an ear-piercing bang, drawers that constantly jam or close too quickly, and lazy cabinet doors that won’t stay open are now a thing of the past for this family.
Also- this saved a ton of money PS. We weren't looking to do a big kitchen remodel here, but I did want to give them a small upgrade. Cost to replace the cabinets and labour / install to install etc. easily $15k. We spent $1500 on giving these a refresh.
4. Always bring more than you think you need
I once styled a photoshoot for a magazine far out in cottage country and I learned the hard way that it is always better to be prepared with more and return after the fact. When you're far away and the closest florist shop or accessories retailer is a far drive out and you have a camera crew and other people waiting on you- it is always better to just bring more than you think. I find this is true for flowers, small accessories like vases or sculptures, books and kitchen linens. Buy more than you need and you can return whatever you don't use (or if you're like me you keep it anyways #bahaha).
I don't have many pictures of the space because, frankly, it is still a mess! Lots to do before the space gets gorgeous for photos. It's going to be an epic week- but I really cannot wait to share the results with you all.
by lisa@lisacanning.ca | Apr 15, 2016 | Interior Design
As I mentioned last week, I am taking part in the One Room Challenge, a really fun design experience where designers and bloggers create a space in 6-weeks and capture all the antics week by week. The whole thing is put together by the lovely Linda at Calling It Home.
When designing a space I always think really hard about the overall look and point of view. In my living room and kitchen, I knew I wanted it to feel urban and polished but family friendly. For a recent client space in Aurora, I wanted it to feel really sophisticated and luxe.
When I design a space I always pick 5 words to define the space, and then filter all design decisions through these words.
For this round of the ORC, I am designing a cottage kitchen- but of course I am going to put a modern spin on it. My 5 words for this space include: industrial, vibrant, rustic, whimsical and relaxed. I'm going to accomplish this in a few ways.
For a little industrial edge in this cottage kitchen, I'll be using these pendants and stools from Bouclair- love how budget friendly they are:
The cabinets in this kitchen aren't very old, and I honestly could not justify suggesting to swap them out as the layout works very well in this space especially given this is a cottage that is rented out for large portions of the year. But to give the cabinets a little upgrade we'll be using GRASS quiet close cabinet hardware on the interior hinges for that nice soft close. It's a small thing to add but to me makes a big difference in the user experience.
I want the space to feel really relaxed and not too fussy or polished, so I have chosen to go with Belanger laminate counters both for ease of installation and low maintenance, in a light grey.
Throw in a gorgeous touch faucet (I am a little obsessed with the design of this Delta Trinsic faucet)
And this black Maytag range to tie in to the existing black appliances
And there's my relaxed palette!
To add a vibrant pop, I'm going to spray out the existing cabinet hardware in a bright blue- and then I need to find a whimsical blue fabric to use in a window covering and maybe some table linens or a bulletin board? And I am thinking I might need to do something fun on the floor- because you know how much I love a patterned floor. Tune in next week while I figure that element out!
In other news, it has been 1 week since I have re-entered the internet world after my month long sabbatical from social media. It is nice to be back, but I am also back with a less obsessive approach, which I think has been great for everyone in my house : )
I'd love to know what projects you've got cooking up and what you've been up to! Let me know in the comments below : )
Thanks to my lovely friend and colleague Jo Alcorn for providing me some inspiration with the image of a recent laundry room she completed pictured above!
by lisa@lisacanning.ca | Apr 8, 2016 | Interior Design
If you've been following my blog over the past few weeks you know I just recently took a full month sabbatical from work and social media. You can read why I did it here.
It's great fun to return back to the land of the internet with another round of the One Room Challenge. The ORC is an amazing blog series where designers, decorators, bloggers, join up to complete a room in 6 weeks and blog about it weekly. The entire operation is the brain child of Linda at Calling It Home and it is seriously amazing. I completed my laundry room and my home gym through these challenges last year and am so excited to participate again.
This time, I am tackling a very special place. As I mentioned at the top of this post, I have just come out of a 4-week break from work and social media. I removed all social media apps from my phone, delegated stuff to staff, and spent a couple of glorious weeks unwinding. It was really hard, and really rewarding all at the same time. I will reflect on this more in a later post but will share I am the most at peace I have felt in a really long time. I have gained a ton of clarity, feel refreshed, and while I am excited to be back on social media, I'm going to be using it a lot more intentionally (meaning, not as much).
I knew it was going to be really hard for me to detox during the first week (I was ghosting for the Instagram button so much the first 2-3 days!) so I purposefully planned a holiday for my family in a place that has become a very special retreat for us.
We've had the opportunity over the past few years to use an incredible little property on Stoney Lake near Peterborough, Ontario. It's nestled on a quiet portion of the lake, with breathtaking views. In the winter deer walk across the frozen lake to graze on the grass. In the summer, the lake is full of adventure and languid evenings by the fire. Growing up, cottaging was not something my family did and I truthfully never understood its appeal. But now, with 5 kids of my own, I totally understand the value in getting away from city life. As I've experienced over the last 4 weeks, slowing down is simply essential for healthy living and creative thinking. I have had some of my best ideas at this cottage and created some wonderful family memories.
So when the owners agreed to let me tackle their cottage kitchen I was pretty darn thrilled. It's going to be great fun to create a cozy little space in a place I care so much about.
This kitchen is going to get a nice little refresh- I invite you to stop in every Thursday to see what's happening. You can see what the featured 20 designers are up to here, and what the link up participants are up to here.
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