If I had a home in a warm/tropical climate like Florida, (or in my case, Mexico) I would want it to look like this. Inside and out. This home in Alys Beach, is a bohemian beachy dream in white. Bits of blingy brass, lots of textures and earthy accents, it’s just what the weather calls for. Designed by Bohlert Massey.

A backyard I would spend all my time in. Simple, easy going and gorgeous. Designed by Boxleaf Design. Easy coat sensibility, meets west coast living in this full site landscape renovation. Highlights include a new athletic-length pool with hot tub and cold pluge; perfect for an after-school dip, sophisticated entertaining and post-workout rehab. Expansive lawn was reduced to make way for mounded planting beds featuring soft feathery grasses and sculptural perennials. Organic textures are set against crips precast concrete, rugged recycled granite paving and a reflective cascading water feature. 

I have been working from home for my day job since day 1 of the pandemic lockdown (mid March). One day last week my boss asked all us leads on the team to send photos around of us in our workspaces. I was horrified at the tiny makeshift workspaces my colleagues had created for themselves. Meanwhile here I sit at my 8′ long former dining table on a Herman Miller office chair surrounded my about 20 plants, stacks of design books and several cats. So it really made my day when Greg Walters, who runs a graphic design company in Seattle, emailed with some photos of his pandemic-driven home office remodel. I am in awe of his organization, insanely good storage units and other cool stuff he came up with. All of this in the basement of his 1962 mid century post and beam home. I’d never go back to the office with this setup!!!

The hallway image between both rooms has the door to our utility room that houses the furnace and water heater along with our washer and dryer and a slop sink. The rectangular opening near the floor is the entrance to our cat’s litterbox now located in the utility room so we have finally gotten that out of sight.

The cabinet island I created out of Baltic birch plywood is topped with my former glass conference table. The wood cabinets were surplus from a lab remodel at the University of Washington and were purchased for $25 each. 

The fake steel girder/post was faced in mdf and I ordered a bunch of wood half rounds to create the fake rivets.

I eliminated a small conference room area and replaced it with a guest bedroom area where it used to be. (Perfect for afternoon power naps!!!)

The other room is on the other side of the basement and used to have walls of really cheap sheet paneling and green shag carpeting that was replaced with bamboo flooring. The cabinets in that room are all bamboo ¾” plywood. I call the other room my man cave since my wife has her own workspace upstairs and we seem to have created our own fiefdom on each floor since we are empty nesters and now have the space we both wanted. No kids in the house really has allowed us to customize what both of us have always wanted but never had the time or space to really get done.

Eugene Kolomiychenko of EK Design sent us a message recently about some of his projects. His studio in Odessa, Ukraine provides services in space design, 3D graphics, sculpture, furniture design, product design, decorations. Here are a couple of spaces he designed – a men’s-only beauty salon appropriately named VERT and a wine bar that both coincidentally if located here in Ontario would now be able to be frequented (as long as the wine gallery had a patio). Modern and sleek, rustic and chic.

I can’t remember how I first came across the Instagram account of designer Elle Patille (@leydi_milagros_design), though I do recall being instantly smitten with her style. In a really profound way. Her Victorian heritage home is located outside of Toronto and I fell in love with every inch of it. And once I saw the before photos I was even more enthralled with her home and her talent as a designer. Her home was very very white not long ago (as seen in this House & Home feature), and I have to applaud her for deciding to do a 180 and go mostly dark. The drama the home now exudes is magical, and the dark backdrop is exactly what was needed to showcase her collection of curiosities. (Yes, there is quite a bit of taxidermy in her home – if you aren’t a fan please move on to the next post and comments on this subject will be removed). Her aesthetic is what she calls modern ‘horror vacui’ (“fear of empty space”) and it’s breathtaking. Also, her and her husband share this home with a slew of dogs and cats so she gets major bonus points for that.

For me, home is a place that understands how you’re feeling and how to comfort you at any given moment.  I knew there was a lot of potential when we purchased our home but I didn’t go into it with a vision. I did however go into it with a lot of emotion which allowed it to take shape without questioning it. In order to achieve this, I needed spaces that were healing and that tapped on every emotion… Spaces that were pretty but at the same time can give you the chills… rooms soft and romantic yet strong and masculine …  dark busy rooms that are thought provoking and bright clean areas that allow for a clear and creative mind. In turn, it became a sort of therapy – a release, psychological turned physical and ultimately it became not just a home for me but rather a refuge.