Page 63 - Canadian House & Home - xxx 2010

Kitchen
Nursery
Dining room
Bedroom
W/C

Living room

Principal bedroom

Main floor Second floor

Four days. That’s how long I told my
husband we’d be staying with my parents.
I watched with a pang of guilt as he packed
four pairs of underwear, two pairs of pants,
a few shirts and a sweater or two. He didn’t
ask why I had two suitcases and an army-
sized trunk full of clothes and toys for our
nine-month-old son, but that’s beside the
point. If the truth about our newly
purchased home had been revealed — that BEFORE
the renovation was badly behind schedule
— he would have freaked out.
We weren’t looking for a new house. In fact, we were
moments away from doing a two-storey renovation to
our tiny semidetached home in the east end of Toronto.
Permits were approved and the contractor booked.
Then we went on a summer vacation with some friends
and over a bottle of wine, they had us looking at a house
online, in their uptown neighbourhood, that gave us
everything we were trying to achieve with our pending
addition. A month later, we owned the home.
It was love, instantly. Not because it stank of cigarette
smoke or had a front hall covered in 1970s wallpaper with
a print that looked like the after-effects of a forest fire.
Nor did it have to do with the hallway full of red-brick-

OPPOSITE: New BOTTOM RIGHT: TOP RIGHT: The
recessed lighting, a Hand-screened 1950s-style living
leaded-glass window wallpaper was the room window got
and mini floral first item purchased an instant update
mosaic tiles on the and the last thing with a fresh coat
fireplace surround to be installed. A of black paint,
gave the tired, weathered bench transforming the
wood-trimmed and low-hung art look from dated
living room new life. make a focal point to modern loft.
Floorplan illustrations by Jenn Lawrence mirror, InVU Drapery; Wallpaper, Pro Glo BEFORE
under the stairs,
Lamps, Decorum
Tile, Ciot; carpet,
Decorative Finds.
while mini hexagonal
West Elm; coffee
floor tiles add texture.
table, Roots Home;
Paints; runner, Elte;
credenza, Ikea;
tile, Ciot; bench,
Indian Ocean art,
SCAD; flowers
Hardware; turquoise
throughout, Posies.
tray, Hollace Cluny.
see
houseandhome.com
Check out 32 of our favourite new
wallpapers. Click Design, then GALLERIES.
H&H FEBRUARY 2010 61
12/7/09 7:12:04 PM
FEB - Tanya Linton.indd 2
FEB - Tanya Linton.indd 2 12/7/09 7:12:04 PM