A Contemporary and Comfortable New Home in Nanaimo

These days, it seems I’m spending more time at my computer than ever working with my Online Consulting clients all over the world! This means that while I love to be able to drink wine coffee while I work, I’m ALWAYS happy to get out of the house and talk to live people (rather than Doug…the dog).

My clients, Lisa and Brian Birnie, were the dream team. They knew what they liked, what they didn’t like, and were totally open to new ideas. Creating their home was all about blending their personal tastes with my knowledge, to come up with a design plan that suited them to a tee.

Working with Alair Homes and my new BFF, Dan (who is like the Rainman of home building and renovation), this home exceeded all expectations in quality and appearance and I know the homeowners were thrilled with the final product – it even got its own magazine feature!  I may have had to buy Dan’s love via Starbucks coffee, but hey, I’ve done way worse things for love (wink wink).

So without further ado, let’s check this bad boy out…

The Modern West Coast Exterior

Using Hardi Board in Cobblestone, we created a layered palette of black, brown and greige, with stone for texture.

Read more: The 8 Best Paint Colours for Your Front Door

The Modern Contemporary Entryway

Lisa and Brian had a vision of an entryway and dining room that were separated by beams. And while the whole ‘cedar beam’ thing is on-trend, they wanted something a bit more contemporary, so we kept it simple with drywall and paint colour and let the architecture speak for itself.

The dining room is a nice step off the entryway. The entire open layout palette consists of layered grays from the Sherwin Williams palette with colourful accents (see the end of the blog post for a paint colour list).

The Expansive Dining Room

With photography by their talented daughter, Jessie Robertson, the dining room makes a statement all of its own.

The Open Layout Kitchen and Living Room

I love the layout of this home. Just enough definition to create well-defined function from space to space, but open enough to feel bright, spacious and visually connected. We can thank Austin of Datum Point Studios for the fabulous home plan/architecture.

I love the way the island countertop rolls right into the view of the striking, vaulted fireplace.

With a nice peek-a-boo view into the dining room.

Don’t mind the dusty floors, this was obviously a ‘pre-move-in’ photo and I didn’t have my cleanin’ pants on.

OH WAIT, MAYBE I DID!  Look, Mom, my cleanin’ pants! (and yes, she is going to kill me for putting this photo in that SHE TOOK, but really, it IS my best side…)

Lisa’s LOVE of teal came through in the furnishings and accessories!

The kitchen countertop and island are topped with Cambria Ellesmere, a striking black, brown, gray and white blend quartz countertop.

Read more: The New Era of Laminate Countertops and Why They ROCK!

The Stairwell with Peek-a-boo Wine Room

Early on, we decided to open up the stairwell so that as you were walking down, you’d see down into the wine room/family room – it was an expensive, but smart choice!

Opening up the wall makes for a graphic detail, which is WAY more fun to look at than plain old drywall! And if you look juuuust to the left, you can see the bed that they’ve made for me – I live in the wine room now.

The Contemporary Cozy Family Room

The stacked stone fireplace is a nice balance to the dark espresso built-in cabinets and floating shelves created by Krystalyne at Mid Island Cabinets (official creative genius).

Read more: 5 Budget-Friendly Ways to Update Your Fireplace

The Master Bedroom

With an ocean view, the master bedroom is a restful retreat, equipped with a walk-in closet, laundry room and beautiful ensuite bathroom.

The master bedroom palette is a range of soft, warm gray neutrals that flow seamlessly into the ensuite bathroom.

The bathroom palette consisted of a soft warm gray on the walls, hexagon marble accent tile and porcelain that looks like marble (a great way to save money AND maintenance).

To see more of the bathroom, check out this blog post…A Contemporary Marble Bathroom – Ultimate Luxury

Other Bathrooms

This home boasts three other bathrooms – one for each guest room and a powder room upstairs.

1. Guest Bathroom 

Just look at that freakin’ countertop – so gorgeous! It’s Cambria Galloway, a beautiful blend of neutral colours, glitz and earth-toned green.

2. Guest Bathroom

We just fell in love with the mosaic tile with the mother o’ pearl accents.

And the Powder Room…

Again, Cambria Galloway looks STUNNING with the graphic wallpaper.

Master Paint Colour List

• Living Room:  SW Repose Gray
• Kitchen:  SW Dorian Gray
• Dining Room:  SW Dovetail
• Master Bedroom:  BM Escarpment and BM Collingwood
• Ensuite:  BM Balboa Mist
• Bottom of Stairwell: SW Dorian Gray
• Guest Bath 1: SW Aesthetic White
• Guest Bath 2:  SW Worldly Gray

Do you want help with YOUR dream home? 

Check out my Online Consulting and E-Design Services…

Chat soon,

READ MORE

• The Best WHOLE HOME Gray and Greige Paint Colours
• How to Choose the Best Exterior Paint Colour – 5 STEPS