Solving Basement Design Problems

Most basements in Canada are not built finish friendly. We've seen furnaces in the wrong place, ductwork running right through rooms and water meters right at  the place you want to install that Media Centre. The solution is simple - move it (or them). It is however a costly endeavor based on the complexity and the amount of trades involved. In past jobs, we have moved Water heaters, Furnaces, Ductwork as well as Gas and Water Lines. The only thing  we have not moved is the Main switchboard. I believe that this could be done, but is very complex and short of rewiring the entire house, some sort of smaller accessible junction box at the original location would still be required, which makes the whole exercise moot. Thankfully switchboards can be hidden behind a door or a painting. However if you are me and if the switchboard is on the same wall as the Television, you do this.

See the video above to see how we took care of an eye sore of an electric panel, with a unique solution that included a sliding panel that the TV was mounted on.

If you would like to see the Fenwick Basement Gallery pics click HERE>>>

For the Brannigan Gate Basement, we flattened walls by straightening out stack pipes and moving them closer to the wall. This involved digging into the concrete to get at the pipes in the ground. We reduced bulkhead sizes by rerouting gas lines, rerouting water lines, moving around water meters and well as heating vent pipes. In the case of the stack wall, it reduced an unsightly corner. Swiveling the water meter gave us 4 inches of space that allowed us to flatten a wall end to end. All in the favor of the design which takes precedence in all of our work.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

If you would like to see the Brannigan Gate Basement Gallery pics click HERE>>>

As mentioned above, this can be costly. More expensive, in my mind, would be living in a space built by people that decided to skirt around problems, build around obstacles and sacrifice good design for speedy results. When I'm done with a space, it generally outshines the rest of the house.

As Charles Eames so famously said - "The details are not the details. They make the design".

See more of our work at:

www.wildenorth.com

Trade Shows: Home & Reno Show

We are so looking forward to the next International Design Show in January 2016 and promise to share pics from new product finds we spot. You can see the pics from when we attended the IDS2015 show HERE.

We do like to attend Home shows as it keeps us up to date on new products in the market and feeds our design appetite. We pour over countless design magazines and blogs daily, but there is nothing like seeing things in person, touching, feeling and envisioning products in the rooms we create in our heads.

Funny how D and me are doing this together. We remodeled four of our homes together - two in Dubai, one in Bahrain, and one here in Canada, creating, building and decorating them together, not realizing that we would one day be doing this for others, side by side........together. Funny how life brings you full circle.

Grateful for this. Grateful for our clients trusting us with their homes. Grateful for these opportunities

Here are pics from the Home & Reno 2015 show we attended earlier this year.

We liked this collection of glass globes, together they look impressive.

Maps are a wonderful way to add eclectic art to your walls, plus they can be blown up to any size. 

These charcoal sketches were so cute, I wanted to recreate one of Coach and his adorable poses.

Would ya believe this was a mosaic wall, made of tiny tile pieces, and they could recreate any portrait or scene.

A beautiful tablescape created by Bowring

This gorgeous vintage map print caught my eye. Stunning absolutely stunning !

Fell in love with this wood chandelier from Bowring

The table set up for a Spring lunch

Tablescape by Bombay Co.

Huge brass candlesticks..........this would definitely come home with me

See more of our work on 

www.wildenorth.com

Hugs

Lynda

Pit Stop: Urban Barn

Hunting down chairs for a client we ended up in the Urban Barn outlet store and boy was it good ! They do have a very good selection of sofas and chairs that are priced well. Here are some things that caught our eye.

The fabric print and nail head trim details are what caught my eye here, as well as the price.

These ceramic stools are so versatile, they can be used outdoors, and indoors. One of these in your shower stall would be the perfect accessory to a tiny space.

I will never tire of skulls and all things pre historic

D liked these.............the rhino bust is a cute whimsical wall adornment in an all grey room.

See our Interior Decorating projects on our website here:

www.wildenorth.com

Hugs

Lynda

Brannigan Gate Home Tour

Our second Home Tour in less than 10 months, this has definitely been a good year for us !! Our clients have been ever so kind in allowing us to showcase our work and the Brannigan Gate Home Tour turned out to be a resounding success. We had a great turnout and lots of good feedback. These events are so much fun as we get to meet our clients and get their feedback firsthand. We even did a video recording of their feedback and will be posting that up soon as its ready.

We showcased a complete Basement Remodel that included a Media Center, Fireplace, Custom Cabinetry, Custom Bar, Washroom and Home Gym.

 Here are some pics from the afternoon.

Thank you to everyone that came out to see our work, the outpouring of support and love was overwhelming as was the feedback.

See pics and video of the entire Brannigan Gate Basement Remodel on our website

www.wildenorth.com