Distinctive Spaces

The Nest

Posted on October 8, 2026 by Jim

This barn loft is probably some of the best work we’ve ever done. It’s at least in the top 5. We set and achieved so many goals for ourselves and accomplished some things we had never done before. We are extremely proud of this one and our clients are completely elated.

Nestled in the trees on 50 rolling acres in Scugog Township, this barn loft is a self contained apartment complete with a large living area, a bedroom with a king bed, sitting area and large storage armoire, a beautiful retro kitchenette with a reclaimed brick backsplash and a huge bathroom complete with a walk-in shower, double vanity, water closet and a European style washer/dryer unit.

It features 4 custom designed and custom built furniture and cabinetry pieces that we created in design consultations with our clients; A laundry cabinet that hides the washer/dryer unit with an attached make up table, custom designed and built kitchen cabinets with 2 doors, 3 drawers, an apron sink and 2 live edge shelves above (the lower one featuring three pot lights that provide task lighting), an armoire that has room to hang both long and short clothing items along with 3 enclosed drawers and a gorgeous media unit that houses an electric fireplace and a hidden flat screen TV that is on a hydraulic lift mount so that it raises up and down through a hinged door in the live edge media unit top.

First, a bit of background:

The barn was originally built a couple of years ago, mainly as storage for their boats and farm equipment and then last year my client had a vision to have a loft built to transform the barn into a multi use space, where they could entertain friends and family in the lower area and it would also provide a warm, cozy place to spend the night in the loft.

They contacted the builder who had built the barn originally to build the loft and finish the inside of the barn with full insulation of knotty pine boards and shiplap. Our job was to design and finish the interior space of the loft.

Here are a few before shots of the loft. One of the issues we had to contend with was to leave a space for the garage door to come up the wall when opened. You can see in the bottom left photo, that there is a gap in the floor on the left under the window. This is to allow for the garage door to come up. The builder hid the track with a set of custom posts and a beam and then painted the tracks black and added a glass railing, all of which you will see in the ‘reveal’ photos.

And a few progress shots as we went along:

and some of the custom furniture and cabinetry pieces:

and now, for the ‘big reveal’. Here is the space furnished and ready for overnight guests:

Posted in Before and Afters, Custom Desks and Wall Units, Flooring, Renovations, Space Saving Furniture, Woodworking | Tagged home, home-decor, interior-design, travel, writing | Leave a comment

Custom Cabinetry and Furniture

Posted on September 2, 2026 by Jim

Out of everything that we do, our favourite thing is to build custom cabinetry and furniture. We find it incredibly satisfying. There is something about the feeling of pride that comes from creating something from nothing.

Over the years, we’ve built benches, wall units, vanities, fireplace surrounds, desks, armoires, media units, custom closet interiors and wardrobes, kitchen cabinets and wall beds.

The advantage of custom built cabinetry is that you have complete control over the design, (so it will fit your needs and your space exactly) and you can choose whatever finishes (painted or stained) match your design style and your space.

The cost is often significantly lower than what you would pay for a comparable commercially available piece. Custom built pieces are made from superior materials and are built to last for generations.

Here are a few of the items that we have built over the years:

CUSTOM CABINETRY:

BENCHES:

FIREPLACES AND FIREPLACE SURROUNDS:

BATHROOM VANITIES:

FURNITURE AND CASE GOODS:

WALL UNITS:

WALL BEDS:

CUSTOM CLOSET INTERIORS:

CUSTOM WARDROBES:

Posted in Closets and Storage Solutions, Custom Desks and Wall Units, Fireplace Makeovers, Space Saving Furniture | Leave a comment

Small Town Apartment

Posted on August 2, 2026 by Jim

Recently, we did a renovation for a client who had purchased a 175 year old home that had a rental apartment attached. The unit was occupied when she took ownership of the property but when the tenant subsequently moved out, our client realized that she could not rent the unit in it’s current condition.

It was run down, filthy and in desperate need of some work to make it attractive to potential renters. It had been many years since anything was done to the unit.

The demolition involved tearing out the old, filthy carpet, built in bookcases, the entire kitchen and the bedroom closet interiors and doors (we retained 3 of the doors to be repurposed and reinstalled)

We installed all new flooring and trim, a brand new kitchen (the dishwasher was swapped for a European style all in one clothes washer/dryer as we all felt that in-unit laundry would bring more value than a dishwasher) and the walls were all repaired, patched and painted.

A new floor was installed in the bathroom.

We redesigned the bedroom closets resulting in 2 closets with shelving and one large closet with a clothing rod. We modified and reinstalled the existing doors. They were originally sliding doors but for convenience they were converted to hinged doors with a centre opening. We added a bifold door on the left closet to match the one on the right. The result was a much better use of space and a more convenient and useful layout.

The work we did resulted in the unit renting very quickly for a 25% increase in rental income.

Posted in Bathroom Makeovers, Before and Afters, Closets and Storage Solutions, Colour and Paint, Flooring, Kitchen Makeovers, Renovations | Leave a comment

Seven Oaks Home Gym and Sauna

Posted on March 12, 2026 by Jim

In a previous post, we outlined a bathroom renovation we had done which included a stacking washer and dryer next to the tub/shower:

Seven Oaks | Distinctive Spaces

Originally, the laundry machines were older side by side units located in the basement, next to their home gym. With the new machines now up in the bathroom on the second floor, we were able to use the space where they were to enlarge the gym area. We took out the wall that separated the laundry machines from the gym, patched and painted it and removed the old flooring.

We then installed all new flooring throughout the gym and sauna areas and the hallway that leads around to the furnace room:

In the sauna area, we cut and installed tongue and groove cedar planks on the wall to help define the sauna area. We also installed a sink and faucet to make filling water bottles more convenient:

Finally we added stacking doors to separate the gym from the rest of the basement. Due to the height of the ceiling and the length of the doors, we made a beam from knotty pine and attached the door rail to that, so the doors wouldn’t sit too high off of the floor. The doors were then painted in the same colour as the basement walls:

Relocating the laundry to the second floor bathroom, gave them a much larger gym area and admittedly, a much nicer one as well

Posted in Before and Afters, Flooring, Renovations | Leave a comment

Island Makeover

Posted on December 30, 2025 by Jim

We’ve done so much work for this client that when she approached me about doing something with her kitchen island, I was only too happy to oblige.

A while back, we had painted the island a dark blue, which was a nice contrast to her white cabinets and tied in with her blue decor.

The issue was that the blue paint was peeling off. The people at the paint store had assured her that this paint would work, but, sadly it appears they were wrong.

She had seen kitchen islands on line that were stained wood and really loved the idea. She wondered if her island could somehow be transformed into a natural wood stained piece, even though it had at least two layers of paint.

The easiest solution was to “clad” the island in wood and make new custom doors and drawer fronts.

We chose to use maple as it has a more subtle, less busy grain than say, oak. She didn’t want it to look ‘country’ so the type of wood was a major consideration.

Instead of stain, we use a coloured Tung Oil (Dark Walnut) and applied 3 coats of clear coat.

The result is absolutely stunning. Have a look:

Posted in Before and Afters, Kitchen Makeovers, Woodworking | Leave a comment

In-Law Suite

Posted on August 11, 2025 by Jim

A few years ago, we renovated a basement in an 1,100 square foot home, building a suite for the owner’s mother to live in.

I’m still amazed at how we were able to effectively use the space, utilizing every square inch.

We were able to complete the suite to include a living and dining area, a kitchen, a three piece bath, a bedroom with a closet, a laundry room for stackable machines and some storage under the stairs.

Here’s how it looked before we started:

and here is the end result, which are extremely proud of:

Posted in Before and Afters, Renovations | Leave a comment

Millstone

Posted on August 9, 2025 by Jim

The 80s really was a dark time for interior design and decor. I suppose, maybe, this bathroom looked good in it’s day (I somehow doubt it) but it was long overdue for a complete renovation.

It was ugly, dated and tired, Nothing at all was salvageable. From the massive drop in tub and deck to the concrete slab ‘prison’ shower to the faded linoleum floor, it all had to go.

A gorgeous free standing tub, large shower with one piece marble-look walls, a modern but classic double vanity, beautiful new LVT press fit flooring, new lighting and mirrors, it all came together beautifully.

Posted in Bathroom Makeovers, Before and Afters, Flooring, Renovations | Leave a comment

Seven Oaks

Posted on July 12, 2025 by Jim

This is probably our favourite bathroom renovation to date. We are thrilled with how it turned out and in love with our design choices and the blend of modern and rustic elements.

In a beautiful country home built in the early 1990s, nestled in 50 wooded acres north east of Toronto, this 2nd floor, main bathroom was original and needed to be completely redone.

It was terribly outdated with it’s square white tiles on the floor and walls. It’s oversized tub (36 inches wide and 72 inches long) and large linen closet weren’t an effective use of space, especially for the plans our clients had for the space.

The toilet, which was interesting in shape, was too low to use comfortably and the vanity was showing it’s age.

In addition to the bathroom desperately needing a makeover, our clients wanted to move their laundry facilities up to the second floor from the basement and use that basement space to enlarge their home gym (we will showcase that in an upcoming post).

So, literally, everything had to go.

Completely gutting the bathroom gave us the opportunity to redesign everything. We replaced the tub with a standard 60 inch size which allowed us to expand the closet to accommodate beautiful new stackable laundry machines. Our electrician did an amazing job running power for the new washer and dryer up through the walls from the panel in basement.

We chose a classic large format white subway tile for the tub end walls and a gorgeous Italian porcelain wood look tile for the back tub surround wall and the floor.

Opening up the walls gave us the opportunity to install a pocket door which made accessing the new laundry machines much easier and rather than have a laundry door that swung our into the room, we built a fabulous barndoor to hide the machines when not in use.

We rescued a leftover beam from the barn and with some love and attention, we were able to repurpose it over the tub to accommodate the barn door track.

A new 60 inch double vanity (with a custom hole between the sinks for trash), a modern one-piece toilet, new light fixtures and a large, deep mirror completed the transformation.

In our opinion, this new bathroom is stunning:

Posted in Bathroom Makeovers, Before and Afters, Renovations, Woodworking | 1 Comment

Custom Woodworking

Posted on May 18, 2025 by Jim

One of our favourite things to do is custom woodworking. We love building things from scratch. It’s incredibly satisfying and gives us such a sense of pride.

From wall units and bathroom vanities, to doors, drawers and closet organizers, it’s all so rewarding.

For our clients, they have the opportunity to design something that truly works for them, fitting perfectly with their needs and lifestyle.

I thought I would showcase some of our best Wall Units, Vanities and Fireplaces. We are very proud of these ones:

Posted in Closets and Storage Solutions, Custom Desks and Wall Units, Fireplace Makeovers, Woodworking | Leave a comment

Basement Apartment Kitchen

Posted on February 6, 2025 by Jim

We just finished a basement kitchen renovation for a long term client who is also one of my oldest and dearest friends.

Her daughter decided to move home to save money for a house of her own (as so many young people have to do) and she needed a functional kitchen space. We had already done the bathroom for her (post to follow) so this was next on the list.

The basement was already finished and had a wet bar, but that wasn’t really functional as a full time kitchen.

Using IKEA’s kitchen planner (which is fantastic, as are their kitchens) we designed a kitchen which had no upper cabinets due to an overhead bulkhead but included a bank of lower cabinets along one wall with the sink and faucet and an island with a cooktop, microwave oven and a charcoal filtered range hood. We also included an overhang for stools.

Her daughter, along with some friends, removed the existing bar and flooring and our first task was to break up some concrete to dig a trench so her electrician could run power to the island for the cooktop, microwave and 2 outlets.

After running the electrical conduit, we cemented over the trench and installed new LVP flooring. Next came building the island base and installing all of the cabinets.

To keep costs down, she ordered laminate countertops from a local supplier which we installed along with the sink, faucet and cooktop. The range hood was an insert so we built and stained a ‘box’ to hold it and built some custom shelves for dishes and glassware.

The results is a kitchen that is both beautiful and functional.