Confessions Of An Interior Designer: The Story of My Renovation
Welcome to the story of my renovation. This is a candid account of my experience as a designer, homeowner, and unofficial contractor.
My brain practically imploded designing my own home. The struggle was real, with so many thoughts, questions, ideas and hopes. What would people think of my own home? Would people love it as much as I do? What would Instagram think? It wasn’t the ‘norm’ of what’s out there, but that’s what I wanted. Yet, what I wanted, and what I felt became two different things. I wanted to design a home that was true to me, and my family, however, I felt I needed to live up to a certain expectation. As designers, we don’t, or rather shouldn’t, design for anyone other than the people living in the home. Not social media, not based on what other designers are doing, nor the social norm, however it seems to be the almighty guide of what’s worthy of likes, accolades and success. I needed to remind myself often that my design decisions were not for Instagram, they were for my family. Still, almost daily, I had, and have, a tug-o-war between my creative self, interior designer, wife, mom, and homeowner.
Our house is a modest, builder basic, 2500 sq.ft, detached two storey, with a two car, front garage in suburban Calgary. Moving from the small city of Red Deer, Alberta, in 2006, we naively came back into the Calgary market with an unrealistic budget number to purchase a home. We ended up finding a good house, in a good area for almost double our budget as the real estate market was in a boom. It wasn’t, however, the area I wanted to live in, nor the style of house. I was pregnant at the time, so finding a home, and settling in before our second daughter arrived was important. The intent was to have a fairly quick turnaround with the house, sorting out a plan to find another home to renovate, or build one, sooner than later.
Fast forward 15 years, and we’d settled into the home we’d planned on being in no longer than two to three years. We often talked about moving, building or renovating, but at this time, the former two didn’t make financial sense. We were almost mortgage free, and those two options would have increased our debt significantly. Also, during this time, our house really did become a home, and we grew to love the area, with great neighbours, and the benefit of a National Park steps down the street. While it wasn’t a reflection of our family, we knew the house had potential to become so.
In the fall of 2018 we started to redesign the kitchen and main floor, in the hopes of starting the renovation early 2019. During that process, my husband had a moment of realization, “so we’re going to make our main floor beautiful, and then still despise our master ensuite?” With this we made the decision to renovate the upper floor as well, and it made the most sense to start upstairs, and work our way down. As nothing had been designed or selected for the second floor yet, we moved the start date to June 2019. We had already made the conscious, and calculated decision to live through the renovation, so we emptied the upstairs, and moved into the basement. The day after our daughter’s High School graduation, demolition began.
As you can imagine, being an interior designer, I’ve been involved in many projects from start to finish, but never my own. The realities of what I was about to experience both internally and externally, would affect me more than I knew.
No sooner had demolition started when things got rocky with our contractor. We had worked together before, under the umbrella of another company, but he had since gone out on his own. Based on the working relationship we had previously, I didn't give a second thought to hiring him for our project. Unfortunately things didn’t go as planned, and having a false sense of trust, soon led to his dismissal. It was the right decision, but not ideal, considering we were down to the studs in our ensuite and were now on our own. I was crushed. I felt abandoned, and vulnerable as I sorted out the next steps.
Now, with no contractor, I spoke with my husband, and my team about a plan. We unanimously made the decision to general contract the rest of the project ourselves. Knowing we had the skill set, and understanding the learning opportunity, we decided this would be a good business decision. While I strongly believe in the importance of contractors, and the value they bring to a project, this was the right decision for us.
As we moved on, and started to organize the trades accordingly, our original tile setter went MIA, and we learned he had vastly under budgeted. After roughly a month's time of doing our due diligence to receive five other quotes, the new tiler we selected was almost triple the cost. With all the tile sitting in our garage, we ripped off the bandaid, and got the wheels back in motion.
Know that as a designer, I am not immune to things going wrong, but it was so incredibly beneficial for me to be on the other side of troubleshooting. The experience has offered next level empathy, and understanding of this highly emotional, and often stressful process.
Our ensuite tile work was fairly extensive, and took a few weeks to complete. Each morning I would have my coffee whilst chatting and getting to know the tile setters. They were meticulous with their craft, took pride in their work, and loved the opportunity to work with natural stone. Not only did it feel good to learn, it felt good to get to know the people working in my home. With this, I knew I had selected the right trade, definitely a silver lining.
The finishes and materials we selected for our ensuite are not overly typical. Natural stone is not for everyone, but it was something both my husband and I loved, making it an important part of the selections. The materials we chose have a significant amount of visual texture, from the marble veining, to the basketweave mosaic, the graphic nature of the backsplash tile, and the reeded detail on our painted vanities, it’s a play on patterns I love. Making selections for our home was a grueling process. I see too much, love so much, and put high standards on myself with respect to the outcome, and what I envisioned the overall look to be, and more importantly, feel like.
As the ensuite neared completion, our family left for our summer vacation. While away, I barely slept. I would wake up almost religiously at 2am thinking about a design detail, an order or a selection, and would start to over analyze. I had a really hard time not being at home in this final stage. God bless Jackie for being my designer, my therapist, and calm force on the ground with updates, and confirmations while I was away. Like all great designers, reassuring your clients is key, and that’s what she did for me.
The intent was to move back into our upper floor upon returning home from our vacation at the end of August, however we had an unexpected delay on our plumbing fixtures, and with this, the ensuite was not fully functional. We decided to wait until the plumbing arrived, delaying us settling back in until mid September. It certainly wasn’t the end of the world, and it gave us a chance to slowly move things back into their respective locations, organizing and purging as we did. It was a great feeling to move into a new space, specifically designed for us. All the time we spent selecting materials, calculating details, and checking measurements certainly paid off.
With the second floor now complete, it was time to redirect our focus to the main. The design was done, and had been for a while. Our appliances were ordered in December of 2018 (if you recall we intended to start the main floor renovation early 2019), and now almost a year later, it was time to start thinking about finishes and materials that had not yet been finalized. I had a pretty good idea as to the overall look and feel I was after, so we got to work, and began demolition the 3rd week of October, 2019.
Our main floor is an open concept design. The only fully enclosed room, outside of the powder room and back entry, was a home office. Our intent was to close off access to the office from the hallway, and turn it into a pantry with openings from the kitchen through to the mudroom.
As we began opening things up, we discovered that within the walls we did have, was a myriad of plumbing, heating and electrical, which resulted in us needing to switch gears, and redesign the kitchen and pantry layout. Not only that, but we also discovered the wall we wanted to open up in order to create the passthrough from the kitchen to the pantry was load bearing, so a visit from a structural engineer, and a new LVL beam was required in order to make this happen. Not ideal at this stage of the game, however in the end this worked out for the best. Funny how that’s often the case.
We lost roughly a month of time due to requiring a new beam, but by mid December the beam was installed and we were back in business. The kitchen had been redesigned, a layout that was not a compromise from the original design, cabinets were on order and Christmas was upon us! While it was not your typical festive season at the Free Residence, we put up a tree and celebrated in our bedroom. Certainly a memory we’ll never forget.
The new year brought hardwood installation, new stairs and new railings. The main floor was starting to take on a new personality. The renovation moved along slowly but surely, a pace indicative of not having an experienced contractor on the job, as we managed each trade, one at a time, rather than organizing an overlapped schedule. That being said, we were on track for a mid April completion date
At Nyla Free Designs we specialize in seeing projects through to completion, with all of the finishing touches considered. As a team we decided it would be great for our family to experience that same “reveal” walkthrough we share with our clients. With this, we planned a weekend getaway for mid April while my team prepared for the final installation and furniture delivery. How fun!
Scratch that. Enter Covid, and everything flipped on its side.
At the beginning of March, 2020, our kitchen base cabinets were installed, counters, hood fan and open shelves templated and fireplace surround installed. By the third week of March, Covid-19 was a household name, and the stay at home order was in place. With trades being considered essential services, and my renovation nearing the finish line I had a house full.
Our eldest daughter was overseas at the time, and you guessed it, we needed to bring her home. We quickly moved my mother in law into our home, and upon my daughter’s arrival, she and I moved into my mother in law’s. I spent two weeks in quarantine, away from the final happenings, and installations of our renovation. Seems there’s a pattern here?? At the end of the two weeks, we came home to a completed main floor, with just the pantry backsplash tile to install. It’s fair to say, I did get a partial reveal experience, sans furniture. What a whirlwind!
Looking back, my husband and I wore many hats. Clients, designers, site supervisors, cleaners, project managers, therapists, and general contractors. Depending on the day, we wore more than one, if not all. This, all the while we kept our marriage in check (that’s a whole other topic!), and parented two teenage girls.
Being the designer of my own home was harder than I imagined. The second guessing, over analyzing and inner turmoil was tough, not to mention the lingering feeling of “what are others going to think of my own home?”
Being in a creative field can sometimes feel vulnerable. We share our work, whether on our website or Instagram for others to see. We’re proud of what we do. We’re excited to share our projects, and the homes we bring to life. Our specialty at Nyla Free Designs is to design homes that our clients feel good in, that are 100% tailored to suit their needs, budget, and aesthetic. I approached my own home in the same manner. I wanted something different, less saturated, but still true to myself and my family. We made decisions/ selections for our home based on several factors. Factors you wouldn’t know, or necessarily understand from an image, but are an essential part of bringing a space to life, and making thoughtful decisions.
Decision making factors:
The existing shell. We used what we had from a structural perspective, however we got creative within the confines of our four walls. We made our ensuite smaller in order to have a larger master closet. We closed off one wall and opened another on the main floor, creating a large pantry, relocated the fireplace and turned the kitchen island 90 degrees.
The budget. The number we hoped to be within, did escalate, partially due to decisions we made, partially due to unknown circumstances. We took a save and splurge approach to our selections, and design details, however, were as thoughtful as possible about the financials.
The location. As mentioned, we live in a suburban neighbourhood, in a builder basic home, built in 2004. When renovating a home such as ours, there are certain things that simply don’t make sense to do from a financial perspective. Will we see 100% return if we were to sell? No. Will we enjoy our investment for the next 10+ years? Absolutely. There is value in both aspects, however decisions were made accordingly.
The overall aesthetic. Designing my own home was hard, but I’m not the only one who lives here. My husband was very involved, and had ideas and opinions throughout the process, all of which were taken to heart. I wanted our home to be a reflection of us, not me.
The open concept layout. With little to no barrier between rooms on our main floor, decisions were made with this in mind. I can sit at the back of our home, (in the yellow banquette if you’re familiar), and see right through to the dining room and front entry. It’s essentially one large room, and a central open riser staircase.
The feeling. We ended up with a far more neutral palette than I had originally imagined. I love colour and pattern, and perhaps one day I will bring more into our home. For now, and in this time of our life, I craved a calm, soft colour story.
The design details. Last but not least, within the confines of all of the above, I still wanted to create a space that was design savvy, and beautiful. Expressing my personal style, incorporating existing pieces of furniture we already owned and loved, and infusing our home with nostalgic memorabilia, both with inherited, and found objects.
I think sometimes people assume that because we’re in the industry, personal projects are easier for designers. Behind every lovely, polished image is usually excitement, enthusiasm, frustration, tears, anger, exhaustion, to name but a few emotions, regardless of who you are. At the end of the day, it was fully worth it.
We have so much more to share from my home renovation! If you haven’t subscribed to our email list, and you’re interested in seeing and learning more, our summer lookbook will have a full tour, with candid thoughts from my family, before and after images as well as details on our selections. I hope you’ll follow along for more. I learned so much from renovating my own home, and I’m ready to share all the ups, downs and inside outs!
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