Lived in Luxury
STORY KAREN BRIGGS
PHOTOGRAPHY NAT CARON
When Kaitlyn and her partner purchased a dated 1970s bungalow in Barrie in 2018, they had a clear vision of what the house could be.
Their aim was a home that felt welcoming, lived-in and full of personal touches. The house had good bones, with large windows to let in natural light and a peaceful view to a forested ravine. What they needed was a designer to help them take their interior from dated to chic.
They found that designer in Samantha Thomas of Inhabit Interiors and Design in downtown Barrie. Residential projects with a modern or transitional flair are Samantha’s specialty.
“We have done commercial spaces,” says Samantha, who established her business in 2013, “but we focus on the residential projects. There are a lot of designers out there and they each have their own twist on things. For me, it has to be the right fit. A shared aesthetic and a good relationship with the client is key.”
Samantha says this project, in particular, “was a joy because the clients had a clear vision and impeccable taste. They were involved from start to finish in choosing what they wanted to surround themselves with in their home. It felt like a great collaboration.”
The whole house was dated. “The biggest alterations we made were in the living and dining rooms, which were separate, closed-in spaces,” Samantha says. “We wanted to extend the cathedral ceiling from the living room, so we opened it right up to make a combined living-dining space.”
MacNeil Construction did the heavy lifting to transform the space. “Otherwise, we mostly worked with the existing footprint,” says Samantha. “The home only had one bathroom, so we built a powder room on the main floor where there used to be a second entrance to a mudroom.”
The original bathroom was made into a true en suite for the primary bedroom. “We added a transom window and a double vanity, as well as a beautiful shower with stunning handmade tiles from Creekside Tile Company Ltd.,” she says. “They are made of concrete, from a company called Arto in the U.S.” The highly textured blue-gray tiles give a Moroccan feel to the shower echoed in the powder room wall finish, which is from Pure Originals’ Marrakesh collection.
The home’s living room already boasted a fireplace, which had been converted to gas. Samantha converted it back to woodburning with a new insert and covered the red brick surface with a warm plaster finish. The concrete tiles on the hearth are also Arto. Work on the ceiling beams and central support post in the living space was completed by Due North Wood Company.
Infinite Design & Interiors created custom cabinetry throughout the home, including a large piece to house the clients’ extensive music collection. The new European wide-plank flooring, used throughout the main floor, came from Neue Floors and was selected, like many of the finishes, to hide scuffs and wear from the couple’s dog and acquire a soft, lived-in look over time.
Many of the home’s furnishings came from antique-hunting trips the clients took to the United States. “There is a huge, twice-a-year antique fair in Texas, in a town called Round Top,” Samantha says. “They were armed with measurements and a rough idea of the kind of pieces we were looking for. They would send me pictures of what they’d found at the fair and we made our selections from there.” Among the unique finds is an old store counter, dating from around 1912, which became the home’s kitchen island.
“We repurposed it, replacing the top with soapstone which, like a lot of the surfaces chosen for the home, will acquire a lovely patina with time and use,” Samantha says.
Suspended over the island are two porcelain pendant lights, which were custom-made by Dotti Potts Pottery Studio & Gallery based on light fixtures the couple had fallen in love with in a restaurant during their travels. “They’re very elegant in the space, and because they’re handmade, each is slightly different,” Samantha says.
Among the other antique pieces in the home are a spacious dining room table, paired with 10 metal and cane chairs sourced through Inhabit Interiors & Design, a bedroom wardrobe and a large glass-fronted cabinet in the living room, which houses some of the couple’s favourite collected objects. The sink in the powder room is also a 100-year-old original, fitted with unfinished brass taps. The rugs throughout the home are vintage, as are a pair of substantial leather chairs in the living room.
These one-of-a-kind objects, spanning decades and travelling across borders, have come together in a home with an old-world feel that will only become more welcoming, and more beautiful, with time. OH
