Crescent Heights Century Home Renovation - Before + After Photos

Feb 8

This one is worth posting again as I get to visit this home often (well, I did pre-covid) and it is still such a beauty. It was also my first full scale renovation/decor project complete with a big reveal! Read on to learn about the wall coming down between the dining room and kitchen in this Calgary renovation…

This project was completed in November 2016 but its taken me this long to write about it as it happens to be near and dear to my heart for a lot of reasons.

I met this client when we took a running class and we ended up becoming close friends. She casually mentioned wanting me to help her redesign her master bedroom to which I replied "sure, okay" but thought nothing more of it as people often say things like that when they discover you're a (fabulous) interior designer. The conversations evolved as did the project and what started out as a bedroom redo turned into a full blown gut job on her century home. It was an emotional rollercoaster for both of us as we learned to navigate working together and I learned how to push my client out of her design comfort zone yet remain compassionate to my friend who was undertaking this huge project on her own.

One of the biggest hiccups came when we met with the cabinet supplier and determined that leaving the old brick chimney between the dining room and kitchen would not get her the kitchen of her dreams. As a friend, I was torn about advising her to rip out the chimney to open up the kitchen to the rest of the main area due to cost implications. As a designer, I knew it was the best decision to achieve the kick ass kitchen she has now. So after a few days of mulling it over and weighing the decision with choice advisors (and a cost estimate from the contractor) down it came! You see, she'd always wanted a huge kitchen island and had a picture in her mind of all her friends around it as she cooked for them. She is an outstanding host and I'm happy to say I've been one of those friends standing at that gigantic island while she feeds me. So yes, it cost more, but it changed her whole kitchen and really how she is able to live in the home.

We always have an end date in mind, but quite often it is a loose guideline as clients understand there may be delays along the way. But my client had scheduled a "Big Reveal Party" for 30 of her nearest and dearest so we had a set deadline! My team and I busted our butts (and lost sleep) in order to get her house fully styled and ready for the party and it turned out so beautifully. You can watch the video of the reveal here!

I think the reason it took me so long to blog about this one is because after putting in so many hours to get this done, I crashed hard and was an emotional mess. Installing/styling a clients house and showing them their design in real life, is like baring your heart and soul to them. Even though I knew what I'd done was bloody outstanding a small (okay- large) part of me was scared my client wouldn't like it. Thankfully I was wrong and she LOVED it ... and thankfully that part of me that doubted my competence as an interior designer was healed. Perhaps its just normal as a human on this planet to doubt yourself to a certain extent. But for whatever reason this home repaired that gaping wound and I found confidence in my abilities again.

We love what we do and relish the opportunity to make your home the most beautiful, life giving place it can be. And ... truth be told... we're good at it! So enjoy these before and after pics (there are a lot of them)! And if you need your home to be transformed into the most beautiful and life giving place it can be... give us a call!