Home Base
The Design Process
Preserving What Still Worked
Home Base is the renovation of our own 20-year-old family home, designed to support the pace, practicality, and demands of daily life in a busy blended household.
Rather than starting over, the project focused on strategic interventions: preserving what still worked, improving what no longer served the home, and adding custom details where they would have the greatest impact.
The existing wood cabinetry was still in good condition, so the kitchen began with restraint. Instead of replacing a solid foundation, the cabinets were painted a deep blue and paired with classic black hex pulls. New quartz countertops, a fresh backsplash, a deeper sink, and an updated faucet brought greater function and clarity to the space, while new pendant lighting and recessed lighting added depth, warmth, and better everyday usability.
Together, these changes gave the kitchen a more cohesive rhythm while improving the way it supports daily life. The result is a space that feels current and considered without erasing the value of what was already there.
In the living room, the design centred on a fully custom built-in created to solve several issues at once. It provides storage, display, visual balance, and a stronger architectural anchor for the room, while also concealing an existing corner venting shaft.
A new stone fireplace wall added rugged texture, while a larger fabricated metal fireplace surround helped ground the firebox. A custom mantle, designed to relate to the built-in, brought the room into alignment. What had once felt like a collection of separate elements now feels integrated, grounded, and intentional.
The strongest move in this project was not removing everything. It was identifying what still had value, then designing around it with enough intention that the home felt fundamentally more resolved.
For a household with real daily demands, the design needed to be practical without feeling purely utilitarian, durable without feeling cold, and personal without becoming visually busy. Home Base reflects that balance: a home designed for real life, but with the level of care and detail that makes everyday living feel more composed.
