In Terrence and Emma Wong鈥檚 small, narrow house, three-year-old Atticus has space in the living room to run around and play with his trucks, which, along with his stuffies, are later neatly parked in a long, custom-made bench. It wasn鈥檛 always this way. The Wongs had to reinvent their home to find the space.
Their designer refers to a critical piece at the heart of their renovation as an 鈥渋ntegrated L-shaped object.鈥
In practical terms, it鈥檚 a 16-foot-long storage bench that keeps everything from toys to tech and food wrap tidy and out of sight for the busy young family.
Constructed of sand-coloured, ash-wood laminate, lined with solid maple, the custom millwork in the living room is a key component of the redesign of the main floor.
A second L-shape built-in connects the kitchen鈥檚 interior design to the dining room. There鈥檚 a full-height pantry, coffee bar and integrated washer-dryer closet.
鈥淭he big thing was the two 鈥楲s鈥,鈥 Terrence explains.
Little Atticus Wong stores his stuffies and toys in the 16-foot-long L-shaped bench in the living room. The custom-made piece also provides extra seating for guests and keeps other household items organized and out of sight.
Riley SnellingThe aim of the six-month redo of their semi was to open up the living space, bring in more light and use every square inch of the main floor鈥檚 500 square feet.
鈥淚t feels so functional for our family,鈥 says Emma of their house after the reno, which was completed in January, 2021.
鈥淓ven though it鈥檚 so small, it feels so big.鈥
When the couple bought the century-old house just north of the Junction, it was dark and closed off. In the cramped kitchen, a stacked washer and dryer soaked up space beside the stove. The 400-square-foot second floor just needed new flooring and cosmetic updates.
When the homeowners bought their century-old semi, the cramped kitchen was giving up valuable space to a stacked washer-dryer.
vyhnak, carolaTerrence, who describes his role as 鈥渧ery hands-on,鈥 wanted the main-floor makeover to look unique. For Emma, who loves hosting dinner parties, the priorities were ample storage space and a clear sightline to Atticus playing in the living room.
The design team members, Sally Kassar, Ava Nourbaran and Fadi Salib, of Inc., were asked to reconfigure the home.
鈥淭hey did a great job of creating three distinct living spaces鈥 of kitchen, dining room and living room, says Terrence.
Kassar says the home鈥檚 14-foot width 鈥渨as a challenge, but fun to tackle,鈥 and calls the redesign a 鈥渧ery collaborative鈥 project.
鈥淭hey knew what they wanted,鈥 she says of the Wongs, who asked for a Scandinavian-influenced style, black-and-white kitchen, white oak flooring and wood accents.
Removing walls allowed light to flow throughout the space, while the materials selected were warm and inviting, yet durable.
A Scandanavian-influenced, black-and-white kitchen was on Emma and Terrence Wong’s wish list for the redesign of their 色色啦 home.
Riley SnellingIn the dining area, a decorative feature wall built from vertical panels of solid ash makes the room 鈥渇eel like its own space,鈥 says Kassar, who jokes that it became the 鈥減erfect Zoom background.鈥
Terrence notes the room gains depth from the feature, which was crafted by 色色啦 shop , which also created the storage bench. The kitchen millwork was done by , based in Richmond Hill.
The bench, which provides extra seating for guests, stores 鈥渆verything,鈥 including tech devices, winter woollies and kitchen supplies, adds Emma.
The home鈥檚 update did pose the occasional challenge, the owners recall; the kitchen demo revealed five layers of flooring, left over from previous renovations. Ranging from porcelain tile to peel-and-stick vinyl, they added half an inch to the floor鈥檚 thickness.
In the end, the renovation paid off.
鈥淚t was a fun reno house to live out our HGTV dreams,鈥 laughs Terrence. 鈥淲e love (it). I feel like we can be here longer now.鈥
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