As designer and co-star on “Scott’s Vacation House Rules,” Debra Salmoni helps contractor Scott McGillivray transform rundown cottage country retreats into vacation-rental dream homes. But the ɫɫ Network personality’s own ɫɫ home is not about beaches and bonfires. It’s about urban family living.
The interior designer and her husband, animal trainer and TV producer Dave Salmoni, bought the house in Wychwood Park in 2016, when son Thomas was a year old and they were expecting daughter Elizabeth.
They fell in love with the neighbourhood and decided to make it their long-term home. The house was run down and they did a room-by-room reno in 2023 on a tight budget, removing asbestos and updating plumbing and wiring. They finished it in time for Christmas 2024.
“We did not move out during the renovation and that was a huge giant mistake,” Salmoni admits. “The fact that we’re still happily married is a surprise.
“But it’s now the house of my dreams.”
The renovation required digging out the basement and reinforcing the foundation to support a third-storey extension. The kitchen was gutted and updated, and a mud room added.
“From the street view, the house looks exactly the same. We didn’t want to compromise the street’s integrity with something big and obnoxious,” she says. “It’s a red-brick home with a gritty downtown look.”
Although coming up with floor plans was easy, Salmoni struggled when choosing materials. As many of her clients do, she got caught up in the emotion of bringing her vision to life.
She was inspired by the townhomes of New York, Chicago and Boston. “They are so charming, with lots of details. I wanted to go with details and layers, as opposed to a clean, modern look.”
The kitchen is the family hub. Salmoni enjoys cooking and says her six-foot-three husband, who works out regularly, “eats a lot.” Their kids are starting to enjoy food prep., too. “It’s laid out to have multiple people cooking at once. We have a bar area, coffee station and wine bar. We like to entertain.”
The kitchen’s former peninsula island worked when the kids were younger, but Salmoni wanted to elevate the space with a long, curved island. She searched high and low, until she found green marble for it, countertops and backsplash. It complements the two-toned wood and white cabinetry.
“Any designer prefers marble,” she says. “The markings, etchings and staining it will get is a symbol of living and enjoying. It’s to be worn and used.” (She adds that homeowners who prefer their marble looking pristine can hire people to buff out imperfections.)
The living room, where she has morning coffee, is more formal. It has a white sofa, black carpet and electric fireplace. “I really, really love that fireplace,” says Salmoni.
Even small rooms got attention to detail; the powder room has “magical” wallpaper and floor tiles, and the mud room has windows, checkered marble floor and green cabinetry.
With its giant wall-to-wall sofa, the main hangout space is the basement family room.
“We had 16 family members here at Christmas and all of us were able to fit on the couch to watch TV,” Salmoni says. The room also features built-ins, a fireplace and an artwork of the ɫɫ city skyline.
The basement office was a necessity, as both Debra and Dave work from home. Dave is also working towards his PhD in animal behaviour and Debra juggles filming “Scott’s Vacation House Rules” with running her company, DebraLillianDesign,
Pointing to a small painting of a bear on the wall, her husband jokes: “I was allowed to have one thing.”
The master bedroom is Debra Salmoni’s favourite room. The light-filled space was planned around the view of a giant tree. The bedroom has a custom green bed, gas fireplace and large window overlooking the tree, where she delights in seeing squirrels, and the CN Tower in the distance.
“During the reno, when I’d get overwhelmed, I’d visualize myself in the finished bedroom, with the fireplace on, on a snowy day,” she says.
The closet has a window seat that Nova, their seven-month-old King Corso Mastiff, is obsessed with. The spa-like ensuite is equipped with his and hers sinks, makeup table, tub and steam shower. It’s a tranquil retreat from her busy life.
“It’s absolute mayhem from seven to 12 days a month when I’m shooting the show, and I’m running my own business with a staff of six,” Salmoni says. “I’m passionate about design, the TV show, being a wife and mom, and I throw myself into all of it.”
Her goal was to design a home the family can grow with, and “that I can grow with as a designer.” As much as the family loves their home, the neighbourhood vibe is what they cherish most.
“This neighbourhood is very heavy on community. It’s the luck of the draw,” Salomi says. “My husband and kids were out of town recently and I was asked to have dinner with three different neighbours.”
NOTE: All seasons of Scott’s “Vacation House Rules” with Scott McGillivray and Debra Salmoni are exclusively streaming on StackTV.
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