As a Design Supervisor, Steven tirelessly helped me with more than 160 makeovers. His meticulous, organized manner helped keep my projects on track. So when Steven was in need of some design help himself, I was happy to step in and lend a hand.

Steven and his partner, Alan, longing...

Six years ago, Rudi (one of my favourite contractors) and his wife Sue moved to their dream home outside of the city. Surrounded by farmland, the couple thrived on the tranquility of the country, but was still close enough to the city for Rudi to commute to work.

They...

Harmeen is a fantastic cook who loves to create the elaborate dishes of her traditional Indian background. But with a busy career and a house full of teenagers, she was thrilled when her daughter Niki expressed an interest in the culinary arts and offered to take over some of the...

Christina and Gavin moved from a small downtown condo to a sprawling 1960s ranch style house just outside the city. The spacious interior and enormous tree-lined backyard give them much to look forward to on the commute home. But, moving from a small condo to a large house has left...

Franca and Pat both come from big Italian families that love to cook -- and eat! In fact, Pat turned his love of good food into his livelihood and opened a downtown Italian eatery that serves traditional fare cooked up by his mama. But despite feeding hungry diners day after...

Ken and Annette were long-time suburban dwellers, but their downtown jobs and long commutes left them longing to live in the heart of the city. They found the house of their dreams during one of their long city walks -- a charming, Victorian heritage row house -- and although it...

In order to shorten their extremely long commute to and from work, Barb and Evan moved out of the suburbs and into the city. But the economics of this move meant they had to trade in their brand new, spacious digs for a 100-year-old row house that needed lots of...

Chantal and Jeff moved into their 1960s era house a few years ago with two kids, loads of energy, and big plans to start renovating. But soon after settling in they found out they were expecting child number three. When little James came into the world with serious heart complications,...

Barnaby had a tough time purchasing his first home. He scoured the city for appropriate houses, and ultimately found himself in bidding war after bidding war. After losing out on several nice places, he decided to take a new approach: find a cheap house in poor shape and spend the...

Cal is an animation artist, director and teacher -- and a first time homeowner. He moved into his home two years ago, a 1920s semi-detached unit that was owned by an 80-year-old woman who hadn't changed it much in her 60 years of occupancy. The ground floor was dated, dingy...

Carl and Tony have lived in their charming semi-detached house for years. They are the social butterflies of their neighbourhood and are always hosting get-togethers, poker games, barbecues and even Easter egg hunts. The duo recently decided they had outgrown their small home -- especially their dark, cramped living and...

Kim and Rey met at a boxing gym and fell in love at first punch! Kim was a novice boxer who was there to learn the sport, and Rey was a pro bantam-weight boxer using the gym for training. They bonded over hooks and jabs, got married, had two sons...

Wendy's guest bathroom was completely washed out. Located prominently at the top of the stairs, this room was definitely a real eyesore. Complete with dim lighting, lack of storage and even a broken toilet, this bathroom was ready for renovation!

Wendy does lots of entertaining and often has out-of-town guests,...

It's a well known parenting principle that if you give an inch, the kids will take a room. Okay, so maybe that's not an exact quote, but it certainly sums up the situation in Ruth's dining room! This space was a true diamond in the rough. Although it boasted some...

The children's story of the cobbler who had no shoes was one of my favorites growing up. Strangely, I recently I ran into my own real-life version of this tale. One of my clients, a professional chef, begged me to come over and see the state of her kitchen. And...

For anyone who's ever renovated in his or her home, you'll know that it takes a certain amount of imagination -- and faith! -- to envision what your new space will look like, especially if you're re-purposing a room into something new, like I just did in my client's downtown...

I've dealt with a lot of couples over the years and most cite the battle for closet and bathroom space as one of the most frequent causes of marital discord. Dr. Phil, are you listening? As far as closets go, my clients' were fine, but when it came to their...

Ask any teenage girl to describe her perfect bedroom and you'll get answers like "a room with a private phone line, a place to hang out with friends and for it to be way-cool and funky." Ask parents the same question and "a locked door that opens on their 21st...

Sometimes living in a room that's badly designed isn't the worst thing in the world. Trust me -- this is a fact! Living in a room that has no design whatsoever, is even worse. I've learned this from my many clients over the years that have moved into new houses...

One of the most common reasons people renovate their homes is a change in their lifestyle -- an upcoming wedding, a new baby, or grown children moving away. In Dawn's case it was the latter and she was finally ready to repurpose her daughter's old bedroom! An artist, Dawn had...