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BathroomsBefore and AfterGray

Urban Industrial Chic Renovation in West Vancouver

By 09/25/2013November 15th, 202022 Comments

Whenever anyone asks me if I know of a great kitchen designer, I always refer them to Jan Romanuk. She designed my fabulous white kitchen last year and Quality Cabinets installed the cabinets. Not only is she a wonderful kitchen designer but she has been renovating high end homes for so long, there is nothing she doesn’t know about the process.

Jan is one of the most generous mentors I’ve ever known. It was Jan who taught me the distinction Yesterday vs. Today which saves many a client of mine from making huge mistakes while renovating or decorating their home.

Jan’s youngest daughter Tanya recently moved back from Australia and bought an apartment in West Vancouver. Needless to say it needed a renovation. Here is the beautiful result.

Before

Before

This was a sunroom which Jan immediately ripped out and turned into more square footage for Tanya’s apartment.

image

 After

Before

Before

This is a perfect example of combining yesterday and today. This stone countertop installed on top of 70’s cabinets. The backsplash tile, also very random and unrelated to both the cabinets and the concrete countertops.

The kitchen countertops are Nougat Caesarstone. Jan installed a black faucet and had the hinges powder coated in black.  Tanya wanted an Urban Industrial Chic look and feel so all the finishes were black, charcoal and white with no chrome in sight!

Before

Before

Jan opened up the kitchen and designed charcoal cabinets using a laminate wood grain texture. The walls are painted OC-65 Chantilly Lace.

After

After

Before

 Here was the old bathroom.

After

I love the birches wallpaper and the coordinating mirror from CB2. So pretty.

After

Jan was in a home decor shop on Salt Spring Island when she discovered the Butterfly chair in charcoal cowhide. The market cart is from the Antique Market. The coffee table base was found at Homesense and Jan had a custom piece of glass made for it.

After

 The wooden bowl was Tanya’s from a trip to Fiji.

Before

After

After

After

After

Tanya and Jan incorporated lots of texture and organic feeling elements into the apartment. Exactly how a monochromatic palette should look.

Thanks Jan & Tanya for sharing this renovation with my readers!

Susan Hargraves, Residential Stylist

It’s the first day of my True Colour Expert™ Training at the Van Duesen Gardens in Vancouver! We spend most of the day learning how to compare colour so that you can see which one is actually the right one and then by comparing, show a client that the colour you are selling them is correct.

If you would like to learn how to choose colour with confidence, become a True Colour Expert. 

Related posts

Colour is Context

How to Mix Yesterday and Today in your Renovation

The Difference Between an Experienced Colourist and a Novice

If you would like your home to fill you with happiness every time you walk up to the front door, become a client. On-line or In-person.

Download my eBook, How to Choose Paint Colours – It’s All in the Undertones to get my complete step-by-step system on how to get colour to do what you want.

To make sure the undertones in your home are right, get some large samples!

22 Comments

  • Momlady says:

    Yowzers! Love the renovation! Clean but not cold. Beautiful.

  • Robin Reid says:

    Love the little bathroom with the birch wall paper and oval mirror. The monochromatic effect throughout is stellar!

  • Debbiecz says:

    Tanya is obviously one smart chick to have picked a mom who is such a talented designer! Lovely space.

  • Kathi says:

    What a beautiful renovation,Jan and Tanya worked great together,I love the countertop and backsplash, reminds me a lot of yours,pure genius with the black fixtures,her home will be totally unique! She will be so happy there!

  • Amy says:

    Wowza! That is fantastic. I love the birch wallpaper…amazing how something so simple can make such an impact. The sun room was strange…a room in a room that looked like an aviary.

  • Franki says:

    Remarkable updates and thrifty where needed! franki

  • Susan says:

    Maria, I’m a loyal subscriber to your blog but in this ONE instance I would have to disagree with you on the accent tile issue. We renovated our NYC pre-war bathroom 6 years ago. In keeping with the tone of a pre-war, we replaced old, yellowed, crazed white subway tile with fresh new subway tile but added gorgeous frosted blue glass, white glass and black marble brick pattern mosaic tile as an inset border at both chair rail height and around the top of the subway tile. It fills us with delight every time we walk into the bathroom.

  • Carol-Anne says:

    Love this. The one thing I would have loved to see is how she used that space that was the ‘sun room’! None of the pics actually showed that and I would have like to see it. Did it just get incorporated into the living room?

    • Barbara says:

      It is right there in the second photo, the first “after” picture. It is kinda bizarre, because the floor bar is still there–it seems like you have to step over the rise for that part of the room. Maybe they just haven’t gotten around to taking it out??

      This extra room must be common in Vancouver apartments/condos. My cousin’s very expensive place in downtown has some sort of sunroom thing as well, even though the living space is very tiny.

  • Kari says:

    I love how the bathroom cabinets coordinate with the kitchen, especially since you can see the bathroom from the kitchen. It’s modern and clean, but not cold at all. BEAUTIFUL!

  • Nancy B of Lake Stevens says:

    Maria, generally I am not a fan of the industrial look, too cold for my taste. But this is spectacular. And the wallpaper in the bathroom is to die for. I am curious about the window covering over the slider in the bedroom. What is that? I find sliding glass doors the hardest thing to dress. Thanks

  • Karen says:

    Thank you Maria for a lovely post as usual. Thank you to Jan and Tanya for sharing their renovation process. Very beautiful, in fact, transformation is gorgeous. Very modern, clean and very chic! Now to enjoy.

  • Angela Taylor says:

    I have not heard the term ‘residential stylist’ before. Does that mean that you don’t have a degree so can’t call yourself a ‘designer’. I really like that term and may use it in the future.
    Great make-over, what talent…degree or not:)

  • Jan Romanuk says:

    Thank You Maria for the post on Tanya’s apartment, we had so much fun designing it together, listening to the clients need and wants has always been my focus in design so this was a unique opportunity to learn about my daughters design ideas

  • Paula says:

    Thanks Maria for sharing a marvellous post, but even more for introducing us to Jan Romanuk who has now done two fabulous projects for us and is about to embark on a third – Jan is awesome!

  • BillP says:

    I love the makeover. It is nice to see a well done reno in a modern style. Interesting that the floor color was maintained. Also, note the stainless dishwasher! It appears that the refrigerator is behind a panel- I’m surprised that they didn’t do the same with dw, but agree that stainless is next best.

    • BillP says:

      Oh, I see that I’m wrong about the refrigerator- it’s stainless. Would be even better under a panel!

  • Amanda says:

    Super cool. It’s sleek but still very warm and inviting. I love that it is unique!

  • Janice Waterman says:

    In response to the comment re the raised curb in former sunroom…yes, very common here in Vancouver area. This space is probably a enclosed balcony and as such, is actually owned by the building strata (much like the space in front of our homes owned by the city but we maintain and use). With permission, she could take out the doors etc but must be able to return it to original condition at their request. The curb may actually be part of the exterior building envelope and must stay.

  • Joy Schumann says:

    Marie: Thanks for sharing this beautiful reno. I love it all, and I have primitive Country! Love the clean look of the contemporary style and find myself moving in that direction. i live in my own home now but soon will be in an Apartment in another part of the U.S. so seeing a reno in an apt. was encouraging to me! Beautifully done!

  • Sylvia says:

    Ouch. I seem to be the only one who feels the space to be stark given the contrasts and quite cold, though I do like certain features. It’s clearly updated. There seems to be a little softness in the color on the bedroom walls, but the white in the kitchen/main area feels harsh. I’m still learning…I love everything about the bathroom except for the mirror everyone seems to love, lol. When I read that things need to relate, to me, the mirror seems out of place. Aside from the pattern, how does it relate to the rest of the bathroom? Is the pattern enough? I guess it goes with the headboard, but they’re not visually next to each other. With the kitchen, it’s seems all clean lines and very modern, but the living room seems all mismatches and again, doesn’t seem to relate except for the sofa and pillows. The small TV emphasizes the amount of empty wall space and lack of any softness about the windows. The floor seems incorporated in the main area but seems ignored in bathroom and bedroom compared to the key wooden pieces used. Was that intentional? I’m not intending to be critical, I’m just trying to understand why this style seems to work for everyone and why it’s not considered cold. What are the elements that define this as urban industrial chic?

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