How a home addition, done right, adds value
The addition to a Lorne Park, Mississauga, home was done by The Practice of Everyday Design, a multidisciplinary design firm started by intern architects Antoine Morris, 31, and David Long, 28.Chris Shepherd
When the current owners bought the property the addition was a lot of wasted space. One room was too small to be a bedroom but too big to be a walk-in closet, the bathroom was badly outdated and worst, it obscured the best view in the house of the lush back garden.Chris Shepherd
In the new space, there are now distinct areas for TV watching, reading, sleeping, dressing and washing, but each parcel flows into the other. To open up the floor plan, the bathroom was moved to the front wall beside the bedroom area from its previous (and awkward) location in the middle of the space. Now, sliding billowy linen curtains across a track cordon off the tub and sink area as well as the bedroom area; only the toilet gets a door.Chris Shepherd
The first step in the renovation was pitching the new roof to create generous ceiling height.Chris Shepherd
The new second storey is light, white, modern and, with its jaunty square windows, just a little bit quirky. This comes from establishing trust early on, says the owner, who at first told the design team she didn’t want everything painted white, but ended up loving how it shows off “the shapes and forms.”Chris Shepherd
The new, marble-tiled bathroom.Chris Shepherd
Stairs to the new addition.Chris Shepherd
“Everybody thinks they can do it themselves – they have their own taste and they know what they want – but we took a deep breath and said ‘We asked you to do it, so do it,’ says the owner, “and we’ve not been at all disappointed. We’re quite amazed.”Chris Shepherd
‘We love waking up in the morning [and] we can’t wait to go up there at night.”Chris Shepherd
A view of the addition from the back.Chris Shepherd