The cabin was originally built to host family and friends during summer vacations. It had 3 small bedrooms, one bathroom, a small kitchen open to the living room and a wood stove. There was no laundry facility on site. Sandi, a retired teacher, was interested in recreating the former family cabin into her own personal beachfront sanctuary, a "she-shed" as she called it.
Working in
collaboration with Sunshine Coast artist and builder, Cody Chancellor (www.cody.chancellor.net), we designed a new modern layout for
the cabin. We added a Mudroom/Laundry Room with washer and dryer, designed a Mistress Suite with walk-through closet and ensuite bathroom and opened up the Living Room area by removing a section of the central wall and putting in driftwood posts. We put heated ceramic tile flooring in the bathroom and kitchen and rearranged the kitchen appliances for better flow, resulting in a large central kitchen peninsula.
The project is being executed in phases, with Phase I completed Fall 2015 and Phase II in progress currently. As the project is still a "work-in-progress", the images here are a bit rough and unpolished, a construction zone essentially, but hopefully they will still give an adequate picture of the transformation and design direction. (I plan to update with photos once completion gets nearer)
In Phase
I, we opened up the space by taking out a section of the central partition and replacing it with
driftwood posts harvested from the beach.
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| A section of the central wall was removed and driftwood posts put in place for load-bearing |
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| Another shot of the above post from a different angle with a view to the kitchen beyond |
We changed the circulation of the cottage to facilitate the creation of
a large “Mistress Suite” with walk-through closet and a completely renovated dual function ensuite/main bathroom. The original small bathroom had a bathtub/shower insert. Sandi wanted to get rid of that and put in a custom, walk-in shower. We expanded the space in the bathroom by pushing the West partition 18" into an adjacent tiny bedroom (which became the Master walk-through closet) and created a corner vanity.
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| Corner vanity with custom corner medicine cabinet, custom window with frosted glazing, and wall sconce lighting |
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| With the additional space in the bathroom, Cody was able to add a small bench between the main door of the bathroom and the pocket door leading to the walk-through closet |
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| Custom walk-in shower with flooring and design accents made of beach stones gathered by Sandi |
The kitchen was refurbished with in-floor heating under
ceramic tiles, rearranging of appliances and work zones for better efficiency,
and the refinishing of the peninsula with the addition of a large cedar slab
counter top (also harvested from the immediate environment surrounding the
cabin).
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| Tiling in progress in the kitchen and large cedar slab counter top |
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| Another view of the cedar slab peninsula counter top sliced from a stump harvested on site - the gorgeous nature of the cedar grain adds rich colour and visual texture to the kitchen |
With the
commencement of Phase II in Summer 2016, we are working towards completing the installation of engineered hardwood flooring throughout the remainder of the
cabin and the removal of additional partitions to be replaced with simple custom
sliding shoji screens (by Ryan McMillan of River Bank Design, www.riverbankdesign.ca) to add versatility and functionality to the newly expanded Living
Room/Guest Room. (pictures to follow)
For Phase
III, beginning in Fall 2016, I will be creating a completely new lighting plan
for the She-shed, as well as replacing window treatments and completing the Mudroom.
I'm so excited about this project because I love working with creative, dynamic individuals (such as my client and collaborator) and witnessing stunning transformations of space and form.
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