Colin and Justin suffer cabin pressure
Interior design duo turn cottage problems into new television series
Colin and Justin’s Cabin Pressure New episodes air Tuesdays with reruns through the week, Cottage Life.
Trademark Glaswegian brogues aside, Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan are quintessentially Canadian. After all, they’re a staple on our media scene, they own a sprawling condo that overlooks the CN Tower in Toronto and now they’re shacking up in that most Canuck of abodes: a log cabin, complete with red roof.
But it took considerable elbow grease and going way over budget to transform that “pig in lipstick” into a soothing wilderness retreat. The duo’s journey to vacationhome bliss is documented on Colin and Justin’s Cabin Pressure, a new 13-episode series on Cottage Life.
“It looks like a care home for the bewildered, but we can make it right,” Ryan says on the first episode, referring to the “yabba dabba do” rock-faced fireplace in their new place as a “yabba dabba don’t.”
After checking out some 100-plus properties, the duo decided on a lakefront fourbedroom home in the Muskoka region of Ontario. They bought the property in partnership with some longtime friends and took possession just before Christmas 2012, but waited months before tackling the dated interior.
“We didn’t buy a cottage to make a TV show. We bought a cottage for the reasons why people have a cottage: we genuinely wanted to escape,” McAllister says during a recent stop in Calgary. “It’s like an exclusive Canadian club that no one tells you about ... It has a huge effect on the rest of your life. It does take away the stress.
“It’s really nice for us to think that we have that card in our back pocket, that we can run away to the cottage at any time.”
From The Million Pound Property Experiment to Colin and Justin’s Home Heist, the dynamic design duo is known for their exuberant screen presence and colourful decor choices. In addition to ongoing media appearances on programs such as Cityline, they have a homewares collection. (“A lot of Canadians are sleeping with Colin and Justin,” McAllister quips about the popularity of their bedding line.)
Despite their decades of experience, the transformation of their cabin in the woods didn’t go according to plan. There was the rotting deck, the dodgy dock, the troublesome electrical system, the dated septic system ... McAllister (the brunette) and Ryan (the blond, for now) say they have a new appreciation — and sympathy — for all those homeowners they’ve worked with over the years.
“Suddenly we realized what it was like to have a crew in your own personal space, going through your things. The loss of control,” McAllister says, holding his hands flat in front of him.
“There were times where we were like, ‘Breathe, breathe, breathe.’ ”
Viewers will also relate to their budget being under a constant state of siege, Ryan adds.
Instead of getting the reconditioned barn board they wanted for the lower level (it runs from $7 to $10 a linear foot), Ryan came up with a coffee-inspired stain that he applied to re-sawed pine (which goes for about $1 a linear foot).
“I spilled some coffee on the timber and it went this really lovely honey colour. So we made a big vat and painted the two massive rooms with Nescafe. We watered it down and put it on with a wallpaper brush. It’s really, really nice.”
For all the trials and tribulations of the renovation, the lads are loving their new getaway, with McAllister even taking up snowshoeing.
He advises fellow cottagers to bite the bullet and do the work, once and for all.
“In the end, if you deal with all the problems from the getgo, then it doesn’t become a hobby farm for the rest of your days and you can actually enjoy spending weekends up there.”