ALL IN A DAY’S WORK
A SMALL BASEMENT FINALLY GETS ITS DAY IN THE SUN.
OOFTEN LAST ON THE LIST for a makeover, basements rarely get any serious love. That was certainly the case for the basement of Michele Rowland, a real-estate agent, and her husband, Derek Lamont. In 2016, the couple bought their charming, 1920s classic Tudor home in Oshawa, Ont., a 45 minutes’ drive east of Toronto. They spent two years renovating the upper floors before finally shifting their gaze lower — and what they saw wasn’t pretty. “By this point, we had run out of steam,” says Michele. The basement consisted of a hallway beside the stairwell that led to a small sitting room and a charmless and dated three-piece bath. Half of it was unfinished storage space, including a laundry area. Still, they had grand visions of transforming the 600-square-foot lower level into a “pretty but practical office” for Michele’s four-person team. A key consideration was making the basement feel like the rest of the house, which is where designer Christine Elliott came in. “I was showing a house and the family room really resonated with me,” says Michele. “It felt comfortable, lovely, personal and curated, not like it was plucked from a store.” The designer turned out to be Christine, and Michele hired her right away.
Michele and Christine started by planning out every square foot. “We addressed how the team worked day to day, and what they needed at their fingertips,” says Christine. There had to be storage, a pleasant spot to eat lunch and meet with clients, a new bathroom and a private office for Michele.
To establish a sense of order, Christine created three distinct work zones with built-ins that feel purposeful in the space. At the bottom of the stairs, the staff workspace has matching desks and upholstered chairs. The lunch area has slipcovered chairs, a marble-topped table, architectural panelling and sconces. And finally, Michele’s office (a former bedroom) is elegant and functional, with a marble-topped desk framing a gallery wall of paintings softly lit by picture lighting. Weighty doors adorned with salvaged hardware can be closed for privacy. “That’s my little escape,” says Michele. “I love seeing the art I’ve been collecting from East of Eden Antiques near my cottage in the Kawarthas.”
The new bathroom, with its emerald green vanity and mosaic marble floors, feels cool and fresh. Christine adjusted the floor plan so that the sight line shows a flash of colour when you first open the door. “We installed a feature wall with a secret entrance,” she says of the raised panelling that runs seamlessly across the door.
Such details, including the brass that’s carried throughout — in the handfinished desk pulls, door handles and even the staplers — make the space special. Grasscloth and splashes of blues and greens add another dose of cheer and tie in with Michele’s company branding. “By far, my favourite part of this project was sourcing all the beautiful hardware, from the cabinet pulls to the doors to the light switches,” says Christine. “Everything has such a nice weight to it.”
Michele and Christine also spent time in antique markets and salvage shops to find the perfect statement pieces, like the knobs for Michele’s door. In the end, Michele is thrilled with the total transformation. “A friend said, ‘When you’re done with the office, I’m turning it into my apartment.’ ”