Enlivened In-Law Suite

This family wanted to renovate their basement to create a private suite for their mother in law.

Existing window and door locations were kept as-is, but we removed some walls and bulkheads to create a bright, open living space. They layout of the kitchen and bathroom were also reworked to create better spatial flow. The euro sized appliances suit the compact kitchen layout, making it feel more open. A new larger shower in the bathroom improves both style and accessibility, plus a larger vanity increases bathroom storage and counterspace.

The white painted upper cabinets and custom bed surround look fresh and modern while the wood-look laminate base cabinets warm up the space. The green tones of the kitchen and bath backsplashes provide lovely accent colours that tie in with the beautiful gardens outside. The cork-backed vinyl plank flooring will be easy to care for and will provide some insulation underfoot. This tidy new suite will be a lovely haven for this family!

Before & After

Gallery
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I have completed three high-end, successful and significant residential renovations with Lara Ellenwood during the past 11 years. Lara is a uniquely talented Interior Designer. She is a pleasure to work with - quiet, thoughtful, pleasant and sensitive. She is very well trained, professional and highly organized. I met her initially as a client of Ledingham Design, where she handled their interior design. She excels in design and in liaising with suppliers and trades whom she knows well and who hold her in very high regard. I understand why! She is more than willing to listen to her clients and their personal needs, and bend her choices in their direction. Additionally, she enriches their choices, adds new ideas, presents fine concept sketches, then detailed plans, and absolutely aces the colour palette after the required contemplation work. She then supervises the actualization process from beginning to end, has the best resources at her disposal, and brings together all the disparate elements together, successfully. Whoever you are, you are fortunate to be able to consider working with her.
Joyce C.
I have completed three high-end, successful and significant residential renovations with Lara Ellenwood during the past 11 years.  Lara is a uniquely talented Interior Designer. She is a pleasure to work with - quiet, thoughtful, pleasant and sensitive. She is very well trained, professional and highly organized. I met her initially as a client of Ledingham Design, where she handled their interior design. She excels in design and in liaising with suppliers and trades whom she knows well and who hold her in very high regard.  I understand why! She is more than willing to listen to her clients and their personal needs, and bend her choices in their direction. Additionally, she enriches their choices, adds new ideas, presents fine concept sketches, then detailed plans, and absolutely aces the colour palette after the required contemplation work. She then supervises the actualization process from beginning to end, has the best resources at her disposal, and brings together all the disparate elements together, successfully.  Whoever you are, you are fortunate to be able to consider working with her.
Joyce C.
Nancy and Mike B., Harrop

Our newly-purchased home was built in '93 and when the realtor arranged a first showing in late 2016, my wife said, "This place has potential value but it needs a serious updating".  At the same time, I kept thinking, "I think this house has good bones".  So we bought it, moved into it and embarked on updating it with the help of Lara and Marc from Ellenwood Homes. All excellent decisions.

Lara is educated and experienced in building and furniture design; Marc in construction and budgeting.  Add to that the varied skills of their main onsite contractors, Corey and Scott.  What a team!  We've never known better and if we were to tackle another job like this we'd choose these folks again...in a flash!

After a winter of renovating and selecting of new furniture - all guided by our team, we are totally thrilled with the outcome.  On top of that, we've gained very good friends in the process...

Nancy and Mike B., Harrop
"I asked Ellenwood Homes to change my kitchen / living area and turn it into an open concept situation. It looked like a fairly easy job but the walls that needed to come down were stuffed with plumbing, ducting and wiring for the whole house and no detailed drawings were available. Instead of starting a project without knowing if it would go way over my head, Marc conducted a very thorough investigation, suggested opening up part of the walls and he had the trades people who originally built the house come out to talk about what was there. I felt safe when we decided to go ahead with this. Lara is a wonderful designer, aware of tiny details and she came up with materials that I really liked. She seemed to understand exactly what I was looking for. These two people are a wonderful team, very professional and complementary to each other. And such pleasant personalities to work with. Budget and planning worked out fine, I love my new kitchen/living room and I would recommend Lara and Marc to anyone considering a renovation."
Birgit T.
"I asked Ellenwood Homes to change my kitchen / living area and turn it into an open concept situation. It looked like a fairly easy job but the walls that needed to come down were stuffed with plumbing, ducting and wiring for the whole house and no detailed drawings were available. Instead of starting a project without knowing if it would go way over my head, Marc conducted a very thorough investigation, suggested opening up part of the walls and he had the trades people who originally built the house come out to talk about what was there. I felt safe when we decided to go ahead with this. Lara is a wonderful designer, aware of tiny details and she came up with materials that I really liked. She seemed to understand exactly what I was looking for. These two people are a wonderful team, very professional and complementary to each other. And such pleasant personalities to work with. Budget and planning worked out fine, I love my new kitchen/living room and I would recommend Lara and Marc to anyone considering a renovation."
Birgit T.
Over 8 years ago, a friend of ours recommended Lara Ellenwood to help with the re-design of our newly purchased home. Since then we have relied on Lara for her amazing design sense and style. After talking to Lara we always know exactly what to do -- everything becomes so clear. We have complete confidence in Lara's ability to provide us with design solutions that suit our style and budget. She has really helped us make our house a home that we love.
Michelle and Dave W.
Over 8 years ago, a friend of ours recommended Lara Ellenwood to help with the re-design of our newly purchased home.  Since then we have relied on Lara for her amazing design sense and style.  After talking to Lara we always know exactly what to do -- everything becomes so clear.  We have complete confidence in Lara's ability to provide us with design solutions that suit our style and budget.  She has really helped us make our house a home that we love.
Michelle and Dave W.
I had a complete kitchen renovation done by Ellenwood Homes. Lara oversaw the design and Marc the construction. I had an idea of what I wanted, along with some pictures. Lara was able to bring together these threads and help me put together a fabulous modern kitchen. Not only did she do a lot of leg work [materials sourcing] and construction drawings, she also did construction supervision along with Marc. Lara is a very experienced designer. She was easy to work with and came up with great options and sensible solutions. My job was small, but both Marc and Lara gave it top-notch attention. I love my new kitchen! The work was very good quality and we stayed within budget. I would happily hire them again for my next project.
Colleen B.
I had a complete kitchen renovation done by Ellenwood Homes. Lara oversaw the design and Marc the construction. I had an idea of what I wanted, along with some pictures. Lara was able to bring together these threads and help me put together a fabulous modern kitchen. Not only did she do a lot of leg work [materials sourcing] and construction drawings, she also did construction supervision along with Marc. Lara is a very experienced designer. She was easy to work with and came up with great options and sensible solutions. My job was small, but both Marc and Lara gave it top-notch attention. I love my new kitchen! The work was very good quality and we stayed within budget. I would happily hire them again for my next project.
Colleen B.

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