Eight years ago, during one of her daily lunch hour jogs through Rossdale, Jacqueline Juselius spotted a “for sale” sign in front of a three-level home. While she and her husband, Jordan Slator, weren’t actively looking to move from their Glenora home, she had fallen in love with the river valley community. Although the house needed work, its view of the river and proximity to downtown appealed to the couple.
They moved in the following spring.
But although the house was relatively new, having been built in 1994, it looked dated with sponge-painted walls, hunter green tile floors and ornate gold and brass detailing throughout. So, with the help of designer Sheri Krug of Sheri Krug Designs, they collaborated to gradually transform the house into a home for a growing family.
Seven years and four kids later, the house is a modern yet warm abode, where Juselius and Slator, both lawyers, can unwind after work. This is how they did it …
Juselius is an avid cook and baker, so a spacious and well-equipped kitchen was essential. Although they kept the original layout, the cabinets and appliances had to go. Juselius and Krug chose quarter-sawn teak cabinets in light caramel from Rdl World Class Kitchens to give the kitchen a contemporary, yet warm feeling. “I like modern,” says Juselius, “but I like warm-modern – nothing too stark or cold.”
They also installed glass cabinet doors to prevent the linear kitchen from feeling like a galley. “The glass breaks up the horizontal lines and lightens up the wall,” says Krug.
The master suite’s huge walk-in-closet was reconfigured into a 120-square-foot children’s bedroom. Krug designed the built-in bunk beds, making efficient use of the room’s small, angular shape. A plexiglass divider on the higher bunk makes it safe while also looking cool.
A hidden shelf area at the head of each bed allows the boys to store their books and iPods. Aidan, seven, can study at the built-in desk that Krug designed. Durable Roppe rubber floor tiles were installed to make for easy clean ups since things are bound to spill.
Krug’s dramatic redesign of the master bedroom included moving walls and removing an unused fireplace to make room for a reading nook.
The mirrors above an L-shaped, quartz-topped vanity cabinet are backlit with LED strip-lighting, giving the room an airy ambience. The mirror, placed at a 90-degree angle to an east-facing window, gives the illusion of an elongated view of the downtown skyline in its reflection.
Krug says the contrast between the white walls and the darker cabinetry adds a dynamic feel to the space; and transitioning the lighter maple flooring to a darker tile helps ground the vanities for esthetic balance.
To keep the plumbing in the same location, his and her sinks sit opposite each other … in the bedroom. It’s odd, but practical. And, since Slator is six-foot-four, the contractor made his sink about eight inches higher than average.
The tile floor in the bedroom is heated, a luxury element the couple decided was worth the splurge. “When they were first installed, you could find the whole family lying down on the floor,” says Juselius.
They gave up about 100 square feet for an additional children’s room, but they still feel that there’s ample space. For Juselius, the bedroom is her sanctuary. “I almost feel like I’m in a hotel room when I’m in this space.”
Krug updated the main floor by tiling the two-sided fireplace with porcelain and replacing all of the kitchen cabinets, appliances and fixtures. However, the overall layout of the kitchen stayed the same.
Contractor Robert Hoiland matched it up with the maple flooring in the living room, which replaced hunter green tiles that once covered the dining room floor, creating a seamless transition between the two spaces. “We wanted to maintain a consistent flow between the living room and kitchen/dining room,” says Krug. “It’s a nice open space, so to have a definitive break in the floor made no sense.”
