Living and creating your dream home

It’s likely you once had an idea of what your “dream home” would look like if you were given all the ideal allowances of money, time, location, builders, and a perfect design team to make your ideas come to life.
Unfortunately, for most of us, we either settle for what is available or economical. And once we move in, it’s likely that not too much about an existing home changes.
It seems a shame to get rid of the pre-existing carpet. After all, carpet is carpet, right? Wrong!
Diane Gibson, an interior designer who works here in town and the surrounding area, said some characteristics of a home must be sacrificed in order to breathe new life into it.
“I’ve seen some homes that are stuck in the ’70s,” noted Gibson. “You can always appreciate most things, but the old ’70s shag and avocado green walls is never good.”
Sprucing up a room can be as easy as putting fresh flowers, lighting candles, or changing up pillows to something that’s more seasonal.
The biggest thing that will change a room is the colour of the walls.
“People don’t realize that you can have the best furniture in the world, but if you don’t have the right colours with it, it’s never going to look good,” Gibson stressed.
“A lot of the homes that I’m going into right now just have the builder’s beige on the walls. Some have lived with it since they built years ago,” she noted.
Gibson has noticed many people are less timid about trying different colours because TV programs on networks like “Home and Garden Television” have shown people that taking risks can have big benefits.
George Glowasky, an architectural designer who has done numerous homes and businesses in town, including the Harbourage and McTaggarts, has seen some major changes to the design element of structures.
“The biggest change in the industry is the size of homes . . . they’ve increased immensely,” he noted.
He estimated 40 years ago, house ran between 1,200 and 1,400 square feet. But now the majority of homes he’s worked on run anywhere from 2,000 to 3,000 square feet.
The amenities inside the home also have changed, where people are asking for more elaborate things like walk-in closets, more space, and upgraded kitchens with things like granite tabletops.
Roofing is another thing that’s changed over the years, where sheet metal was favoured because of the climate but now things like textured shingles are becoming more popular.
Glowasky’s job as an architectural designer involves understanding the client’s concept of what they want and making what they envision functional.
Because of changes implemented by the Ontario government, Glowasky no longer can design businesses and so strictly focuses on homes now.
Architects, engineers, designers, and building officials had to become certified by the government and were required to have licences in order to practice.
A standardization occurred within the design industry and many people that once did all types of designs had to specialize or upgrade their courses.
Dave Zatulsky, another architectural designer, has seen building codes change and different qualifications implemented to homes in the area. He does construction drawings and structural design for people who need it for additions to buildings or manufacturing businesses.
“There is a need for professional design services in the area and we tend to be called upon to fulfill that need,” Zatulsky said.
He believes most of the trends seen in Fort Frances come from surrounding areas like Winnipeg. “What you see in the cities often catches on,” he explained. “People see it and think that looks different and nice.”
People then will want to try and incorporate new design elements into the building of their homes.
Shingles have been the prominent house covering in Fort Frances but stucco has become very popular as an exterior finish. Because of the proximity to the mill, many people used hardboard siding because the mill produced it in large quantities.
“People are getting tired of that and are starting to go towards things like stucco,” Zatulsky noted. “We don’t really do a lot of brick here still, but the Manitoba influence tends to be stucco so a lot of people going to Winnipeg see that and want it in their homes.”
Gibson believes a house essentially is just a mere structure that people live in and that it isn’t until people personalize it that it becomes a home.
“The personal touches—the art and the photos, that’s what makes a home,” she said.
Her advice is to always start with the “big-ticket items” like furniture before you choose a colour to paint the walls. By doing this, you are less likely to be stuck with a colour that doesn’t work with the rest of your furnishings.
Avoiding clutter, and having too many things in an area, is another pitfall many people fall into. China cabinets are meant to showcase items, not show every trinket you’ve collected over the years.
Gibson said when there is a beautiful item, if it is displayed with too many abstract things, it will never become a focal point regardless of how nice it is.
She also believes accessorizing your home is key to making a space more livable.
“Flowers are a great way of sprucing up and brightening up a place,” she remarked. “Whether you go and get a vase from the dollar store and some flowers from Safeway, it really does make a difference.”
For Gibson, the most rewarding aspect of her job is having a satisfied customer.
“At the end of the day when you get home and you have that call waiting on your answering machine with someone that’s just so excited about the way the room looks . . . for me, that’s the best part of the job,” she enthused.