Time for Lake Life 2012

The time has finally come, we are heading to the heat, humidity, and fun!!! Lake cabin here we come!!! We usually head down at the end of May, but now having a little guy in school we are stuck at home until he gets out at the end of June, what happened to 3 month summers?!?

Wakeboarding, swimming, lounging, entertaining, family time, fishing, ahhhhh..SUMMER! Post will be sporadic, the next 6 weeks is all about time with my boys, but I will be sharing the rest of Altadore I and concepts for our upcoming homes...exciting things going on at Veranda Estate Homes!!! Mel xo

BTW, I'm sad that with Instagram crashing I have lost all of my pics on my profile, it still says I have over 360 pics but there are no place to be found.  Lets home they get the bugs fixed!!!

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Altadore I: Exterior & Lower Level

Hi, remember me? I'm not going to lie, I am not that into blogging lately. It is so time consuming and every creative inch of me right now is going into all of the homes that we have on the go...so da blog is going to have to suffer a bit till I am able to breath...be patient please. So to kill time I am going to share Altadore I images, but I am going to drag it out since I can and it will give me something to blog about for a couple of weeks. So lets start off with the exterior & basement shall we?

{exterior} 

A combination of two colors of stucco, cedar detailing, and stone. It has a modern vibe but it is still warm and inviting. 

{wet bar & wine room} 

The lower level had to be kept light and bright since there are limited windows, but I still wanted a masculine feel to the space, you know, that whole 'man cave' thing? I carried the oak down throughout the cabinetry, including the wine room that is placed under the staircase that is leading to the basement. As I like to say, the best storage is wine storage!!

{bathroom} 

In these inner-city homes you can never have enough storage, we tend to develop every sq. in. that we can. In the lower level bath I kept the open shelves on each side of the mirror, great for display but also for additional storage of everyday items. 

So that is the outside (what we have shot so far) and the lower level, next up the upper level. Expect a lot of awesomeballs with that post, trust me. OK, I have to get back to work now, we are leaving for the cabin on Sunday for 6 weeks...send coffee now. Mel xo

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From this...to this

Ever wonder what goes into a kitchen from the beginning to the end? A lot of brainstorming, a lot of sourcing, a lot of sleepless nights, but it always pays off. Here is a visual layout of the progression of Altadore II.

{plans}

{inspiration}

{concept sketches}

{mood board}

{progress}

{final}

I think that gives you a pretty good look into the process (in under 5 min), you can see more images HERE. I am now working on Altadore III & Watermark I, so expect to see some mood boards and ideas coming through here soon. Mel xo

Altadore II Final Images

Somewhat final images I should say. We are heading back after our summer vacation once the landscaping is completed, the clients have settled in, and well...the house is 100% completed. It was a tight possession deadline and we were only able to shoot a few rooms in the home, so here is what I have for now to share with you, hope you enjoy!!

I love this kitchen, it is so warm, inviting, open, and just simply stunning. The small caged lanterns from Visual Comfort are like the cherry on top of a sunday, perfection!

For the fridge surround I designed an open shelf detail on both sides to frame the area. The interior of the boxes are constructed of the same stained alder as the island and other woodwork in the home. Perfect spot for display of dishes, serving pieces, and cookbooks.

The range is a 36" Viking number flanked by small utility drawers on each side for all the tools needed when the clients are cooking up a storm. I added recessed niches on each side with adjustable stained alder shelves so they can keep their oils, spices, and salts at easy access while cooking. The pot filler and stunning double herringbone marble backsplash make this area a great focal point.

At the back of the kitchen behind the range area is more cabinetry with a full height cabinet for glasses & bottles and to act as a mini bar, then behind the range itself is the pantry with lower cabinets and a beverage fridge built-in.

 

Love this image of the great room, it is completely open to the kitchen area, a perfect design for the clients that love to entertain. I know that this home is going to have a lot of fun times ahead!

The image on the left gives you a peek at the mud room with the Hicks pendants and the image on the right shows the stunning ceiling detail and 8' tall terrace doors that open to the large patio out back.

 The front room wall detail mimics the ceiling in the great room, it is all about the details. The kids bath on the upper level has a fun vintage feel with 3 of the Merchant Visual Comfort lights, octagon & dot flooring and classic subway tile.

All images by LifeSeven Photography and property of Veranda Estate Homes

We will be shooting the rest of the home including the master bathroom (which is ridiculously awesomeballs), the mud room, exterior, and a few more special places.  As well, I want to mention that we had to photograph this home early in the morning when the lighting was not ideal, a lot of the woodwork comes off very grey, which it is not. So once the new images are taken you will have a better idea of what it looks like in person. Mel xo

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Weekend recap...

What a weekend!!!! Where do I being? Lets start with Courtney...I love him, here he is peeking through when I was trying to get a shot of the yummy dinner we shared with Erica.

 We had such a fun night out together, I could have stayed at the table all evening chatting and laughing!!

The weather was not the best while he was in town, feeling a bit blue I went for an all blue ensemble for brunch Sunday morning. We headed to Wurst for a fab meal and a few mimosas, then it was off to Altadore for a tour of the 3 homes.

Denim Shirt | Bag | Jeans | Shoes

 

Right when we were done with our tour of Altadore Courtney joined me as I collected the last few things for our epic dinner party, what a help he was, thank you again dear!!!! Here are a few pics of some of the food we enjoyed that evening, once I get the pics from the camera we were using I will share more...

 scallop trio with chipolte relish topped scallop, scallop blt, and sous vide scallop

asparagus ravioli with parmesan foam

 

 lobster filled crepe with carrot pure & pea shoots

sous vide egg yoke that was deep fried & served with duck prosciutto & lobster aioli

 sous vide then pan fried octopus with squid ink & nectarines

 rosemary smoked lamb with rosemary & walnut pesto

 slider trio with a blue cheese camel, vietnamese rabbit, and short rib bison

 blackberry & ginger granita

 poached plum with triple cream brie

So...do you now see why we refer to it as the Epic Dinner Party?! There were 10 guest including myself that invaded my kitchen, everyone had their hands in preparing at least a dish or two...it was fantastic, as was the company. Mel xo

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Weekend ahead...

This is going to be a crazy weekend for me, here are a few of the things I have going on...

{altadore III}

The sale on this home is now firm, it is official, all of the homes in Altadore are sold!! The newest clients are AH-mazing, I swear she is my long lost sister, love her already. So now I am scrambling to make sure every detail from plumbing to cabinetry is to their liking, my sister does deserve the best after all. Here are a few of the images that we have saved for inspiration.

 all images above can be found on THIS Pinterest board

{courtney}

The SUPER fab Courtney from Courtney Out Loud has flown in to spend a couple of days with Erica & I. Erica is taking over today showing him around Calgary and all of the decor & design goodness stores we have and then tonight the 3 of us are off for a fab dinner at Blink, a favorite restaurant of mine downtown. Tomorrow I will be giving him the 101 in custom home building with visits to all of the job sites and maybe a supplier or two. Seriously, how much fun are we going to have?!?!

{epic dinner party}

Remember this post I did HERE? Well, tomorrow is the date, the date of our second annual Epic Dinner Party. 10 of us creating 13 (maybe 15) unique dishes in my kitchen, I am so excited for the epicurean delight that is awaiting my taste buds!

So that is what I have ahead of me, fingers crossed I survive, I am thinking coffee will be consumed using an IV. Happy weekend! Mel xo

Retail Therapy: NYC part 1

There was some shopping done while we were in NYC for BlogFest, first up bags. I like to say that no matter what my weight does a bag will always fit, so a great investment! So, off to Balenciaga I went with Erica.

 At one point I have 5 different bags hanging on me trying to decide which color to get...if only I had more room in my luggage and bank account!

 I ended up with a black large tote, the Day bag. It can be dressed up or dressed down, I am loving this bag. It is oversize & soft and so comfortable on the shoulders.

And next was a great bag I could use cross-body on the go, so the Velo in Anthricite was the pic. It was a tough toss up between this color and the Papayrus, but I figured this would be the best against dark wash jeans that have already ruiend so many of my bags. It is a beautiful navy with grey undertones.

Love both of these purchases and I know I will get a lot of use out of them in the future, Erica ended up with a bright red number, her new favorite color so it was a successful trip all around. I'll share more of our fun shopping travels with you soon. Mel xo

Upcoming projects...

We are busy...very, very busy. It is great and amazing and we are so happy with how things are rocking and rolling along. As you can tell from my limited post as of late the blog has had to take a back seat, but I will keep updating you on the projects at hand as they develop. Here is a breakdown of our upcoming projects...

{altadore I}

Possession on this home is in 3 weeks. I have yet to meet the clients that purchased this home but they have to be amazing...they did buy this awesome home after all!!! 

{altadore II}

This is the mad house of all Veranda Homes right now, it is crazy busy with the clients taking possession in a week and a half. Deep breaths and fingers crossed I am able to get some amazing images before they move in (and after). It is one of my faves as of late, they were amazing people to work with that had trust in me and for that I am so thankful. And just look at how fun the guest / kids bath is turning out!

{altadore III}

It is being framed, windows are getting installed, and I am in full swing of mill work drawings. This is the last of the trilogy as we like to call it and I am very excited to see how this one turns out. It has been a challenge to make 3 homes all side by side with similar plans unique and individual.

(exterior color are changing, this was just a quick rendition)

{watermark I}

Foundation is in and once I am wrapped up with Altadore III I am on to this home. Lets not forget this is the one where the clients are pretty much letting me do as I wish HOLLA!!! Plumbing is selected as well as appliances, I'll share those with you soon.

{hillhurst 4th ave}

This home has just been sent to the architect for design, it will have Feng Shui elements as required by the clients, so it is going to be a challenge to ensure that it meets the needs at hand. They have already started up idea books for me on Houzz & Pinterest and so far I am loving what I am seeing, I know that this one is going to be a fun project with great collaboration. Here are a few of the images that they have already selected for inspiration.

{watermark II}

Design is almost wrapped up for this spec home on a corner lot in Watermark. It is going to be an open planed 4 bedroom home with a Frank Loyd Wright / Prairie feel to the exterior. That was all the architects doing and I think it is going to be pretty spectacular. Honestly, what the interior will look like is still up in the air, I have a few more projects ahead of this one so the brain hasn't started on this one yet.

{hillhurst 15th st}

This home is going to be another spec home (unless it sells shortly), great location in inner-city Calgary on a super deep lot with west back exposure. We are going to keep this design more traditional on the exterior with a craftsman twist, possibly some shake detailing...I'll have to let you know once we get the plans in full swing, but here is an idea of what I plan on doing for the interior.

{bearspaw custom}

We drafted up the plans below a year ago for clients that we built for back in 2008. They are ready to get them going again and we have already had one meeting to make revisions to the plans and elevations. The architects are super excited about this project since it is going to be a fun & modern bungalow plan with tons of windows and amazing ceiling pitches. This one has my brain buzzing, in fact as we were going through the plans the clients kept laughing at me since I was so quiet (i am never quiet), my brain was going a million miles a minute!

So there you have it, this is what I have on my plate as of right now...plus a few more coals in the fire for additional pre-sales. I am so lucky to have such an amazing job and such a wonderful partner, we may argue a bit but that is the creative one arguing with the logistic one. Here is to a busy week and and amazing adventures ahead!! Mel xo

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