Western Living

HOMES


A House for the Ages	Creative Kitchens	Faucets, Counters and Tile
A quaint North Saanich custom cottage is built with the long haul in mind.	Our annual assemblage of the best, brightest, most functional and most fantastic cooking spaces. A Touch of Glass Lofty Intentions Ranch Revisited	Presenting the cutting edge in faucets, counters, and tiles. PLUS... Great Appliances Cool Gadgets


Great Escape	Gilded Age	Open Season
A car buff gets a striking modern house to go with his collection of vintage automobiles.	A Vancouver couple transforms their west side home from close quarters to a space made for parties.	A Whistler manse by Kelly Deck eschews the rock and cedar norm for a more modern approach to mountain living. PLUS... Floor Show Illuminating the season’s best floor lamps.


Look this Way	Out of the Park	Head for the Hills
A Lakeside Whistler chateau is designed to celebrate shared family time.	A historical Shaughnessy mansion is restored with serious attention to detail (and a little baseball fun).	A Pennslyvania couple looks West and creates a Rocky Mountain retreat in Canmore. PLUS... Go Go Gadgets The Holidays offer the perfect excuse to snag that little (or big) electronic item you've been coveting all year.


La Belle Vie		French Revolution
Architects Jeremy Sturgess and Lesley Beale join some fellow Calgarians in finding second-home bliss in France's Languedoc region.		A West Vancouver couple takes the French villa plunge in a tiny hamlet in the south of France.


Finders Keepers	Artful Living	Trends 2010
A classically designed home on a stunning waterfront lot north of Victoria hits all the right notes	A home in Edmonton’s river valley showcases an important collection of Western Canadian art	The hottest emerging decor looks, from apple-red appliances to earthy leather chairs

Read on to find out the winners!

Our Second Annual awards celebrate the best new homes, interiors, gardens, furniture and fashion.

PLUS:
All Fired Up
Click here to light your fire with hearths to warm up a fall evening.


Earth, Wind & Fire	Living Las Vegas	Green with Envy
No air conditioning. In the Okanagan. No Kidding. We explore an architectural and design wonder.	Dramatic renovations turn a Winnipeg basement into a glitzy gambling (and dancing, and karaoke) den.	Furnish every room of your house with decor that's functional and eco-friendly.

Featured Homes

Cashing In

Outdoor Furniture

CALL OF THE WILD A globe-trotting fashion designer chooses the far north for her mountain retreat (above)

ON THE EDGE A New York couple partners with award-winning West Coast architects to create a rural island paradise

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH A weekend getaway hits all the right notes in this former mining town in Alberta

RIPPLE EFFECT A sumptious summer villa graces a dramatic setting in British Columbia’s Desolation Sound

The dos, don’ts , whens, whys and hows of entering and navigating the recreational property market

The coolest looks for the summer.

Building a Mystery

Both Sides Now

Timeless Tradition

The first look inside one of Victoria’s most talked-about new homes.

The River Valley serves as the backdrop for an Edmonton family’s contemporary home

A Vancouver classic mixes and matches its way to perfection

PLUS...
Shower Time- A collection of the latest and greatest water-delivery systems, for the discerning shower stall

Inspiring Renovations

Beauty and the Bath

Wallpaper and Paint

A Family Affair A Vancouver couple re-imagines a classic 1970s design.

Labor of Love A Samuel Maclure masterpiece gets a serious overhaul.

Saving Grace A river valley gem gets the royal treatment in Edmonton.

Double Happiness A Vancouver condo offers the best of both bathing worlds.

Pretty Things A Shaughnessy mansion gets a bath befitting its grandeur.

Room at the Top An Island escape leaves it all out in the open.

White Space A Calgary condo fits in a spa-sized steam shower.

Wall Flowers Wallpaper's dramatic comeback continues with these big, bold, and beautiful prints.

Paint the Town Still the fastest, easiest and least expensive way to renovate.


Kitchens You'll Love	Homes-25 Years in the Prairies	Kitchens-Tiles and Appliances
Cream Rises A 1927 Victoria home gets a modern classic makeover. Orange Crush A Dutch expat lets colour loose in his slick Calgary condo. Urban Suburban A Vancouver designer decides to bring her work home Fire and Ice Former NHL player Cliff Ronning scores with this Burnaby kitchen. All the World’s a Stage It’s lights, camera, action in a dramatic Calgary home.	Modern Love A contemporary home spring up in a staid Manitoba subdivision. Room for a Cue A Saskatoon couple renovates a groovy family home.	Appliances Ovens, fridges, dishwashers, ranges and hoods plus outdoor kitchens. Counter Culture Five new materials go on the chopping block. Wet and Wild Splatter these durable backsplash finishes to your heart’s content. More on the Floor Step it up with hard-wearing, great-looking tiles.


Eye in the Sky	Big Country	Maui Wowie
A penthouse that soars above the Vancouver skyline challenges notions of private and public space.	A pastoral retreat just outside Vancouver has the best of both worlds: an estate in the country, just steps from the city.	A Vancouver family’s Hawaiian getaway is the stuff of dreams: an acre on Maui’s most coveted beach with all the amenities of a five-star hotel and none of the crowds.


A Home for the Holidays	A Touch of Tuscany	Between a Rock and a Soft Place
When homeowner Val Girgulis told Sally Healy she wanted a home that was perfect for big family parties and seasonal celebrations, the Calgary designer knew just what to do.	An Edmonton home takes on Old World character thanks to the use of authentic materials: Venetian plaster, a stone wine cellar and, best of all, an outdoor pizza oven.	By building on a cliff face, the owners of this Victoria house took the challenging road. Turns out, that’s how they like it.

California Dreamin’ The hottest real estate spots for second homes.


Palm Springs Confidential	The Simple Life	Whole In One
The Palm Springs vacation home of Calgary designer Paul Lavoie is a treasure chest of new and pre-loved items.	With one foot in Vancouver and one in Santa Barbara wine country, this couple has the best of two worlds.	For his Palm Springs hideaway, a golf aficionado and kitchen expert creates an above-par family retreat.

2008 Designers of the Year


A Measured Dose	Black Tie Optional	West Coast Glam
Meet the partners in a firm that didn’t even exist a year ago—a company with just a few exquisite finished projects to its name.	From award-winning homes to neighbourhood watering holes and hip T-shirts, a design firm that redefines casual modern living.	A designer who brings the hallmarks of her playful and glamorous restaurant and retail designs home to residential interiors.

Decor


*Drop Zone* The pendant light gets glam in elegant black and goes bold with candy colours. *Too Hot to Handle* Fireplace accessories that add warmth and style to hearth and home.

Inspiration


*5 things that inspire* Beverley Gorenstein of Moulé

Real Estate


*The $7.5-Million Baby* The house that broke the real estate records in Calgary is all about the views, inside and out.

Kitchens


A Cook’s Dream	Wine and Dine	Chef Lab
Wine expert Nancy Carten of Calgary’s Kensington Wine Market creates the ultimate “eatertainer” kitchen.	An Okanagan winery kitchen at Laughing Stock captures not only great views, but great moments in the vineyard.	The sky-high penthouse kitchen of developer and restaurateur Bruce Langereis is a testing ground for chef David Hawksworth.

Renovations


East Meets West	Natural Beauty	Ship Shape
Tracing a historic explorer's spice route, the restoration of Villa Marco Polo in Victoria blends Italy and the Orient.	Stripping away the decades exposes the good bones of a mid-century Edmonton house, given new life as a family home.	West Coast nautical artifacts colour the space-efficient renovation of a Vancouver penthouse with stunning harbour views. PLUS Before & after shots and floorplans.

Kitchens


A kitchen is truly our most personal space: it’s where we gravitate to as a family, where we park ourselves after a long day at the office, where we welcome our friends. Here, we take a look at how personality drives a functioning kitchen. The Green Kitchen *The Non-Kitchen Kitchen* *The Eatertainer Kitchen*

Bathrooms


The burgeoning home spa revolution is seening designers and architects blowing open walls, elevating the humble bathtub and transforming these private spaces into meditative retreats. A Zen spa The urban spa retreat The converted barn spa The spa condo

Summer Homes


From the Gulf Islands to Lake Winnipeg, this is how the West summers. Bridging the Gap A challenging plot of land is transformed into a Bowen Island getaway for a Winnipeg couple. *Back to Basics* A Manitoba cabin proves just how beautiful (and inexpensive) a simple plan can be.

Lifestyle


*The New Old* A new breed of “seniors’ lifestyle community” eases into the West.

Decor


*Bathrooms Galore* Sinks, toilets, faucets and countertops to complete your bathroom look. This selection of bathroom products will just be the finishing touches you’ve been wanting, from toilets that can be easily hidden away to faucets with water flows that will make you feel like you’re sitting in a spa. Grills Gone Wild The hottest new ways of playing with fire. *Vessels* Wine glasses that breathe, chug and masquerade. *Kind of Blue* Who says wood discoloured by pine beetles is useless? These sustainability-minded designers are creating beautiful pieces from the ravaged forest.

Wellness


*Skin Deep* Westerners know their weather, so who better to protect your skin from head to toe than these local purveyors? *Home and Away* Advice from top day spas across the West about creating your own spa at home—from their favourite read or an evocative scent, to the best tricks for setting the mood (glass of syrah, anyone?).

<< BACK

Enter Now! Click here to download your 2010 entry form, including rules and regulations.
Deadline: May 17, 2010
On September 10, 2009, Western Living magazine celebrated the winners of our second annual Designers of the Year Awards. Read on to find out more last year’s winners, and be sure to click here to view photos from our event

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