A Little Bit Country

When Todd and Sandra Young decided they needed more space, they chose not only to go bigger with their home, they opted to get out of town entirely.

Ten years ago, the couple and their two kids traded their inner-city Mount Pleasant home for a Springbank bungalow on four acres of land. Still within an easy commute of the city, the home also gives the family privacy and room to explore their creativity.

“We wanted to build a home that we could live in for the rest of our lives and where we could evolve and keep creating,” says Sandra. “We loved living in the city, but we were splitting at the seams. We had decorated every corner of the house and yard and it was time to move on.”

Todd, a software developer and part-time artist, and Sandra, an interior designer and owner of home decor boutique Willow Studio, have slowly put their mark on the acreage, starting with the outdoor living space. In doing so, they learned an important lesson in scale.

“When you have an acreage, you have to rethink spaces,” says Todd. Having room to spread out is what the Youngs wanted, but outdoors also posed a challenge in terms of maintenance and a lack of defined useable
entertaining space. The solution was to fence in an acre of the property.

“We wanted to create a city-style contained area that would give us some sense of yard,” says Sandra. Outside the six-foot-high wall, the property’s untouched landscape provides a 400-metre buffer from the nearest neighbours. The Youngs used that land and the freedom of space Springbank affords to build a 1,200-square-foot shop for Todd to weld his steel sculptures and for Sandra to dabble in arts and crafts. Their 15-year-old son also built a skateboarding half pipe out of sight of his parents. And out-of-town guests can park their trailers on the lot for summer campouts. Inside the fenced yard, the Youngs have indulged their decorating skills to create an area of casual luxury that would look just as appropriate in the city, if only space permitted.

The pool is the centrepiece, but the 39-foot-wide pergola is what anchors the space.

The pergola provides an outdoor living room with a relaxed, but vibrant look created by layering old and new furniture. Woven furniture Sandra purchased on a recent shopping trip to Bali for Willow Studio is paired with end tables moved from inside and revived with yellow spray paint. Other repurposed materials include shelves made from boats tilted upright and a commercial-grade kitchen rescued from a salvage yard.

Surprising twists to the outside decor, including hanging disco balls and pillows painted by a contemporary artist, add to an overall look that takes inspiration from several generations of trends to create a timeless impression.

The layered look of the outside carries over to the inside of the house. When the Youngs moved in, they inherited a renovation project abandoned midway by the previous owners. The bones were there, including a vaulted ceiling and large windows that give the home a grand feel, even though, at 2,200 square feet, it is small by Springbank standards. The layout also worked and didn’t need to be changed. A kitchen, living and dining room that all open into each other gave the Youngs the venue they were looking for to entertain, whether it is watching movies as a family or wine tasting with members of their local wine club.

But, while all of the original walls stayed where they were, every surface was altered. The entryway now has slate tile, while the living and dining room feature bamboo floors and thick pile carpet gives a lush feeling underfoot in the bedrooms. Area rugs in grey, taupe and blue tones, and walls in soft grey complete the home’s nature-inspired neutral background, which creates a canvas for art and accessories to shine.

“The furnishings and the walls are a blank palette for us to express our personality through the small stuff,” says Sandra, who is particularly proud of their art collection, which has steadily grown over the past 20 years.

“One of the most personal things about our home is the art,” she says. “It’s our greatest pride and joy because it is the history of our creative lives.”

Todd’s sculptures are on display inside and outside of the house, along with a few of Sandra’s photos and paintings, which she says took guts to hang on the wall. Most of the Youngs’ art collection is from emerging artists discovered at Alberta College of Art + Design student sales, silent auctions or Sandra’s shows at Willow Studio. Other than being almost entirely Canadian, the collection of glass, pottery and paintings has little in common other than the Youngs’ attraction to each piece, but that’s all that is necessary to form a cohesive look, according to Sandra.

“If you love it, that’s the common ingredient,” she says. “Your art doesn’t have to match. You can buy things you love. That informs an eclectic style.”

The Youngs’ style evolution, as well as their waste-not want-not recycling spirit, can also be seen in the accent pillows strewn across window seats and white leather sofas. Currently, they are covered in turquoise and greyish green (or what Sandra calls celadon) striped and botanical patterns, but dig a little deeper and the layers tell the story of the Youngs’ decorating past.

“I recycle the pillow forms and have kept them with me for so many years that if you take out the zipper you might find two or three other covers and recognize the decorating eras,” says Sandra. “It’s come full circle,” she laughs, pointing out how some of the coral colours of her early decorating days in the 1990s have been reintroduced into her current dressing room.

The space, which Sandra calls her boudoir, is where she hangs out with girlfriends or her 18-year-old daughter to chat when she comes to visit from Saskatoon. For the room’s present incarnation, Sandra maintained the playful jungle mural created when it was a kid’s bedroom. The look provides a marked contrast from the neighbouring master bedroom, where the decor is more subdued, letting the 20-foot ceiling become the focus.

Also left over from the Youngs’ early days is the homemade cable lighting system Sandra and Todd created out of copper tubing and glass beads. They installed it when they first moved in and the budget was tight. “At the time we installed the lights, I thought as we could afford it we would replace them, but we’ve grown fond of them,” says Sandra. They have kept some and replaced others with wrought iron candelabras, chain-link glass chandeliers and shimmering table lamps.

The effect of this add-and-edit approach is a constantly changing textured style that values the old while welcoming the new. “It’s been a continual effort,” says Sandra. “We never stop.”

Next, the couple plans to convert their garage into a kitchen, complete with mountain views. It will replace their current cooking area, which is spacious by downtown condo standards, but small for a country home built for a family.

“People make comments about our small kitchen all the time,” laughs Sandra. “But I don’t cook much, and when we build our dream kitchen, I’m not sure how we will make it as efficient as this one.”

Despite her constant creative buzz and plans to keep evolving her home, Sandra pauses, shifts a pillow on her poolside chaise and says, “If it doesn’t get any better than this, I’m happy.”