Avenue

The Family Way

With the help of designer Paul Lavoie, an active family of five remakes a mid-century split-level home into a modern oasis for entertaining

By Theresa Tayler
Photography by Bruce Edward
Home Styling by Susan Eyre

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The first hint of colour at the Sutton home comes in the form of chalk-sketched floral silhouettes drawn onto the concrete sidewalk welcoming visitors.

These one-of-a-kind pieces of modern art have been captured by the artists in residence:six-year-old Leah and her two older brothers, Sean, eight, and Chaz, 10.

With children’s play chalk in hand, they have gone to work on the driveway of their Mayfair-area home.

The Sutton kids are not the only creative visionaries in the neighbourhood that have contributed artwork to the interior-design scheme of Allison Sutton and her husband, Bob’s California split-style home.

“That’s what’s so great about living in this area, it’s very diverse,” says Allison. “There are artists living here, people of all different backgrounds and we love it. Some of our neighbours have done paintings for us.”

The former ER nurse and her husband bought the home on Massey Place, just off of Elbow Drive and the Calgary Golf and Country Club, about a decade ago. The home was one of the first modern split-levels built in the community in 1958.

“I would have never have thought I would want to live in a split home, because when you think split you think lots of levels,” says Allison. “But there is about 1,100 square feet on the main floor, so there’s lots of space to move.”
In 1998, and a few months pregnant with Chaz, Allison first set tradespeople to work painting, then putting in new floors and doors. Since then, the home has seen several renovations.

Walking into the 2008 version of the Sutton home, it’s hard to imagine it was originally built the year Elvis Presley joined the army; the decor is modern, the style chic and open, and the kitchen state of the art.

Calgary interior designer Paul Lavoie, along with Albi Renova, have guided the Suttons through four significant renos to create the perfect interior for their active family of five (six, if you include Dara the dog).

“We took a mid-century house and designed it with clean contemporary lines — few pockets of our Calgary neighbourhoods have this fine an example of a mid-century custom home,” says Lavoie. “We updated it for today’s lifestyle. The way people live has changed so much since [this house was built]; we’re much less room-oriented and more about communication.”

Lavoie opened up the main level and designed the interior around the home’s original central fireplace to create a modern space suitable for family life and entertaining.

“Everything revolves around that fireplace,” says Lavoie. To ensure a cohesive look that also focused the room, Lavoie created custom furniture for the west-facing living room.

Bays of windows line both the east and west sides of the home, providing a glow of natural lighting throughout most of the day.

The front door opens to expose slate tiling, while a few stairs to the left lead up to the living room and kitchen, which are both covered with Brazilian Cherry hardwood. Wooden beams and slatted wooden ceiling are visible throughout the main level of the home, creating a comforting, almost rustic feeling that focuses on natural materials.

While the home is modern in sensibility, it has none of the coldness often associated with the clean lines and angles of the modern look. At the same time, despite the many displays of ornaments and artwork that line the walls and mantles, the home does not feel cluttered.

“Much of artwork comes from trips; we’re not really connoisseurs,” says Allison, laughing. “If we see something and we like it, appreciate it; that’s how we decide to buy it.”

Allison had built-in shelving units placed throughout the home, most noticeably in the back mud/laundry room, office area and garage storage unit. “Functionality is a big thing for me. I knew we were going to have lots of kids and I wanted a home that would work for a large family,” she says.

This passion for function in design is most apparent in the well-organized kitchen. It’s a cooking area built for a master chef, equipped with appliances and built-in gadgets meant to make entertaining enjoyable for the host and the dinner party. Individual fridges for beverages and food, a stand-alone freezer, icemaker, garbage compactor and stereo system are fitted neatly into the kitchen walls.

“Some people are artists in the kitchen, but I just love to entertain,” says Allison. “For me, cooking is about community, inviting people over, having a glass of wine and listening to music.”

The piece de resistance is an oversized honed-slate island that measures approximately three by five metres. “We call it the continent, as opposed to the island,” says Allison.

The latest renovation, completed earlier this year, saw the addition of front porch sitting and barbequing deck and newly landscaped front yard.

“It’s about watching the kids as they play out front,” says Allison. “Having friends and neighbours stop by as they’re walking their dogs — we all have wine out there — we’ll mishmash food together and serve kids food or order pizza and eat together as a community.

“It’s a nice thing to be able to have. I’m big [on] community; it’s very important to me.” And by focusing not only on the life of its occupants, but also on those visiting and even just passing by, community is very important to the design of this home, as well.

Form and Function

Tips from designer Paul Lavoie on creating a functional sleek interior

Calgary designer Paul Lavoie has been creating unique decor around the world since the late ‘80s. His work has been featured in publications across the globe, including Avenue, Western Living, House and Home, Western Interiors and Design, Macleans and Architectural Digest.

Lavoie says the key to functional decor is to be honest with yourself about what you need your home to do, rather than how you want it to look.

“If you’re a TV person, stop hiding the TV in the smallest room,” he says. “Buy a great-looking, big TV and hang it up on the wall in a beautiful room. So many people hide their TV away in one of the smallest rooms in the home and then they end spending most of their time in this tiny little area.”
Lavoie says, beyond decorating, it’s important to figure out how you’re going to live and analyze your storage space.

“Think about little things, like where you plan on plugging in your cellphone and how the mail gets sorted,” he says.

“I’ve had lots of clients turn formal dining rooms into playrooms for the kids; it’s about what works best for you. If you think about how you live before you think about how you want it to look, the style will follow.”