Love It Or List It Vancouver: Kim & Randy

Kim & Randy loved their location but their home was closing in on them – a small rancher, it was cramped for four people and even more cramped for their youngest daughter Nicola who is in a wheelchair. Nicola loves to help mom cook in the kitchen but with it was tight even for one person to manage in – nearly impossible for Nicola to access drawers and cupboards. Jillian and the Love it team – brushed up on their accessibility guidelines – had a plan to make the spaces feel open as well as physically accessible for Nicola.

We took a couple walls out to expand the kitchen and increase storage – taking over a cramped office area and dedicating it to pantry and fridge, the kitchen now has ample circulation space as well as an island for Nicola learn her next recipe at.

Accessible details such as drawers in all the lowers, circulation space for a wheelchair, and a faucet with a single-lever control will help Nicola – and the whole family – cook and enjoy the space together.

We created a new desk area around the corner from the kitchen and located it beside an existing window – a great place to read up on tomorrow’s pie recipe and jot down a grocery list.

The dining room, no longer closed off from the kitchen or family room, has a lovely new solid wood dining table from Blueberry Meadows Interiors. This table will work well for large dinners as well as an extension of the work space if everyone is in the kitchen cooking up a storm!

In a small house it is just as important to put key walls up as it is to take them down: we created a new wall between the dining and living rooms – a lovely open archway for large parties, but by closing the double pocket doors, mom and dad can have space to themselves while the kids and friends hang out in the family room.

A new feature in the family room is accentuated with hand-painted tiles from World Mosaic Tiles . A simple fireplace design, it recesses the TV and allows the tile and the surround to be the focal piece of the room.

Nicola had had trouble with accessing her bedroom as well, a tight turn from the hallway meant making a 3-point turn to get into her room! We took inspiration from her love of horses and horse-back riding and designed a room that was both accessible (by relocating the door) as well as stylish!

Like any growing girl, Nicola loves her clothes so we made sure that she would be able to get her hands on anything she wanted in her new closet with pull-down clothes racks by STOR-X Organizing Systems.

With a new bed, stunning wallpaper to inspire dreams of galloping through fields, a desk for homework (or makeup!) and a closet any girl would love – Nicola has a new oasis for herself and her friends to enjoy.

This renovation was as much for Kim & Randy as it was for Nicola – a fresh new space open for the whole family to enjoy and accessible enough for Nicola to get around in and enjoy the space as much as anyone else.

A big thank you as always to Janis Nicolay for the gorgeous photos!!

Visit the W Network for more on this Love It Or List It Vancouver episode! To watch the full episode, click here and for more before and after photos, as well as a full resource list please click here!!!

Francesca Albertazzi