Before and after- shag pile nightmare to sleek haven by ReDesign of London, Ontario

This transformation, of the orange nightmare that called itself The Beechwood house, is by London, Ontario, based ReDesign and we shall be forever in their debt for sharing it with us. All credit to them for spotting the well hidden mid century features and, indeed, charm beyond the wood paneling and general gloom that pervaded every corner of this 1000 foot dwelling. The crisp living space has been achieved on a minimal budget with imaginative use of inexpensive materials and reusing whatever could be re-purposed. But not, apparently, the shag pile. Go on, click ‘more’ to see the shag pile.

The temptation here is that we might focus too much of the wonderfully horrid “before”, and not pay enough attention to the redesigned home which has become a very stylish, very livable ranch-style home for, no doubt, a very stylish, fairly minimal family of three. We love the black and white Damask print wallpaper from Design by Color that hides the original closet door.

The overall palette of cool greys paired with black and white for a clean, bright modernist feel is warmed through ample wood tones in flooring, furniture, particularly the sofa which was custom designed by Jerry at ReDesign and the exposed header that was needed to replace a supporting wall that had been separating the kitchen from the living space. And the piece of art “There’s a nap for that” is going from here directly to one of our “Things Modenus Loves” posts.

Our thanks and admiration to ReDesign and also to Erwin Loewen for the photography. In the words of the great KC, ‘That’s the way, uh huh, uh huh, we like it, uh huh, uh huh’. If you have a ‘before and after’ you would like us to publish, with or without the lyrics of a popular 1970′s disco hit, let us know via beforeandafter@modenus.com.