The great room is the most impressive space in the entire home with its soaring peaked ceiling, beautiful light from the multitude of windows, and eye-catching granite fireplace. There wasn’t anything wrong with the room per say, but we wanted to maximize its potential and highlight its grand scale and features. The most obvious change that needed to be made was demolishing the outdated built-in entertainment unit in favour for something less bulky. But even more so than the TV situation, I knew right away how transformative a couple coats of white paint would be to freshen up the space. After weeks of arguing back and forth with the man of the house, I was finally granted permission to paint the panelling white, but left the window frames and trim in their wooden state as a compromise. I continued the white paint up on to the ceiling beams, which draws the eye upwards and really highlights the beautiful architecture. I also wanted to add more seating as the original furniture plan didn’t take advantage of the scale of the room and what pieces were there looked lost inside the big space. It was a challenge working with the room’s odd hexagonal shape so I decided on a symmetrical floor plan with two separate seating groups that still keeps conversation flowing and optimizes the amount of people who can fit comfortably into the space when it comes to late night movie watching. Cozy sofas and benches from Lee Industries mix with sculptural spool chairs from Hickory Chair, all purchased from ELTE using both line's wide array of blue, white and beige fabrics to choose from (which was also a great way to keep costs down instead of ordering custom fabrics). Custom throw pillows in coordinating fabrics from Kravet were used to add even more colour and pattern to the space and a pair of quintessentially Canadian cashmere point blankets from HBC in the more neutral palette were a luxurious finishing touch.   Resin stools from Oly Studio fit right into the nautical decor scheme with their bubble design that reminded me of  a piece of coral. Traditional country wood and black-painted occasional tables from Ethan Allen and Woodcraft keep the cottage feel alive. The final flourish was swapping out the existing fanciful wrought iron light fixture for one of equal scale, but more in keeping with the nautical feel of the new style of the cottage. It was a custom creation by Lightcrafters, a local artisan in nearby Stroud and balanced perfectly over the custom coffee table from woodcraft. Check out the amazing renovation results here!