Ladies and gentlemen — prepare to meet one of Canada’s most DEPRESSING homes ever.
OK — we mean depressing “past tense,” ’cos, after our monolithic transformation, the house you’ll see on tomorrow night’s show is the polar opposite, the diametrical alternative, to depressing! In fact it’s a riot of family friendly colour that would make Joseph’s coat blush …
But let’s back track to the moment we walked through the door for the first time. Think suburban hell and a colour scheme which owed more to troglodyte predilections than average family life.
Yup, the space occupied by Christian Potenza and his cute-as-a-button wee daughter Teagan was a gloomy and over-stuffed circus of pop memorabilia and 1950s retro that, while admittedly spirited, looked for all the world like an explosion in the local junk store. However — from the moment we met Dad and daughter we were hooked.
Christian showed an emotional spark which we found irresistible. A fun-loving Canadian actor (he plays a toothbrush in the Listerine commercial) he held his home together for the sake of his precious daughter after a recent split from her Mum. And our Home Heist challenge? To recreate a little of Christian’s loft-dwelling past in a typical suburban box. Hence the episode’s title Urban Suburban.
So, our decorative cure? A complete gut down of Christian’s ground floor areas and a direct attack on his bedroom and on little Teagan’s boudoir. After a wave of our magic wands, Dad’s frat-house style bedroom was transformed courtesy of a C and J navy and white Ralph Lauren-inspired dream.
Next door in Teagan‘s room we created a fairytale pink paradise complete with a magenta linen button tufted padded wall and a silver painted sleigh bed. All utterly gorgeous, and little wonder that she, and her adorable Pop, burst into tears when we unveiled the shimmering new look!
Bedrooms tackled, we turned our attentions to the Potenza living room, dining room and kitchen.
Each zone was initially dark and gloomy so we plundered Christian’s beloved 1950s for inspiration but did so WITHOUT making the house look like a set from Trading Spaces.
Christian confided his favourite colour was red so we painted his house completely WHITE … but then added a million and one scarlet details such as pillar-box red kitchen cabinetry and sexy red leather sofas from Smart Furniture.
To subtly whisper the 1950s (rather than scream it from the rooftops) we selected a myriad of elegant accessories and, after a 10-day struggle with bad taste, we — very proudly — returned Christian to his remodelled home. But did he LOVE it or did he reckon our dramatic transformation was a step too far? All will be revealed as our Urban Suburban transformation rolls forward tomorrow evening. Enjoy!
HGTV hosts Colin and Justin continue their mission of beautification with their Canadian design series Colin & Justin’s Home Heist airing Tuesdays and Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET on HGTV.
www.hgtv.ca
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