Page 58 - 04_May-2025

Look
which meant their trusted trades-
people had to get creative.
“It was very compartmentalized,
and we opened it up,” Brittany says
of the main floor’s living, kitchen
and dining area. “But it was pretty
challenging, considering we were
adding two bathrooms, because
we only had the one wall to get
all the mechanical work up to the
second floor.”
The solution was to drop the
ceiling above the kitchen-dining
area 15 centimetres, connect it to
the “one wall” that runs up to the
second floor, and “cram all the
mechanical and plumbing into that
space,” Brett explains. Done poorly,
a dropped ceiling could cramp an
already cosy kitchen’s style, but
with wooden beams both structural
and decorative on each side, it
works as a stylish solution.
A massive marble island is the
focus of the main-floor space, and
it sits atop a white oak herringbone
floor. Brittany says she can’t wait
to watch the floor and the island
weather over the years. “It’s called
patina-ing, where you intentionally
let things age,” she explains. “That’s
why I chose unlacquered brass
knobs on the kitchen cabinets, and
why I love real hardwood floors.
Old houses that have 100-year-old
hardwood look amazing to me —
and if my kids dent it, who cares?”
She won’t have to wait 100 years
for a patina to emerge on the
furniture, because some of it is al-
ready that old. A large, old wooden
dresser, made in Poland, sits in the
front entrance; the Finnies bought it
from another neighbour. The kitchen
table is antique and chairs are ’50s
vintage, too. “I love finding the
gems, the things no one else will
have, which might otherwise end up
in the landfill,” Brittany says of her
family’s frequent trips to Habitat
for Humanity’s ReStore, which sells
donated home furnishings.
The footprint of the second floor
is smaller than the main floor, so
the Finnies removed the attic and
installed a vaulted ceiling with sky-
lights, and squeezed the laundry
58 EDify. MAY.25
RIGHT &
BOTTOM
Cabinet
base: Ikea;
cabinet fronts
and shelves:
Kitch;
polished
marble and
honed
travertine
floor: Habitat
for Humanity;
wall tile: BFC
Flooring &
Design; rain
shower head:
Kohler;
shower arm
and flange:
EMCO