Display suites at Guildhouse have that lived-in look
? Mary Frances Hill
The Province
Guildhouse
Where: 14975 101A Avenue, Surrey
What: 221 apartments and townhomes in the Guildford neighbourhood
Residence sizes and prices: Homes with between two and four bedrooms, 799 — 1,400 square feet; from the low $300,000s
Developer: Mosaic Avenue Developments Ltd.
Sales centre: 14975 101A Ave.
Hours: noon — 6 p.m., daily
As every designer knows, there’s a lot to be said for being on the same wave length as colleagues and clients.
Insight Design designer Allisa Karvonen worked with Mosaic Avenue Developments to create a display suite for Guildhouse, Mosaic’s new community of apartments and townhomes in Surrey, giving the developer much credit for its unique staging and modern look.
Mosaic’s photos of Guildhouse’s display suites show they’re staged as tableaus of everyday life; there’s a busy-ness, a selection of accessories of work and play of everyday life: shoes on the floor, light clutter on desks and tabletops. It’s a popular marketing trend that aims to mirror how people live every day.
“I think [the full coffee tables, desk and countertops] help people visualize how their life could ‘fit’ into these homes and they’re far more realistic than a stark but beautifully accessorized and furnished home. After all, how many of our places actually look like that every day?” says Karvonen.
Visitors will likely stop to admire some of the suite’s quirky touches, such as mismatched island chairs, the collage of framed prints on the kitchen wall, and assortment of live plants—an uncommon feature in display homes.
Insight chose the artwork for a kitchen wall gallery arrangement from scouting trips at print galleries and through the work of digital artists who promote their work on the art marketplace Etsy.com.
The kitchen is unique, as it makes the most of the suite’s vertical space with two levels of upper cabinets, with matte grey vinyl-wrapped doors that mimic a more expensive lacquer finish; the designers amped up the visual interest with black grout on the white tile backsplash. Vinyl was chosen again for the herringbone-patterned flooring, since it’s such a durable material, Karvonen says.
“Mosaic really wanted Guildhouse to stand out from other developments so they really wanted to push the design envelope within their budget. We were thrilled with the final look.”
Insight Design worked with an overall Scandinavian modern theme, so many of the pieces, such as the coffee tables and bar stools from Muuto, a favourite of Insight Design team, are decidedly non-traditional. To mirror this look, homeowners might want to layer natural fabrics and textures, as Insight does, to keep the home from looking too bold or stark, suggests Karvonen.
The suite is also inviting because of Mosaic’s use of plants—yet another feature of everyday life, adds Karvonen.
“I love the contrast between the bold graphic art and accessories with the natural colour and organic shapes of the plants.”
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