BY DEE GIBNEY SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Linda George, 56, has undergone the kind of dramatic life changes that
often cause a person to head in a totally new direction. In George's
case, the transformation manifested itself in her surroundings, resulting
in
a striking overhaul of her Market Square condo.
"
I just woke up one morning and said `this is not working,' so I decided
to make some changes," she says.
Twelve years ago, she and her husband, John, had moved into the 1,200-square-foot,
two-storey condo just a few blocks from George's office at TD Canada
Trust at King and Bay Sts., where she's an IT manager. The piece de resistance
was the immense terrace - 700 square feet on two sides of the suite with
spectacular downtown views.
"
Apartment living" was something she had viewed with mixed feelings
at first, having lived in her share of basement apartments. An avid gardener,
she didn't want to forfeit that part of her life. And she wanted to be
able to walk to work. The condo, located opposite the St. Lawrence Market,
fit the bill on both counts.
George and her husband made a few changes: They extended the second-storey
landing, which provided another 40 square feet of space, and built a
pass-through from the kitchen to the dining room. And they added some
colour. White
walls became hunter green and the beige living-room broadloom gave way
to a green area rug with pink roses. A green-and-pink plaid sofa, green
wing chair and pink loveseat were added.
The "bashed vinyl" floors in the kitchen were replaced with
green tile with a pink and- beige border minor changes were only the
bend left
two years after Condo owner went for colour they moved in.
"
My job (33 years at the bank) has lasted longer than both my husbands," she
quips. Even the cat, at 19, has had greater staying power.
"
After John left I turned the downstairs den into my bedroom. Then I went
through my yellow phase and painted the living room and bedroom yellow.
I just did things on the whim as they occurred. I stencilled lace in
the bedroom and ivy in the living room," she says, rummaging through
a box of old photos, searching for the ones that illustrate her arts-and-crafts
period.
But if there had to be a defining theme to the suite, it was cows. Cows
meandered across the kitchen walls and turned up in countless variations
on kitschy artefacts, gifts from well-intentioned friends who continued
to add to the bovine paraphernalia.
"
It was very cluttered," says George. "There were too many dried
flowers, too many cows and too many stencils."
With retirement not far away, George had no definite -plans. Then she
was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent a lumpectomy, radiation
and chemotherapy. Recovery took five years.
" Here I was waiting for retirement (to make changes to the condo) and
I said to myself, `well I might die before then, so why not enjoy things
now?' I'm planning to stay in this place and I want it to look like me.
A little flamboyant. A little eccentric."
She tackled the kitchen first, starting with new stainless-steel appliances.
But she realized they looked awful with the white cupboards and Formica
counters. What to do? She would come back to that room, but meantime,
her neighbours were renovating, including redoing their terrace in faux
stone and that gave George an idea
"
I thought, .why not split the cost of the crane (to haul up the stone)
and redo mine as well?" George says. "And why not add an awning?
" Then another neighbour, Paul Reuber, an architect, said, 'Why don't you
open up the bedroom wall and add French doors so you can lie in bed and
enjoy the (living-room) fireplace?' That meant a new bed because the
foot of my sleigh bed was too high to see the fireplace."
By this point, George was on a roll. Sjnce the contractor working on
her neighbour's renovations was still on site, she decided to act.
She went back to the kitchen and had it gutted. The cows' time had
come.
Out with the Formica, in with granite, modern cupboards with glass
fronts, a faux limestone floor, pot lights and a ruby-red accent
wall.
That was last April. Soon everyone she knew had an idea or a suggestion
for her new surroundings.
The piecemeal approach continued as the condo slowly morphed into something
new. The carpeting on the stairs went. Eventually, the rest of the
broadloom joined it, her plan being to replace the banister and redo
the floors
in honey-coloured hardwood.
George was having fun, but she knew she was out of her depth.
"
By this time I knew I couldn't figure it all out on my own," admits
George. "I wanted some punch but if I gave in to Paul Reuber,
or my friend Ann Kay, a graphic designer, they would have imposed their
own ideas. They're strong individuals. This is my place and it has
to
be me. So I kept my distance."
Not sure where to turn, George called the host of a TV home-decorating
show, but their schedules never meshed. She tried an interior design
store, but the person never showed.
Then a friend told her about artist and designer Jane Hall, who had
recently opened a small store at Pape and Danforth Aves. called The
Voice of Colour.
"
When I walked in I just knew this was going to work," George says. "I
loved her pieces and the workmanship. The first thing she said when
she saw what I was planning to do was 'Stop! Don't do honey-coloured
floors,
they will look awful.' She got me in the nick of time."
With Hall's help, George picked a palette: Caramel Apple for the living
room: Conner Kettle over the fire-place; Nettle Green in the hall (which
carries up to the second floor); Milkshake Vanilla on the stairs; Gothic
Amethyst in the downstairs bathroom
and Pizza Pie in the bedroom. The colourfully named shades range from
pale golds and sage greens to rich pumpkins, rusts and wines.
But she still had the pink-and-green plaid sofa. Now was not the time
to stop. Out it went. Only the pine armoire and two pine cabinets remained.
In came an S-shaped emerald-green ottoman and deep russet sofas, whimsical
in shape and exuberant in style, and chenille-covered Parsonsstyle chairs
in varying combinations of sage green and deep wine.
George's existing tapestry-covered bench ottomans were recovered in striped
silk golds and rusts. Hall helped her pick a neutral Berber for the living
room area rug and stair runner, adding a tapestry-like border in rusts
and a muted turquoise. Parquet floors were stained a deep, rich chocolate.
Shimmery organza replaced the vertical blinds.
And with everything now falling into place, George picked out a new handcrafted
folding dining-room table and
coffee table with a hidden mechanism that raises the top to table height
for dining as well, from furniture-maker Harvest House. New lamps and
bed coverings completed the picture.
The huge terrace with its stone floors, painted mural walls, fountains,
wrought-iron table and chairs, bits of sculpture, trees, shrubs, flowers,
even vegetables, provide a bit of French/ Italian countryside in the
city. And it feeds her two passions: gardening and entertaining.
The entertaining has taken on a life of its own. It's not uncommon for
her to steal away with a few co-workers from the office for a terrace
lunch. She hosts work and Christmas parties, even a yearly barbecue for
the entire floor of the condo. And there are at least three dinner parties
a week. These days, she is enthusiastically spoiling her guests with
the results of a recent cooking course in Tuscany.
George is no longer "waiting" for retirement. The bear market
changed all that. She has begun a new phase - one no longer characterized
by dried flowers, but blossoming with more colour than she ever could
have imagined. And a home that finally truly deserves attention.
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