News — Bath

WHEN ELTE’S KEN AND RENEE METRICK FINALLY DECIDED TO EMBRACE COTTAGE LIVING, THEY BUILT A CONTEMPORARY RETREAT THAT’S AS PERSONAL AND POLISHED AS THEIR ICONIC STORES. IF IT'S RARE TO FIND a family that can work together, it’s rarer stillto find one that, atthe end of a long workweek, can’t waitto getto the cottage to spend more time together. Ken and Renee Metrick and their sons, Andrew and Jamie, are the third and fourth generation of Metricks overseeing Elte,the wildly successful Toronto-based home decorating juggernautfounded by Ken’s grandfather 100 years ago in 1919.Almost a century later, in 2015, the family...

A Toronto designer escapes an overheated housing market and creates her own perfect weekend escape on the cooler shores of Lake Huron. I just knew this was it!” says Toronto designer Tiffany Piotrowski, describing her first visit to the cottage. “It was only the second property I saw, and I put in an offer right away.” Other prospective buyers with less imagination may not have felt the same way. The interior left much to be desired, with dark wood panelling, popcorn ceilings, and orange and brown patterned carpeting. However, the location couldn’t be beat: the 800-square-foot cottage was just two...

here was a time in my life when all I desired was an entirely white home — white floors, white walls, white furniture, even books sheathed in sleeves of white paper. It was an aesthetic I’d seen successfully carried out in magazines by artistic homeowners often living in New York City lofts with soaring factory windows. When we bought our first house in Toronto, we decided to live in the space for a few months before taking on a major renovation. The walls were a deep burgundy and the floors were a dark-stained, cheap parquet. Prior to moving in, I...

A cramped and crumbling 1840s English cottage bursts back to life once it falls into the right hands. AT ONE POINT IN TIME, THIS COTTAGE housed factory workers. At another, squatters staked a claim to the abandoned structure. When Justin Capp bought it in 1998, it was the home of a 102-year-old opera singer. Justin, a chef and leather artist, easily recounts the history of the house—he grew up next door to it in a Northamptonshire County village in the United Kingdom. “I’m a local lad so I knew the place all my life,” he says. “When it came up...

Auckland-based owner of homeware store Collected, stylist and pilot LeeAnn Yare talks us through her boys’ bedroom makeovers. When we moved into our Sandringham bungalow, Tyler (now 11) was a toddler, and Dylan (now 10) was just a week old. The house was a sea of beige, so I quickly took charge and decorated their rooms in a playful way appropriate to their age. But after a decade of accumulating stuff and the general wear and tear that kids’ spaces are subjected to, it was time for a makeover to ensure their rooms reflect their personalities as they move into...