Remodeled apartment for lovers of Villeray

A large island to receive their friends, a library to accommodate their books, a beautiful room for each of their children: this sums up the requests of Marie-Hélène and Xavier. This couple from Villeray, in love with their apartment and their neighborhood, preferred to make renovations rather than move. The owner’s tour, room by room.

Sophie Ouimet
The Press

The entrance hall

Originally, the entrance was cramped, as in many old Montreal apartments. “There was a small classic vestibule, aligned with the door, which opened onto an entrance hall that was not at all functional”, underlines Marie-Hélène Aguirre, owner of the premises with her spouse, Xavier.

As a solution, the designers of La Firme, commissioned by the couple, completely changed the configuration of the vestibule. “We came to hide the entrance with a storage volume, which creates a detour to enter the house”, explains Louis Béliveau, main designer of the project and co-founder of La Firme. Indeed, in addition to its practical aspect, this storage gives a little privacy between the street and the apartment, while better organizing the space. “It allows you to cut out the cold that enters, but also that there is a whole family who can enter at the same time and remove boots and coats”, continues the designer.

The entrance, inspired by Japanese-style vestibules, is also located a little lower than the rest of the house. This difference in level prevents dust from outside from entering other rooms. It is also there, in the genkan, take off your shoes. “The fact that there is a step to cross automatically suggests that we are moving from a transitional space to a living area,” specifies Louis Béliveau.

The living room and the dining room

In the living room, a built-in cherry wood bookcase runs the full length of the party wall and hugs the curve of the stairwell. “We already had a wall bookcase in the old office,” says Xavier. This room disappeared in the reconfiguration, but their many books found a nice place in the main living space, bathed in light.

Since the clients needed to add a bedroom (we will come back to this), the division of space was completely redesigned. “All the load-bearing elements have been reviewed to allow the kitchen, dining room and living room to be in an open space. It’s something we try to do in each of our projects,” says the designer from La Firme.

The kitchen

Marie-Hélène and Xavier love to cook and entertain their friends. It is with this in mind that they wanted to renovate the room, which was not designed for this. “These are two people who cook a lot, and the idea was to be as welcoming, as festive as possible,” continues Louis Béliveau.

Except that the pandemic arrived and it was not possible to have friends at home for months. Never mind, the family appreciates its island just as much in a more intimate context. “It’s still the heart of the house, and even with four people, it’s super pleasant,” says Marie-Hélène. And when we could, we were very happy to receive friends. The idea was that we wanted an island that isn’t messy so we could spill oysters and white wine on it! »

The bathroom

Stained the same green as the kitchen counter, the bathroom has a vanity unit that hides a little surprise: it is painted orange on the inside. It was a proposal from the designers, which the owners gladly accepted. “When we were finishing the ceramics, we thought it would have been interesting to have a wink, a punch of color in the bathroom”, states the designer, specifying that the orange is complementary to green. “It makes a discreet flash. It tints the light and gives a slightly warmer light,” adds Marie-Hélène.

Instead of a bath, there is also a walk-in shower. That is to say that there is no threshold between the shower and the rest of the room, since the slopes of the drains have been planned accordingly, explains Louis Béliveau. “We are talking about a floor that is straight in the dry space of the bathroom, and sloping in the shower area with the integrated bench. »

The rooms

When Marie-Hélène and Xavier moved into the apartment, seven years before the renovations, they had only one child. Since they wanted to enlarge the family, it was inevitable that a third bedroom would become necessary, but they hoped not to have to move.

“We already knew we wanted to stay here because we really like the area. We have a green alley and the neighbors are really great,” says Marie-Hélène. “And the school that the two children attend is right next door,” continues Xavier.

In the large bedroom that once stood near the entrance, the designers managed to fit two of them, also cutting into the old living room. The two bedrooms, those of Paul, 9, and Madeleine, 6, are the perfect size for children of their age.

As for the parents’ sanctuary, it is located at the back of the house, in an extension that had been built by the previous owners. A large window overlooks the alley, from where you can observe the grasses lulled by the wind.