A long reno that started with replacing a ‘sad-looking’ garden shed | Canada Voices

The old saying that the kitchen is the heart of the home doesn’t account for people who prefer takeout and restaurants. For years, that was true for Graham McLeod, a lawyer at OMERS, and his partner, Tim O’Fallon.

They live in a former dairy factory converted into townhouses in the 1970s. Their red-brick, three-storey home in Toronto’s east end once had a small kitchen tucked along one side of the narrow main floor (about 13 feet wide). There was an awkward island and little storage. The couple didn’t mind.

“We used to go out a lot more than we do now,” says Mr. McLeod. “We weren’t using the kitchen. We just had a skinny fridge and hardly any counter space. Even when we entertained, we didn’t prepare big meals.”

When Mr. McLeod bought the house in 2004, before he met Mr. O’Fallon, there was a more pressing issue. The dining area was sunken by a few feet.

“I was raised in the seventies and eighties,” he says. “So there was a certain nostalgia to a sunken space for me. But an architect friend pointed out that the step down made the layout a bit choppy and reduced the basement headroom below. I’m glad I made that change.”

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Over the ensuing years, Mr. O’Fallon moved in, life went on, and there were more important priorities than the underused kitchen. In 2011, the couple overhauled their garden. About a decade later, they turned their attention to the two upper floors of the 1,400-square-foot home. Throughout, they worked with PLANT, a Toronto firm specializing in architecture and landscape design.

McLeod first heard about PLANT in 2007, when the firm won an international competition to redesign Nathan Phillips Square, the public space outside Toronto City Hall.

“I was interested because PLANT does both architecture and landscapes,” he says. “I didn’t just want a new garden. The space also needed storage. I wanted to replace a sad-looking shed.”

For Mr. McLeod and Mr. O’Fallon, PLANT principal Lisa Rapoport transformed a tiny sliver of land into a multifunctional green space. A trim black pavilion conceals garden tools and a barbecue, while reclaimed timber benches edge a tree-shaded patio.

“We kept working together after that,” says Ms. Rapoport. “Over the years, we built a lot of trust.”

Next, PLANT moved indoors. “The top floor is a contemporary take on a men’s boudoir and dressing room,” says Ms. Rapoport. “The walls are lined in walnut, but the lines are modern and clean.”

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The design is so sleek, it’s almost impossible to tell where the Murphy bed is hidden within the dressing-room millwork. Tucked behind a bookcase, it converts the room into guest quarters.

The middle floor serves as a library, lounge and gallery. The couple has an extensive art collection, displaying paintings, photographs and illustrations between the wood panelling.

“Again, it’s a bit like an updated man cave from the 18th century,” says Ms. Rapoport. “There are these beautiful arched windows, but a lot of the walls are white.”

The kitchen eventually became a priority, in part because Mr. McLeod’s job took the couple overseas, first to the Middle East and later to the U.K. “While we were away, Tim started enjoying cooking,” says Mr. McLeod. “And when we came back to Toronto, we wanted to cook together. But there wasn’t enough room for two cooks in our kitchen.”

The new kitchen, completed recently, maintains the character of the rest of the house. “We carried the warmth of the wood down to the main level,” says Cleo Buster, a senior associate at PLANT who led the kitchen project. “The front door is walnut, the windows are mahogany. Many of the kitchen cabinets are cherry.”

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Another design element that ties the spaces together is a white steel worktable built into a window bay between pantry cupboards. “The handrail leading up the staircase is also white steel,” says Ms. Rapoport. “All the wood can feel quite heavy. The thin steel helps lighten things up.”

The new kitchen is a much bigger presence, though. Where once it was confined to the side, it now stretches across nearly half the floor. A marble island invites guests to sit and chat while Mr. McLeod and Mr. O’Fallon dice, slice and fry – or pitch in themselves.

Although no refrigerator is visible, a full-sized one is concealed behind a discreet panel, as is the dishwasher. Storage was added wherever possible. The ground floor has soaring 11-foot ceilings, and the new cabinetry extends all the way up.

“Graham is very tall,” says Mr. O’Fallon. “I use a ladder.”

To reflect the new dynamism of the room, Ms. Rapoport and Ms. Buster introduced curves into the cabinetry and backsplash. Because the backsplash is marble, the stone was carefully scored on the back, allowing it to flex, almost like an accordion.

For the homeowners, the space was worth waiting for. “We use it all the time,” says Mr. O’Fallon. “Now we cook everything.”

For Ms. Rapoport, that long gestation is neither unusual nor undesirable.

“We often have clients who renovate their homes over long periods, sometimes 10 years or more,” she says. “People’s circumstances change over time. A home can keep evolving to meet their needs.