Hi, I'm Stefan from Square One Insurance Services.
I'm happy to introduce our new show, The Room Makeover Series.
In this show, we team up with an interior designer and contractor to
give deserving families a total room makeover,
completely paid for by Square One.
I hope you enjoy this episode and stay tuned until the end
to find out how you can nominate yourself
or someone you know for the next makeover.
Hi, I'm Lisa from Grapevine Designs.
And this is the first episode of the Room Makeover series,
a show where we renovate and style a room in just two days.
Today, we're with Rebecca in beautiful Langley, B.C..
Let's go inside.
My name is Rebecca, I live in Langley, British Columbia,
with my four kids, four teenagers,
and we also have an almost two-year-old dog named Lola.
And I've been looking at my family room for a while
and wanting to make it a little bit more comfortable.
So when this came up, I was really excited.
I really like the big windows that are almost floor to ceiling.
I love lots of natural light.
Currently, it feels a bit crowded.
It's hard for the angles for watching TV.
Everyone's kind of fighting over the best spot.
That's one of the things I don't like about it.
We've had the couches for 15 years.
I was pregnant with my third child when we got them.
They don't owe us anything.
They've worked well.
But it's kind of time for something new.
And the chair, the rocking chair my husband bought me when I was pregnant with her oldest.
I would have celebrated my 23rd wedding anniversary on May 17th.
I was married to Phillip, and just over two years ago, he was diagnosed with brain tumor.
He passed away in December.
We've had a good life together, better than average marriage, in my opinion.
A good dad, a good husband.
And so now in our household, we're learning how to live without him.
There was supposed to be six of us living in here, but now there's just five.
So we carry on.
Having a new space, we're not getting rid of memories,
but you also create spaces that are new in our new family.
Ok, this is the before picture, as you can see,
the TV is in the corner in an awkward spot,
so we felt like the best place would be above the fireplace,
but we had to lower the fireplace in order to accommodate the TV.
So you don't want to be looking up at your TV too much because it just becomes uncomfortable.
We also wanted to provide adequate seating directly across from the TV.
Here, there wasn't a really good spot.
So we're going to put in a sectional.
Here we have the light of the windows
and it's actually quite a private backyard with lots of greenery
and I wanted to highlight that.
So I didn't want to put a sofa in front of those
so that we can get the light coming in from the windows.
This is the colour inspiration.
So we came up with this because Rebecca had seen something I posted on Instagram and she
said,
I really like those colours, where did you find that?
So we jumped off of that.
It's really muted colours, but they're mute and soft and
Kind of a peachy pink tone.
I do love the colour scheme, but when you walk in the room,
you do see the fireplace.
And I'm really happy with how the mantel turned out.
I'm kind of wondering if she's going to change the mantel.
And I think it's just really going to pop.
It's the first thing you see, and it's just the thing I'm most excited about.
Hi, I'm Morris from Vanwest Developments,
and I am a contractor working on this project.
Before we start any kind of project like this,
number one thing to look into is safety for trades and customers alike.
So what we're doing today is replacing this mantel,
updating the fireplace surround tile, and painting the whole room,
along with television being mounted above the fireplace.
So the first thing we're going to do is get the furniture out of here,
protect the floors and set up a poly zipwall.
So let's get started.
We have a problem.
What's that
Well, we removed the mantel.
The new one is a different size, and of course,
the hardwood floor does not go underneath the old one all the way to the wall.
Ok, I'll make a phone call.
It's just those little bits but if it totally starts to
That's the middle of it, that's the whole thing.
So it's going to cover it.
Not for a couple inches though.
Do you think you could flush cut to that joint
and just put a little square in?
I'd rather just cut it all the way out and put a new piece in.
Let's bring the mantel in.
So what would be ideal for you guys,
like if he came in here right now and replace the
Tell me now you have enough time.
I got lucky.
We're just going to patch up the old stuff
for Ryan can put his new tile on.
Ok, problem number two or three,
the art has arrived and
it's a two piece series, but it has shown up
one in a brushed gold and one in like a white oak frame.
So two different frames, two piece art that is supposed to go side by side
and that's not going to work.
So we're going to have to either quickly,
very quickly find some new art or paint the frames.
This one here, and that one over there,
I'll figure out if the whole piece is coming out
Whatever you want.
So the mantel came out after the floor was installed.
I'm replacing a board on either side
of the mantel
so that when the mantel goes back on, it's good to go.
We're rolling now.
Ok, that's great.
Oh, my gosh, that light is tiny.
Look at how tiny the light is,
You're thinking you wanted a wider like a 24 inch,
that kind of looks like a 12.
So the center light fixture has been installed and it looks tiny.
You can't have it too big because it's a low ceiling.
We can't have it hang too far down.
It just looks
The scale is not correct.
So we're going to run out and see if we can find something different.
So the new light just needs to be a bit bigger.
We don't want it to be a focal point,
but I just would like it to not look so out of scale.
Because I think we have a pretty good contender for the light,
it's not too much bigger, but because it's black,
it holds visual weight so it doesn't look
so out of proportion with the rest of the room.
So we're going to go for it.
Oh, my goodness.
These things are put on mesh at a factory.
But the machine doesn't always get it just right,
and these little wedges hold it in place while it dries.
It looks so, so good.
Holy.
We do want it as low as possible for viewing,
but of course, just for visual, you don't want it like too low.
So we're going to go with 4.
Yeah, no it will not work, guaranteed.
So the TV mount that fits all TVs does not fit this TV.
It actually says you have to get at least a 200 to mount this TV.
That's crazy.
Oh, we're not able to take your call.
Just show up and see if we have it.
So I just opened this.
I was going to assemble the lamp and this is what we found.
Completely shattered glass.
We will be returning this.
Yeah I'm hanging the tape here because the heater is blowing all the windows.
And I'm trying really hard to avoid putting fresh tape on my fresh mantel.
So I just put all the tape here as a way so it wouldn't blow up
and hit my fresh paint on my wall.
And then we're literally just watching paint dry right now.
Yeah.
Just set up the laser level so that I can set the height for the TV mount
and I won't be making any marks with
levels and tape measures and pencils on the wall.
And I can simply hang it with as least disturbance to the new surface as possible.
So we're done with day one of this transformation.
It feels good.
It came together nicely.
I have a great team of people who work with me,
and they did a bang up job for this one.
I mean, as we're standing here, the paint is still drying.
So we got it all ready.
The designers are prepared to come in and work their magic tomorrow.
Renovating a home can be a lot of fun,
but don't forget to insure the process along the way.
Remember to talk to your home insurance provider before you begin the project.
We'll need to update your policy so that it remains in place for the duration of the work.
We can also add the cost of the renovations you're about to do
before the work begins,
and that way you're covered if something happens along the way.
If you're renovating a condo, there are a few extra things to think about.
First, make sure that you get permission from your strata council or your condo board.
They may have noise restrictions
and they may even have rules for the kind of materials
that you can use to prevent noise for your neighbours below.
In a condo, you also need to insure your improvements differently.
The condo master policy will only cover the cost
of rebuilding your unit as it was originally built.
So any improvements that you make
or any improvements that you inherited from a previous owner
needs to be covered on your own condo insurance policy.
Finally, remember to use licensed professional contractors for your project.
They can make sure that the work satisfies
all local bylaw and safety regulations.
And keep in mind that home insurance
will not cover the cost of repairing poor workmanship.
So hiring a licensed and professional contractor can help
avoid any complications down the road.
For more information, visit squareoneinsurance.com.
So ahead of time we did a floor plan of the sectional
and we just drew where each cushion goes.
We kind of wanted to combine the different sizes
and colours and textures,
and so that we can disperse them equally over the room.
Some were ordered, some were in stock,
and these ones were the custom made ones.
So we had to order the fabric.
Just wanted to make sure we had enough
so that we weren't scrambling at the end.
And so that's how we know where it's all to go.
And then it just puts the cap on there, and this is a totally different chair.
OK, I need to put a plug on that side.
I just want to see what we have for art,
because that's my big challenge.
This is stupid artwork.
You know, this would almost be perfect if I added some of the other colours into it.
Do you think we risk a hundred and fifty dollars for me to
We've done it before.
Add some paint onto the original artwork.
These are so cute.
I know, you take it away, and it just pops,
really it does.
So cute.
So maybe that's the better way.
And, you know, they're not big,
but they have a statement on their own.
Yeah, they do.
See if I was center,
are you centred to the crack.
Centred to the crack, yes, are you centred to the crack.
Oh, then that's good
That looks good.
OK, so we have just finished the styling,
which marks the end of our renovation.
And Rebecca and her kids have just arrived home,
so we're going to go greet them.
Come on.
Hey guys, welcome home.
Are you ready to see your renovation?
Very much.
OK, come on in.
It actually hasn't been down for months.
It's lived in a ponytail and a headband.
When I say one, you can turn around.
Three, two, one.
Oh my goodness.
It looks so much wider.
Well, come on, let's check it out. Have a seat.
The TV used to be down there,
so now we got it up above the fireplace.
And it's just a fun place, I think,
to have your friends.
I love it.
When I turned around and saw the room,
I was amazed at how much bigger the room felt.
It was just beyond what I expected it to be.
I didn't think that a room could change that much.
Oh, wow.
It is stunning.
Very stunning.
I want to take a nap right now.
It is very, very cozy.
Just looked up and saw the light fixture too.
Well, that's light fixture number two.
Yeah, so that's art that's like the third option.
I wanted to make sure that it suits you guys.
And so I did sneak in a couple of questions.
I think my family's going to love the room.
I think they're going to hang out there a lot more than they did before
because it's so inviting.
With four kids living in the house, I wanted to make sure
that this room had multiple functions.
And having a desk here allows the kids to sit here, game, do their homework
and still be part of everybody and everything that's going on in this area.
So originally there was a love seat here.
And because the windows are low and it covered the window,
it just blocked a lot of the light.
It was really heavy.
So I wanted to open that up to allow the light in
and we decided to use this cuddle chair.
You can sit in it, curl up.
You can be a part of what's going on in the kitchen,
what's going on on the sectional here.
Or you can swivel it and you can watch TV.
The other thing is I wanted to make sure that
the back of the sectional was high enough that it's supported.
of you wanted to kind of lie back and watch the TV,
a lot of sectionals or a lot of sofas are often really low
and it just is not super comfortable for watching TV.
So with the shelving that we chose, I liked this wood tone.
As well, it needed to be this size to fit between the mantel and the wall.
So it's a perfect fit,
provides a great place for all the books that they had,
as well as some hidden storage in the drawer
and they can fill the baskets up with remotes or whatever.
I also wanted them really high so that they had presence
and this wall is a feature.
So previously the mantel was quite tall,
so we had to bring the mantel down.
As well, you know, you need to have a bit of a mantel
that comes out a little bit in order to
deflect the heat from the fireplace and protect your TV.
So I think it turned out really good, simple, sleek.
And then the tile that we chose is one of my favourite things.
It's just a really nice marble mosaic.
And it just really brings a touch of class to this room.
Of course, having only two days to complete the project had its challenges.
I think that we all just knew that we had to come here and just get it done.
It was quite a challenge, but it was really a fun one.
And I think we were able to do it
because we didn't really have to get permission on all the different design elements.
We were able to just make a decision and move forward.
Of course, being able to do a surprise element of it was just super exciting.
We often don't get to do that type of thing.
The clients are usually involved in the process.
I always really try to consider my clients
and their needs and how they live in a space.
And I especially did that here because I didn't get Rebecca's input on any of this.
I did know sort of the colours that she liked,
but I really had to put my mom hat on
and see how a large family is going to move in the space.
And we had a lot of different elements
that were practical for teenagers and for watching TV.
We worked really hard and super excited with how it turned out.
Well, that is the end of our first episode of the Room Makeover series.
If you want to nominate somebody for a room makeover,
you can go to squareoneinsurance.com/makeover
or click the link in the description.
Thanks for watching.
See you next time.