When Blinda Bilou and Stephen Sosnick took possession of their home just outside Calgary two years ago, it sported white linoleum, white ceilings, white walls and pink-tinged, bleached oak woodwork. It was, she says, a very standard builder's special, built in 1997.
It didn't stay standard for long.
Step into the home today, and you're instantly transported to Venice's palazzos, the mansions that still line the canals of the northern Italian city. Intricate ironwork, purposefully oversized furniture pieces and rich textures announce that this is a decor with a long pedigree.
But it's also a decor that's been achieved with items and materials primarily found right here at home, rather than across the Atlantic.
"I've been collecting forever," acknowledges Bilou, whose artistic flair has brought her into the field of interior design.
"When we moved in, all the furniture, even the fireplace and the paint colours, came with us from our old house."
The couple took 30 days to paint the home's doors, walls and ceilings, lay a dark slate floor, and have lighting and electrical items replaced. That alone would have been a sea change from the home's previous pale incarnation. But then they really got to work, having recognized on a six-day trip to Venice that the city was very much the culmination of all that inspired them.
"Venice is where Europe meets the East, so it's a little bit exotic but old world at the same time," explains Bilou.
Once a seat of power for the Byzantine Empire, and for centuries a major centre for trade between East and West, Venice takes its influences from many directions -- as Bilou notes, it's a place where Chinese silks co-exist happily with European wood carvings and Indian spices.
This marriage of cultures is now reflected in her home, where the kitchen sink resembles a baptismal font and the antique dining room chairs sport hand-tooled and painted leather.
Bilou is quick to explain, though, that she's Alberta born and bred, as is most of the decor -- although much of it isn't serving its original purpose. The kitchen sink, for example, is actually garden statuary.
"You have to be creative and to think outside the box," she says, adding that the couple's budget wasn't unlimited. "If you don't have a lot of money, you need creativity."
It helps that Sosnick is a metalworker who's been able to create much of the furniture and finishes, including the hammered and oxidized copper panels above the oven and on the refrigerator.
But the couple has also found imaginative ways to stretch their budget. Small, decorative carved wood panels on the wall are actually doors from a cabinet found at the Salvation Army store, while resin brackets and accents from HomeSense cost a fraction of the same items in wood. The couple has also discovered pieces at antique stores.
"You have to take those found things and those things that are inexpensive and make them look like they're a million dollars," she explains, adding that the worst that can happen is that the effect doesn't work the way you hoped it would. "So you do something else," she shrugs.
One material that did work is the stone effect on the kitchen alcove. Bilou notes that they used exterior parging material, which was easy to sculpt, but cost nowhere near the price of real stone.
If creativity is key, a sense of perspective is also crucial.
"One piece of advice that I always give my clients is not to take it too seriously," Bilou says. "You should enjoy your decor, but it's not necessarily permanent. No style will last you forever, because, after all, you'll change, and so your style will change."
And she believes in serendipity. "If we fall in love with something, we bring it home," she admits -- even if they're not sure what to do with it. "You give it some time and you play with it and eventually you'll find the place for it."
Insider Tips
To give your house a new lease on life on a minimal budget -- and avoid the mess and stress of a renovation -- Blinda Bilou suggests stripping out all of the accessories in a space, including the draperies.
When you have a blank slate in front of you, with just walls and major pieces of furniture, she says it's easier to tap into your creativity and visualize new colours or accessories from different areas of the house.
"It's the easiest way to give yourself a new look," she says. And if you're working with a tight budget, make sure you allocate it throughout the area you're redecorating. This will help to avoid a big-ticket splurge that leaves you without funds to finish the rest of the space.
Canwest News Service
