// INTERIOR DESIGN //
Calm and Contemporary Living BY ANNA CIPOLLONE PHOTOGRAPHY BY CAMERON ST.
A Muskoka cottage garage gets remodeled into a peaceful and inviting living space.
O
nce a garage that had been renovated to provide more living space at this Muskoka cottage, its newest transformation comes from husbandand-wife interior design team Coco & Jack. The full-service design firm is
a partnership between Steven and Alyssa Terpstra, with Hamilton as its home base. “The previous owners had changed it into a living space with a kitchen,” says Alyssa Terpstra, about the renovated garage. “But it still felt very much like a garage, and our client was looking to give it a more inviting feel while changing the single car garage into some extra living space with a formal entrance, bathroom and laundry.” The resulting clean and modern design principles at play, juxtaposed against the cozy cabin vibe of shiplap and patio flooring in diagonal earth tones, strikes the ideal balance between country escape and an upscale contemporary getaway. Surrounded by the lakes, rivers and forests throughout Muskoka, a primary focus when designing the space was to ensure the interior felt seamless and connected to the natural beauty outdoors. “There were a few hurdles,” says Alyssa, which is true of every major redesign project. “The biggest one was wanting to keep the existing cabinets and also add onto the kitchen.” As a compromise, they were able to replace the fronts to keep the look cohesive, “and you can’t tell where the old cabinets start and stop,” she says. The most surprising discovery along the way was a bump out that was dividing the kitchen and living space: “We thought it was for the upstairs plumbing,” she says, “however, when we opened it up, we found that it was totally decorative. We were able to make it much smaller and extend the kitchen cabinetry.” 32
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The original stone wall ser ves as the room’s pièce de résistance, updated with a
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