ALAN - SEAGRAM'S LOFT
Alan is a young professional who bought a converted loft in a whiskey warehouse in uptown Waterloo. The condo has large windows with lots of natural light. It is big, open and bright, and in a great part of town close to local pubs and cafes. Alan is on the ground floor and has a private garden.
The Seagram Loft building was completed in 2001 preserving an historical landmark built in 1857...
The Seagram Loft building was completed in 2001 preserving an historical landmark built in 1857...
"Seagram Lofts is adaptive reuse of a brownfield site, which created residential property in the heart of Waterloo’s downtown core from two, heritage, whisky-barrel warehouses...The project created 103 loft-style condominium units with high ceilings and large windows... The Lands were originally developed in 1857 as a distillery. In the mid-20th century, Seagram added two huge warehouses for whisky barrels.The warehouses were the last structures left standing after a devastating fire in 1993."
https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/inpr/su/sucopl/upload/Seagram-Lofts-Waterloo-Ontario.pdf
Alan is doubling his square footage; his previous condo was approximately 800 sq' and his new loft is over 1700 sq'. The open floor plan was divided into zones to create specific areas. The kitchen, dining and living room along with a den, which Alan is using as a spare bedroom, are on the main floor; the bedroom, laundry, music room and office is on the second floor. See the floor plan and furniture arrangement below.
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| Floor Plan - Main |
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| Floor Plan - Loft |
Alan is on a limited budget since his money is going towards paying down the mortgage, so to help reduce costs we used as much of his previous furniture as we could, bought used and flea market items, and re-purposed hand-me-downs.
It can be difficult using furniture from a previous home and trying to make it fit into your new home. You need to be creative and find alternative uses for a piece of furniture. In Alan's loft we used a dresser in the front entrance to store hats, light bulbs or batteries and a place to drop your keys and mail. A file cabinet ($35.00) and metal desk ($10.00) became bedside tables to hold books, a lamp and store important files and papers.
The easiest and cheapest way to freshen up a space or a piece of furniture is with paint. The previous owner used black to paint the doors and railings which gave us a starting point. We used Benjamin Moore 2124-10 "wrought iron" to update Alan's existing furniture that had been previously painted red and before that, white. The furniture was still functional so, before giving it away, we painted it and added new hardware for an updated look.
We selected Benjamin Moore 2028-20 "douglas fir" for the bedside tables to add energy and a pop of colour to the space. The same green was repeated in the cushions on the patio furniture.
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| BEFORE |
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| AFTER |
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| BEFORE |
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| AFTER |
The green pillows on the bed add repetition and keeps the eye moving around the room.
This long dresser (7 1/2 feet) was being used as a display cupboard in a used furniture store. We bought it for $40.00, but it needed a lot of work; in the end it holds a lot of storage and looks great. We painted it Benjamin Moore "wrought iron" and added new hardware. It holds Alan's collection of DVDs, books and games.
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| BEFORE |
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| AFTER |
The cupboards and back-splash in the kitchen stop before the end of the peninsula, so we hung an oversize clock to fill the space (below). The corner in the living room beside the big loft window provides a cozy nook for reading - the desk is an antique purchased when Alan started university.
The space is simple and uncluttered waiting for Alan to add his own personal touches in accessories and artwork when money permits.
Comment from client ...
My place looks way better than I could have imagined! From
colours to furniture placement and picture hanging, everything looks stylish
and homey.
Alan
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