Designing a Soulful Lakeside Cottage Inside and Out

In this episode, architect James Pitropov sits down with esteemed interior designer Christine Garant of Inspired Interiors to discuss designing for real life at the lake.

Focusing on a highly unique, modern timber frame project gently sloping into the serene waters of Chandos Lake, James and Christine explore how to balance beautiful architecture with practical durability. From accommodating active dogs to integrating beloved family heirlooms, this episode dives into how high-end design can still feel soulful, rugged, and intimately connected to nature.

In this episode, we explore:

• Using weathering Corten steel and local granite to blend the exterior into the rocky Canadian Shield.
• Choosing 87-inch wood-look porcelain planks as a dog-friendly, scratch-resistant flooring that works perfectly with radiant heat.
• Ditching traditional drywall for an immersive "wood drenching" experience using reclaimed oak and Douglas fir timbers.
• Collaborating with lighting designer Marcel Dion to avoid pot lights and intentionally uplight the massive timbers.
• Lighting an exterior blasted stone wall so it becomes a seamless visual extension of the interior space at night.
• Embracing imperfection, soulful design, and eclectic family legacy pieces in a modern cottage.
• Moving away from overly open and fussy layouts in favor of creating cozy, defined rooms.

If you have a special, unique project and want the best team in the field to bring it to life, reach out to James to get connected with talented consultants like Christine.

Transcript

Christine Garant 0:00

So in that large scale home, building, dwelling, cottage Like, we're going to have that kind of long planking, which is going to look very gracious. Um, and yet it's a very, very earthy barn, sort of tons of character. So everything's gonna have a real monolithic quality to it. Like, everything we're doing is going to be... I w- I'm calling it handsome.

James Pitropov 0:27

The tiles were myself. I think it was the tiles.

0:43

Well, hi everyone. Thanks for coming back to the Lakeside Podcast. As promised, I'm going to be bringing you exciting guests every week. Now, this week we're gonna be talking to an interior designer, Christine Garron from Inspired Interiors, about a very special project that we've been working on on Chandos Lake. Chandos Lake is a very unique lake. It's off the major lake systems. It's a beautiful, quiet, very private, serene lake, and we have a very beautiful site that is, uh, gently sloping to the waterfront on a southern exposure. What we did there is we had a chance to explore with a pretty modern design. It's got a slightly sloped roof Good exposure, big windows, very bright interior. So I'd like to talk to you about the materials that we used, and then we're going to jump into the podcast with, uh, Ms. Garand herself. So this project, it's about thirty-five hundred square feet. It's functioning as a cottage, but it's also going to be a, a home eventually for the owners. We use-- On exterior, we use, uh, granite from a, a local quarry that matches the stone on the site to make that connection to site. It's used on the inside and the outside, so it brings the outside into the interior. It's got a view of the lake, but it's also blasted into the rock. So the big windows allow you to look out onto the water and also see the stone, which is pretty exciting in the evening when, when it's getting dim outside, the exterior lighting goes on, and when you are inside, you feel like you're literally in, a r-rocky grotto overlooking the lake. On the exterior too, we used some pretty ru-rugged materials. the owners were really interested in using materials that were rugged and aged well, weren't high maintenance, very authentic materials. So instead of siding, what we did is we custom bent Corten steel. If you look that up, Corten is really interesting. It's, uh, generically, it's called weathering steel. The interesting thing about it is that it will weather and rust, over a period of two years, and then it stabilizes, and it doesn't rust any further. So it has an authentic look. It looks like it belongs, uh, with the iron oxide that's naturally in the granite up on the Canadian Shield. Really beautiful, new, exciting material for us. through my second company, Lakeside Construction, we actually formed very unique, bent metal profiles for roof overhangs, for door frames and windows, very precise detailing. we have, windows that are, uh, on the outside, they're anodized aluminum, And on the inside, uh, we went from wood to colors that match the, the materials on the outside. Now, on the inside, it gets really interesting as well. Now, having watched the podcast, you probably all know that I do a lot of, uh, floors with in-floor radiant heating, polished concrete, and that sort of thing. These owners have, they're big dog people. They wanted something that had a little bit more texture. My initial, uh, thought was to go with reclaimed hemlock, which is a beautiful floor, very rugged. however, the heat transfer isn't ideal and the owners want to make sure the floors are warm because they do have the in-floor radiant heating throughout. So as a new material on this project, and I promise you that there's always, exciting, uh, new ideas for you, we actually went with a imported porcelain floor, sort of a semi-custom material that looks exactly, and I mean exactly like wood that has been hand chiseled Well, it's, it's so precise, it's amazing. You, you just wouldn't be able to tell the difference. So we, we poured the interior floors. We're finishing with the, with with a very special porcelain ti- tile. It's not my usual approach, but when you see it, you won't believe it. Momentarily, we're going to get Christine on, on here. She's one of the best. We always work with the best teams. Have a look. Check out, uh, the information. Look at the materials. Send me a line. Let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from you. I hope you enjoyed the show. Thank you.

James Pitropov 4:49

Thank you for coming back to the On the Lake podcast. This week, I have Christine Garon from Inspired Interiors with me. Today's theme is going to be designing for real life at the lake. Uh, welcome, Christine. It's great to see you.

Christine Garant 5:02

Great to see you, James.

James Pitropov 5:03

Uh, just for our viewers, uh, Christine is a highly esteemed interior designer out of the Windsor area, more specifically LaSalle, and she's done a lot of, uh, custom work, interiors, millwork designs. So she had, uh, some new perspectives, uh, on, on design, even for our clients and, and ourselves. So we're gonna compare notes today and, and figure out what's really important and what we've, what we've all learned, recently. I, I guess the, uh, the, the difference perhaps with the, the type of work that you had been doing and, and perhaps the new project is that previously a lot of your work's been, like, in a more urban or suburban setting, very high-end, high expectations, like very clear but maybe more specific ideas about what interiors should be like. Uh, can you tell us a little bit about

Christine Garant 5:56

Well, the

James Pitropov 6:00

just the overall sort of focus that you've had and, and, um, getting up on the, on, on the lakes now has, has been a little bit different. Like, how, how do you feel that departure's been for you?

Christine Garant 6:11

commonality that this project has, um, given Me in, uh, there's a theme. When the budget allows, people tend to be open to the organic nature of the evolution of a project. some projects are really straightforward. I've worked with quite a few builders in the city and, you know, the plans are done and you're- I'm picking surfaces for my clients and furniture and drapes. that I love as well. material selection is one of my favorites. this project, reminds me of a few projects I've worked on, in that it's maybe started a couple years ago. We started working with the clients. James, I'm sure it's been a few years now. and we would've started with a much larger cottage at first. and then as time, you know, came about and we started evolving and, you know, the, the owners had a, you know, obviously a ton of input. So along, um, in the team effort, we have, you know, managed to get it to something that was much more, um, to what they had envisioned, which is, you know, very eclectic, somewhat more modest in scale than maybe the initial thought was going to be. and so yeah, for me, what I enjoy is the collaborative effort of the team. I really enjoy working with you in that sense, James, that we can, brainstorm in the moment with our clients you know, it's like a living, breathing, uh, thing that we're working on right now. So does that answer the question? I think...

James Pitropov 7:58

It, it, yeah, it does, and I, your, your choice of words is, is quite interesting, Christine, is that living, breathing dynamic and the fact that it's a collaboration. Um, from what I know about your designs, um, I, I guess previously or, or concurrently, because I know that you're, you're busy with various clients and types of projects, very high-end, sort of very urban finishes and marble and really beautiful millwork and so on, and all of a sudden you found yourself with, uh, lakeside on the lake and the, and a client there, and a whole different palette of materials, the Douglas fir, the quarry stone, the views of the lake. Christine, did you find that, coming to the site and, and seeing the, seeing the materials, did that give you a new perspective or did that give you some insight to new possibilities

Christine Garant 8:52

Well, yeah. So between that and, you know, what the clients like knowing I've been worked with them, I've been so, lucky to work with these people for many, many years, and we've worked on a few projects. So between their, um, what they're drawn to, then the site, as you said, the limitations and then the, the beauty of the site, yeah, that's just been a wonderful addition to, you know, my portfolio. Um, and I'm super excited because of the idea, um, with the timber frame aspect of this build. that is a really new, um, materiality for me, uh, working with these massive timbers in such a modern way and, uh, wrapping, you know, wrapping it all up in, like, this immersive experience, this wood drenching that, you know, right now is one of the biggest trends. Um, anything immersive, like we're creating these kind of immersive environments, so whatever material you're choosing, you're making that really prominent, which then really sort of simplifies the interior in a lot of ways. And then once that simplified, immersive interior is created, uh, your eye, James, we've always discussed this, goes out to nature, you know, because we've given ourselves this immersive envelope inside.

James Pitropov 10:25

Yeah. I love your choice of words, Christine. Like the, the design is immersive. We're in an environment where we can draw from, uh, from the site and from views, but also with our client, it's been an immersive experience. They came into the project with some expectations, like not only of how things were to be sited on, on the lake and that it wasn't-- it's not a house, but it's something more than, than a cottage. And one of the first requirements was to have materials that were natural and aged well.

Christine Garant 11:00

Yes.

James Pitropov 11:02

that I think we both learned through our discussions with the client and, and also discussions between ourselves. Um, there's a lot of excitement and opportunity when working with, with natural materials, materials that can be, um, uh, they, they, they can take a little bit of traffic, like floors. They can... The owners have dogs. They're, they're, they're dog lovers. They can take a little bit of wear and tear from the puppies. It's cottage country. There's storms, there's branches that come down, and if we can design in a way that's Uh, and I think this was the, the client's phrasing, were a little bit more timeless and, and, uh, and ageless. And that a lot-- that led us to some interesting materials, didn't it, Christine? mo- we, we moved from m-maybe more, more, uh, typical palette of materials and, and, and we moved into the Douglas fir, the stone, Corten steel, which we realized could be used outside, and inside as well. Now, Christine, you, you brought some interesting ideas to the, cottage as well, and I, I kind of... It's an interesting category, the cottage. not exactly a cottage, but not exactly a stroll home either. There's this whole aspect of things being lived in, and when we were at, when we were at looking at floors, you brought a, a, a completely dif-different perspective on the finished, uh, flooring. D- do you wanna tell us a little bit about that?

Christine Garant 12:30

Oh, sure. uh, we discussed going with, the, uh, reclaimed wood flooring. Uh, that was in the beginning, that was our discussion. And the more we got into it, uh, the importance of the dogs and the owners' wish to have things very low maintenance, the idea of a porcelain floor came up. I was working with them on another project, and that project was also going to be a porcelain floor. So for the reasons, they had hardwood in their home, their prior home, and, uh, it was scratched, and, uh, they did not wanna deal with a scratched floor anymore. So the porcelain floor came naturally out of that kind of, frustration for them with the material that they had been living with. So the porcelain floor, uh, was the remedy. And so then my job was to find something, and our job really, we, uh, because you went with them to the showroom, but what we knew we wanted was something that looked really aged, and it looked, really had an authentic wood look. So, I mean, we found those long porcelain boards. I think they're 87 inches long. So,

James Pitropov 13:52

Yeah, really unique dimensions,

Christine Garant 13:54

yeah, very good dimension. So in that large scale home, um, building, dwelling, cottage Like, we're going to have that kind of long planking, which is going to look very gracious. Um, and yet it's a very, very earthy barn, sort of tons of character. So everything's gonna have a real monolithic quality to it. Like, everything we're doing is going to be... I w- I'm calling it handsome.

James Pitropov 14:25

Oh, very good. The tiles were myself. I think it was the tiles.

Christine Garant 14:30

Exactly.

James Pitropov 14:31

I, I, I had to, sir, with

Christine Garant 14:33

James, you're... Yeah. It goes without saying, James.

James Pitropov 14:37

oh, okay. Thank you. And likewise. Um, so, uh, a- and going to the porcelain, that was a real departure, like from what I've looked at in the past. And just to give viewers a, a bit of background, um, a lot of the cottages that I design will have in-floor radiant heating. So, uh, there, there's a combination of, of in-floor radiant heating and then f- uh, flooring on top. In, in a lot of cases, we're doing polished concrete, and we'll get stone from the local quarry, and we're going to polish it down, and it brings out this beautiful texture, and we can match it to the stone on the site. Um, now the, the owner thought that that may be a little bit, uh, hard and, and textureless for their f- for their dogs primarily. They had, they have, uh, three dogs, uh, that are quite active. So it, it was a real consideration what we, what we would put there, and my natural go-to was reclaimed hemlock because it's got the, the texture, and it's got the, the character,

Christine Garant 15:33

you and I both, right, James? We both probably were, m- m-- you know, going more towards that direction than porcelain.

James Pitropov 15:42

Yeah, and, and the, the interesting thing, and I, I think I, I needed to be convinced somewhat, Christine, but going with, with a tile that, that looks like the wood... And now this is a very special product. This isn't a typical, uh, tile, and this is something that normally I, I wouldn't even consider speccing. But the actual porcelain that you, that you specced and that you, you brought in, this wa- this was imported. This looks exactly, and I mean exactly like, um, wood that's been scra- uh, that, that's been scraped, like traditional scraped wood, special finish on it. You would not be able to tell that it's not, that, that, that it's not the wood. And the advantage of it, the practical advantage is now we can get the heat transfer through the floor. We can get the, the, we can get the texture of the wood, the authentic, because we're always about the authenticity and fitting in durable, authentic materials that can take a little bit of wear and tear. And this material here really had a, a beautiful finish on, and I was really surprised. I, I'd be the first one to try to deselect, and I think I probably did in the, in our early discussions, deselect it as a product. But we did get, we did get a very good product. And then I was impressed, Christine, you, you, you managed to find, um, planks that had the, the larger dimension on them. So they were really, they were really quite large compared to what you would typically spec, weren't they?

Christine Garant 17:10

Right. Yeah, I think that's the goal with this, uh, home and, uh, the cottage, I should say. everything we're looking at doing is in scale with, uh, with the proportions. And, uh, I always go back to, you know, heft and monolithic, and when I look at the Doug fir beams, you know, they're just so substantial. So we don't want anything too delicate. We definitely want rugged quality.

James Pitropov 17:38

Yeah, I li- I like, again, I like your choice of words, that rugged quality, the durability, dogs are coming and going, guests will, will, will come and go, firewood is being brought inside. it's gotta last, and it needs to transfer the heat, which was one, one of the, one of the secret, uh, benefits. Christine, do you, do you feel, uh, just, design-wise, do you feel there was any... Uh, was there a bit of a learning curve? Like, I know that you're, you're very experienced, but was it a little bit different up in cottage country, being on the lake, when you visited the site, did that change the way that you, you thought about materials?

Christine Garant 18:14

when I visited the site, I just felt extremely honored. Uh, I think that working on someone's very special property, is, um, such a, I don't wanna use the word blessing, but that's the word that comes to my mind, so I'll- I'll use that

James Pitropov 18:31

Yeah, blessing or a privilege. Like, it, it really feels special and unique.

Christine Garant 18:36

it's a, it's a privilege. I absolutely love that word. and my goal is always to tap into, like any designer, the work is not about me, and it's not about being published as your podcast, So it really is about tapping into their desires and their personalities, and keeping in mind with, you know, what is going on in the, the world of interiors and materials. But yeah, this was very different for me and again, the, the timber frame is something that I've never worked with before. And this timber frame isn't like a traditional timber frame where everything is symmetrical. We have everything in this project is asymmetrical. So we've

James Pitropov 19:21

a little quirky that way.

Christine Garant 19:22

I feel like it's, it's got that kind of craftsman, mid-century rugged. Like, I feel like it's such an interesting, um, mix of styles.

James Pitropov 19:34

to my ears. You're saying all the right things.

Christine Garant 19:35

good. Good. Yeah, i- it's gonna be... It's very exciting, and, uh, I'm really thrilled to be part of the project, obviously. So...

James Pitropov 19:45

Christine, one, one thing that I found interesting, and I, I, where I, where I feel that you had a lot of input, um, was, was lighting Now, we, we brought in, uh, Marcel, uh, Dionne, who is, uh, I guess some people would consider him a, a celebrity, uh, lighting icon in Canada. He's a really great designer. But I felt that it was really important, Christine, that he work with you, and that when, when you were both on the site. Can you tell us a little bit just about the experience of being on site and working on the lighting specifications and so on? Because I know that you had very, um, some lengthy conversations with Marcel about what you wanted out of the lighting.

Christine Garant 20:22

Yes. The goal with the lighting is to not over-light. Um, we're trying to find that sweet spot. I have, a lot of, strong opinions about over-lighting. Uh, I definitely, I'm not a big fan of pot lights. So with a timber frame, it's a unique lighting situation. and to your, with your input, James, like it, it's been very interesting with the team because, uh, Marcel also, with his knowledge base, he has, a lot of, skill and, uh, work in this area. So I've deferred to Marcel, and Marcel had a, a strong feeling on keeping the lighting in that sweet spot of, showing off the timber frames and highlighting- Yeah the architecture that you've created. And the homeowner's wish as well to not over-light. So the homeowner, he is not a big fan of too many pot lights, so we're really trying and working on that sweet spot of highlighting the architecture, highlighting the property. I can really see... I'm looking forward to the garden design, like the landscape.

James Pitropov 21:39

as well. You, you, you had a hand in, in that as well.

Christine Garant 21:42

'Cause the exterior is amazing. I love the way the exterior turned out, James. with this lighting plan, and, uh, a- you know, we've got a few pendant lights, and then a few well-placed sconces. So again, we're just really trying to keep it somewhat quiet, like not, just not overdone. I, I like the feeling of walking through a cottage, like in the old days, with a, a candle sconce in your hand highlighting- The hallway and going up the stairs with a, a real flame, you know, like you would have done in, uh, medieval times. So

James Pitropov 22:19

organic feeling.

Christine Garant 22:20

yes, and that was in the beginning always the, the chat was to keeping the lighting somewhat quiet.

James Pitropov 22:29

Christine, what, what, what I liked about that, uh, that effort, that collaboration, was that we started from a very sort of object-oriented design, like the actual fixtures and so on, and, and we did end up with fi- fixtures that, the owners agreed with and, and that you love and that Marcel loves. we have very unique fixtures, but after visiting the site, we, we did agree that it was, uh, a, a very powerful idea to uplight the Douglas fir and get that reflected light, so there was this ambient lighting throughout, which just makes the place glow like a lantern. And then, then with the, the fixtures, you, you were pretty deliberate about the placement of fixtures, fans, some feature, pendants, I, I guess is what you would call them. And then we've carried the idea to the exterior as well, where there's a low level of lighting overall, but it's very specific. So we picked up, on the inside we picked up the texture of the Douglas fir primarily, and on the exterior, we picked up the, the stone itself. And one interesting thing about the, the site, and Christine, you made a point of this, and I, I found it really interesting because there's a connection between the interior to the exterior.

Christine Garant 23:41

Mm-hmm. Oh, yeah.

James Pitropov 23:42

of the, part of the cottage, it, there's a, uh, blasted stone wall on the exterior. When you are on the inside, there's glass there, so in one direction you see the lake, in the other direction you see this stone wall. And it was, I think it was your idea, Christine, that this exterior view of, of the stone wall, well, that really belongs to the interior. Like it's an extension of the, of the interior space. So I, I believe it was your idea that we light up the stone and then dim down the lighting on the interior so that you have this beautiful glow, and that wall just dematerializes, uh, doesn't it? Like when, when, when you look out. So you managed to get a little bit of the exterior into your design as well.

Christine Garant 24:24

Yeah. I-- our goal is that layered, uh, the l- many layers of lighting and, um, uh, absolutely lighting the environment on the exterior will be amazing to see that wall, that stone wall.

James Pitropov 24:41

Chris- Christine, do you think there was a, a, a slight shift in your approach, too? Like I, I know that, that you, you've worked on very exclusive interiors, and I think in a more urban setting, the f- the focus is always on, on the interior. Like it's, it's its own, uh, object art, I guess, the, the interior. But did you find that being on the lake- Particularly the, it wasn't wired up. It was like a shell, and we're looking out at the water. Did you feel that you could draw in some materials or lighting f- lighting particularly from the ex- from the outside? Like, did that affect your choice, choice of finish there?

Christine Garant 25:19

Yeah, I, I mean, I believe when this starts really coming together now that we're, you know, really getting to the interiors, I believe the simplicity and materials that we've chosen, and, uh, will come together, in a way that really just allows you to actually look beyond to the, outside. So the placement of the windows, and yeah, I believe that we've achieved that goal in the environment inside is really just allowing you to enjoy the outside.

James Pitropov 25:55

I think there was a shift away from exclusively focusing on, on the finished materials on the, on the inside and trying to make that link first. And one of the interesting things is we ended up going from a, a typical drywall interior, which is what the owner originally was expecting, perhaps, and then we ended up with a, uh, with, with a interior wood cladding. And you and I got on, online with that pretty quickly. Um, that's a little bit different for you. Have, have, have you done that sort of cladded interior previously, or was this a new

Christine Garant 26:31

Uh, this would be-- Well, I've done it in isolated spaces, like, uh, obviously like a home office. Um, I did a home office, and we immersed it in birch ply, all beautifully finished. so it had that c- again, you were wrapped in wood. and we did the Frey reglets, you know, the little, uh, reveals- Yeah in the way that it... Yeah. So that, that office- Yeah. Those are, those are great things. And I remember walking to the office for the first time, and he has really cool, like, Herman Miller vintage furniture, and we found just the right area rug, and, uh, it just feels like such a vibe, you know? So these people are pretty cool, and I'm, what I'm feeling for them is this emer- this sense of immersion. And so with this cladding that you found, James, the wood cladding, it just feels like in this case for them, more is more. So really what we're gonna see is the wood floors, th- which is actually porcelain. Yes. We're gonna have the wood walls, the doug-fir beams. In some areas, we're gonna have the wood ceiling will wrap from the walls, like in the kitchen.

James Pitropov 27:44

Yeah, there's, there's a sort of a drop ceiling in the, in the kitchen as well Which I thought was a great idea.

Christine Garant 27:49

And then wood cabinets in the kitchen that are gonna be a slightly different color of wood. What your eye is going to go to, it's gonna go directly outside because that simplicity is, you're gonna be wrapped in it. So the other area that I think the eye's gonna go to is the stone fireplace. So the eye will just go to that texture right away there as well. So really, we're just trying to create this, like, really clean envelope in the end. and it'll have its own complexities because of the angles and the asymmetry, uh, but we're gonna make it, like, a really, again, clean, a wood drenching, very immersive, very cozy in some areas with the lower ceilings, and then we've got the radically, uh, high ceilings in the great room.

James Pitropov 28:38

Christine, one of the things that I, I like about working with you, and I think clients appreciate too, is that you can go... You, you get the big ideas, which would be important to an architect, of course. So you get the big ideas, the connection to the nature, connection to the exterior, but then you can appreciate some of the details as well. And some of the details that we worked on I thought were, were pretty interesting, and it really wasn't called collaboration. It was just sitting down and, and you and I discussing how things are finished. But some of the details that I like are, we went from clear, uh, poplar pine planks to oak of all things. I, I, I managed to find a, uh, an inside source for, for, uh, reclaimed oak, which is being refinished, and these are going to be the walls. And one of the things that came out of that discussion was the oak is a, is a harder material, so for returns on the windows, rather than having trims everywhere, which is kind of old-looking, old-fashioned, I guess. And this is a con- Let's not make a mistake. This is a contemporary, modern place with rustic materials. So you and I came up with details to do, uh, mitered returns on the windows, no trims, frameless doors, reveals. And it might not be obvious the, the benefits of some of these details, but at the end of the day, when it's built, things look a lot cleaner, don't they? And the, the,

Christine Garant 30:02

clean. and yet we're tying in a lot of rustic qualities. You know, again, that rugged stone and the staircase, the intention for the staircase is that it, the, the timbers are gonna be very hefty and possibly rugged. we're still bringing in the ruggedness with, you know, combined with the, the juxtaposition of that clean mitered return window. Uh, so I think it should be really interesting, and the owners, again, it's, it's all so personal. Uh, and they're very, they l- they embrace eclectic, items in their homes and materiality. so we have that kind of, you know, we've been allowed to, um, really have fun with this project.

James Pitropov 30:50

So Christine, on-- like, like say on the spectrum of, of design, going from completely restrained to let's push it to the limit, where-- on this type of project, where do you like to, to be? Like, do you like to start off sort of restrained and see where the client goes, or do you want to bring in the big ideas up front? Like, how do, how do you feel about overall approach to, to your interiors?

Christine Garant 31:13

Well, I'm a bit more restrained, by nature. But, uh, having said that, it's, sometimes as a project evolves, the, uh, creativity and unexpected items come out of, the evolution and things open up. And Right now, my reference when I'm saying that is I'm working on a historic home, for instance, and we just couldn't know the whole job until we opened everything up because we were taking several rooms and turning it into a, a, a whole, space. And there we knew that we would be, running into surprises. you know, the big ideas are somewhat there and yet, you have to sort of wait and, and see what you're working with on a case like that. with this project, James, out of the gate, their big ideas were always out there. So this was, these people were not afraid of the big ideas. So just the nature of the style of this, cottage, is it with the shed roof, and the timbers, I feel like that creativity is being embraced with this cottage.

James Pitropov 32:21

Mm-hmm.

Christine Garant 32:22

Yeah.

James Pitropov 32:23

Chri-Christine, in, in terms of creative license, so you have a project, you have the, the, the modern interior, all clean detailing and so on. I know that you develop a very close relationship with your clients, so the, the million-dollar question is, when they come in and they have the, the, the perfect interior that, that you love, and they want to bring in the big elk head with the antlers or the big stuffed animal or the anchor on the wall, do you go with it? Do you, do you get them to drop it, Christine, or do you, do you run with it?

Christine Garant 32:51

yes, I run with it because it's so, to me, that is the puzzle. So you give me some old furniture to work with, you can give me artwork that's cherished, and we're gonna find a way to work- 90% of those important things, and if we need to work with 100%, we, we will find it. Yeah, it, it... for me, it is not about, getting rid of things. I'm an environmentalist. I'm a... I love to salvage. I love to thrift. I love to reinvent or rework. So I, I... it's very important to me to bring in, like, perfect items. It's great. I, I would embrace that too. If everything's purchased brand new, well, that's fine. but every project's different, and every customer is different and client. So, in this case, I know that we're working with some items that they already own and, that is usually done. Uh, the loading in is, like, a, a weekend or a week long, and we will have so much fun with that, and maybe you can be involved too, James, um, in that part. I don't know if you're interested, but, we'll be there hanging up the moose head or

James Pitropov 34:04

think it'll, I think it'll be a party.

Christine Garant 34:06

Yeah. I think it'll

James Pitropov 34:06

I think it could be a party, Christine. Uh, Christine, uh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that you're, you're also practical about things too. Like with the project here, you took very practical cottagey functions such as having a, a, a mudroom that has sufficient storage and seating areas. we took a regular sort of bathroom and we turned it into a shower bath for the dogs. The owner had an office. Like, you're sensitive to those aspects as well.

Christine Garant 34:38

Yeah. Yeah, well, that's just part of the job of,

James Pitropov 34:41

I, uh...

Christine Garant 34:42

you know, tapping into what your clients need and, they were very clear on the areas that they were non-negotiable. I thought we could get... eliminate the office, and in the end, uh, the office was a necessary, space for the homeowner. so again, you... we... we're all about serving our clients and, uh, giving them the best possible version of what they're looking for.

James Pitropov 35:07

Yeah. Uh, Christine, you did wonderful work the-- on, on the entry, linen, the sleeping areas we're going to be designing, bunkies, and, and so on. I think you have a sensitivity to To the overall family narrative, how they use the cottage. We know that for a lot of cottagers, it's not just a cottage or a home, uh, it's, it's legacy. You know, it's where they've spent the summers, and as things move on, kids grow up, they have their own families, a place to return to.

Christine Garant 35:36

Mm-hmm.

James Pitropov 35:37

I'm glad that we had discussions about, memory walls and places to put things. So I, I like that, uh, that whole aspect of the cottage being a vessel for memories, if that makes sense.

Christine Garant 35:50

Yes. Oh, that is so true. I think cottages are the perfect place to get very personal. I think it's... Unless you're renting it out, uh, that's not the case

James Pitropov 36:02

That, that's a comp- yeah, it is... That's completely

Christine Garant 36:03

That's a completely different thing. But creating, I think people are really, um... The one trend that I know that that's sort of the topic of this, the one trend that I'm really seeing is people are not afraid to make their spaces soulful and, and imperfect. We're embracing imperfection in a lot of ways right

James Pitropov 36:28

Ooh, nice.

Christine Garant 36:28

Um, yeah, embracing imperfection, not in the ways that are important. No, we're not embracing showers that don't work properly, but we're embracing quirks. We're embracing, the stone isn't perfectly laid, and maybe there's some interesting, unusual patterns in the way that the stonemason laid the stone, and that's on purpose. And that's on purpose, right? I just think quirkiness in the decor, but also in the way things are designed, is just adding so much. It's not just what you're typically seeing, like open up any magazine and you're getting, you know, what you'd expect. it's like building the unexpected. You know, something unique and, as unique as our thumbprint. Everyone, every client is so unique, and every build is so unique. I think that if you don't have a big budget, you might as well just have fun. if you have a big budget, you might as well still have fun. You know, like it's,

James Pitropov 37:34

And try something new too.

Christine Garant 37:36

Yes, but we're really embracing, like soul and

James Pitropov 37:40

Soul and dis- and discovery along the way too, eh, Christine? Like, even between the discussions, the discussions we have the, with the clients, the discussions w- that we have with the, uh, skilled trades on

Christine Garant 37:50

The other

James Pitropov 37:51

even w-with ourselves

Christine Garant 37:53

Mm-hmm.

James Pitropov 37:53

Yeah. Yeah. On, on a closing note, uh, Christine, I, I think one of the things that, that you do bring, bring to this sort of project is not only are, are you talented, but you have a very, uh, strong, family connections. Uh, family's very important to you. I, I know that from our, from our discussions. And you build a strong rapport, with clients. They're, they're not just clients with you, they're, they're friends, aren't they?

Christine Garant 38:15

I, I mean, I can certainly remain professional. That isn't an issue at all. Like, it's get the work done and you move on. but certainly when you're working on a long-term project such as a cottage, uh, with an architect, um, like yourself, and with a designer, with a team, get to know each other and, you know, you hopefully are... You, you have to be a good fit. And so that rapport is important, the camaraderie, the grace, the teamwork, the collaboration, and, I appreciate that. When I take on clients, I sort of look for that. As much as they're interviewing me, I'm interviewing them as well. because we all have just a limited time on this earth, and, uh, it's gotta be fun and it's gotta, you know, work for everyone.

James Pitropov 39:02

Thank you, Christine, for keeping it real for people. It's so important to be authentic and to help people a- achieve their goals. so just as a, as an outro here, I'd like to just ask you, uh, five quick questions and just off the top of your head. Here we go. What is one thing that you think every cottage now needs?

Christine Garant 39:20

Big windows.

James Pitropov 39:22

Big windows. Go with the big windows? M- Wood, metal?

Christine Garant 39:24

Wood windows are amazing. metal windows are, are great. It just, it's all depending on the style of the build.

James Pitropov 39:32

What is one thing that people should stop doing? Like, what's driving you nuts, Christine, about, about interiors?

Christine Garant 39:37

Yeah, just being too perfect and too safe and, too many open spaces. I think we do need those defined rooms again, and, uh, this cottage has that, uh, the owners insisted, and it actually made so much sense to have some defined spaces.

James Pitropov 39:56

Christine, what is your favorite material that you, you would recommend or we would recommend for, for building on the lake? What's most exciting to you right now material-wise?

Christine Garant 40:05

I do love wood, and, um, I just think you can't have too much wood it's a material that is timeless, and the thread throughout the times, if you go into a vintage cottage, you know, you just can't go wrong with wood, whether it be on the floors, the walls, the ceilings. You've gotta have a lot of it i- in my opinion, to have a, the feel of a cottage.

James Pitropov 40:28

Christine, final question for you. What's your best design advice in one sentence? You got one chance to, to make a difference, uh, for someone out there. What is your, your best design advice?

Christine Garant 40:42

I would say to be adaptable. and open. Open. Yeah, adaptable, open, collaborative. Those are... They're three words.

James Pitropov 40:51

Christine, thank you so much. Very informative, very entertaining. Uh, you're a excellent speaker. You, uh, remind me of a lot of the conversations that we had during the design of the project that made it exciting for us. Uh, Christine, how do people get a hold of you?

Christine Garant 41:06

Well, I don't have a website, You can reach me through possibly, uh, you and your company if somebody wanted to- Sure inquire. you know, working at this cottage is, uh, has been a little bit of a challenge because it's, um, you know, a little bit of a distance.

James Pitropov 41:24

that sounds great. Christine, if they wanna get a hold of you, I know that you're, you're very busy, and you tend to take on very special projects. If, if, um, viewers out there have a special, unique project, and they want the best in the field, please get in touch with me at Lakeside Architecture, Lakeside Construction Management. I work closely with talented people like Christine. We can hook you up. Christine, thank you so much. It's been a pleasure. Please, when you think about design, design for the way that you're actually gonna live, be authentic, and, uh, loyal to your own ideas, and get good consultants. Thanks so much, Christine. It's been a blast.