Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/226563
I t's Sunday morning breakfast in the Chen Van digs instead. They then embarked on a nine-month, household and raspberry French toast with $100,000 reno on the upstairs space with the help of icing sugar and passion fruit tea served in black interior designer Ami McKay of Pure Design Inc. Kevin, who porcelain mugs is on the menu. owns his own construction company, Chen Construction Kevin Chen and Joan Liu, along with their young son, Nicholas, sit in moulded grey-resin Inform Interiors chairs grouped around a contemporary glass-topped table. Off to the side, lit candles in lotus-shaped holders adorn a mahogany ancestor altar. Kevin and Joan's traditional Taiwanese upbringing collides with their contemporary Vancouver life at almost every turn in their renovated, 4,000-square-foot, midcentury bungalow. In 2011, the 30-something couple planned to move out of the space and into a newly purchased East Vancouver home when Kevin's mom, Liyin Chen, made an offer. "It is actually my mom's home," reveals Kevin. "We were living in the basement, but we needed more space and to Management, served as project manager. "This wasn't a young family home," says Ami. "It was another generation." Ami was struck by the potential in the 2,000-square-foot upstairs space, from the exposed wood ceiling beams to the geometric rosewood panelling in the front hallway and living room. "It had more character than a lot of bungalows," says Ami. Ami then worked with the couple, both engineers, to identify their personal style. "They really like colour, as evidenced by furnishings and tiles used in the basement space, so we invested in contemporary pieces like bright artwork and a red Womb chair," says Ami. be able to make something ours. My mom offered to switch The designer pared down the number of woods used places with us. She would take the basement and we could throughout the house and concentrated on finishings and have the upstairs, but the condition was we could do what furnishing in a medium rosewood tone. The original oak we wanted." floors were sanded and stained a honey tone to provide a The duo decided to stay put and rent out their East neutral backdrop for the more dramatic beams and walls. november 201 3 | a p52-57_Chen_Home.indd 53 53 13-10-23 11:54 AM