Whether you’re looking to add value to a property before it hits the market or turn a house into a ‘forever’ home, design duo Nicole Babb and Caffery Vanhorne have Canadians covered on the HGTV show Styled.

“We’re looking to show viewers how they can maximize their biggest investment: their home,” says Babb, who leads R&P Home, a family owned design firm she founded in 2015. Her co-host, Vanhorne, is an award-winning fashion and furniture designer.

We reached out to Babb and Vanhorne for tips on how people can make the most of the space they’re in, in whatever stage of life they’re at – whether they’re planning to sell and downsize or age in place. 

 

 

Aging in Place

 

For those who want to age in place, it’s important to make the space work for your current lifestyle, especially if you have mobility issues. “If you have a living room and dining room, you could turn one of those rooms into a bedroom so you’re not going up and down stairs as you get older,” says Babb.

This is a trend they’re seeing with bungalows, where the primary bedroom and bathroom are located on the main floor. “So we repurpose your house where it’s convenient for you as you age,” she says.

Maybe you plan to host multigenerational family gatherings, so you might want to consider tearing down a wall and creating a larger formal dining room. On the other hand, maybe you’re done with hosting dinners, so you could convert the dining room into another space, like a reading nook.

 

 

Universal Design

 

Whether selling the house or eventually passing it on to family, universal design can help everyone enjoy the space – especially if multiple generations are living in the house at the same time. But universal design doesn’t mean the house should lack personality.

In one episode of Styled, a woman who decided to leave her home to her granddaughter – while living out her golden years in the basement – brought in Babb and Vanhorne to adapt the space accordingly. This is part of a larger trend they’re seeing where multiple generations live under the same roof. “I highly recommend that if they have the space, especially if they have a basement, (turn a lower level into) a self-contained apartment so you know that your loved one is taken care of,” says Babb. What they found in the home was a lot of ornate marble from the ’80s that no one – except the grandmother – was particularly fond of.

“But what that tells you about her is that she does have an appreciation for marble and she does have an appreciation for things [that are] opulent, like molding,” says Vanhorne. “So when we did the new design, we put in a new marble table, so there’s some subtle nods to her taste but it’s a very modern approach.”

And, if you’re renovating a space for a loved one, “find something iconic to their lives, find a way to repurpose it in a way that their lives are celebrated,” says Vanhorne. For example, one of his clients was renovating his parents’ home and decided to repurpose his late father’s old workbench into a bathroom vanity – helping his memory live on in the home.

 

Refinish, Repurpose and Remix

 

If you don’t love it, or don’t use it anymore, you can refinish it, repurpose it or give it away. That could mean donating it to those in need, like Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization that will pick up donations of furniture, appliances and building materials. “That’s a great way of giving back and also lightening up your space,” says Babb. “So it’s rethinking your space, moving things around, so you can live the best quality life possible.”

And if it’s been around long enough, it’s probably trendy again. Let younger family members ‘thrift’ your space. Or consider refinishing pieces you can’t bear to get rid of, but no longer fit with your current lifestyle or aesthetics. “It’s one thing to sit in Woodward tapestry (chairs). It’s another thing to see it in your granddaughter’s living room in hot pink with lime green silk,” says Vanhorne.

Quality never goes out of style, but the finishing might. Even if your solid pine cabinetry is straight out of the ’70s, it doesn’t mean you have to replace it with MDF. Hire professionals to paint your existing cabinetry and switch out the hardware to give it a new lease on life.

 

 

“If it ain’t broke, remix it,” says Vanhorne. “Give it a new life again. Give it to someone who’s going to fall in love with it.”

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A version of this story was originally published in May 2022.