Everyone loves an after photo. I do too. But the truth about transformation is that the interesting part is everything that happens in between, and that part almost never gets photographed. So I want to walk you through one of my favourite recent projects, the London Road Residence, and show you what a before actually looks like from the inside.
The Before: A Skeleton With No Point of View
London Road is one of Lethbridge’s most historic and beloved mature neighbourhoods, and this project was a complete tear-down and rebuild. The homeowners were not trying to recreate the past. They wanted a fresh start, clean and contemporary, in a place they already loved.
I came onto the project right after framing was complete. If you have never stood inside a house at that stage, it is a strange and wonderful moment. The structure is all there, the rooms exist, the light comes through the window openings. And yet the house has no identity at all. It is a skeleton waiting for a point of view.
That is the real before. Not a dated kitchen or worn carpet, but raw volumes of space that could become anything. Which sounds like freedom, and it is, but it is also the moment when the most expensive wrong turns happen. Every choice from here forward gets locked in behind drywall, tile, and cabinetry.
The Decisions in Between
The homeowners wanted modern, and modern done carelessly can drift cold. So the first call I made was to anchor the whole interior in the warm, organic texture of clear maple. Flat-panel maple cabinetry became the foundation of the kitchen, natural and calm, letting the grain do the quiet work that paint never quite can.
Then came the moment this kitchen is known for in our house: a green apple subway tile backsplash. A true, vibrant green, not a safe one. It was a deliberate, high-energy statement against all that warm wood, and it is what makes the kitchen feel alive rather than just tasteful.
If you are wondering how you know a bold choice like that will work, this is honestly where timing matters more than bravery. Because I joined the project right after framing, we could test the colour story, the millwork textures, and the finishes against each other before anything was locked in. Nothing was chosen in isolation. The tile was picked with the maple beside it, under the light the room would actually have. When choices are made together and in the right order, bold stops being risky.
The After
The finished kitchen is clean and minimal, and at the same time it is warm, vibrant, and completely personal to the people who live there. That combination is the whole point. Modern does not have to mean stark, and colourful does not have to mean busy. You can see the full photo set on the project page, and more of our work in the portfolio.
What This Means for Your Own Before
Most befores are not framed shells. Yours might be a kitchen that works fine but has never felt like you, or a main floor you have been circling for a year without knowing where to start. The lesson from London Road applies all the same: the earlier the thinking happens, the calmer and more affordable everything after it becomes. Decisions made together, in the right order, are what turn a before into an after you love, without the stress that usually sits between the two.
If you are standing somewhere in your own in-between and would like a second set of eyes, the first step is simple: Request Your Home Visit. We meet, walk through your space together, and figure out if working together makes sense. And if you are still deciding what you actually love, the style quiz is a lovely place to begin.
Every home gets one chance at each renovation. The in-between is where it is won.
