What it is: Twenty-seventh floor, two-bedroom and den condo in Crosstown.
Price or rent: $1800 per month
Square feet: 800
Occupants: Drew Facey, set and costume designer for Brad Frasers True Love Lies, running to Oct. 1 at The Cultch, and Kelly Murphy, events supervisor.
Major selling feature: The utterly breathtaking panoramic views of Downtown, Yaletown, Gastown, Coal Harbour and the North Shore Mountains. The building also has fabulous amenities with a pool, spa, two gyms and a screening room. Wed been looking for a lifestyle adjustment and this certainly fit the bill!
First thing we changed: We didnt change much. The entire condo was painted gallery white when we moved in, which is a perfect backdrop for our art and furniture. Everything is so polished and modern that what the space needed most was some texture and colourful accessories to warm it up. Weve had a lot of fun playing off of the existing touches of colour such as the blue painted glass backsplash in the kitchen.
Features we brag about: Well, for sure the view. We also absolutely adore this area. Were adjacent to so many incredible restaurants and shops. Its diverse and vibrant and in such a constant state of change that its a really exciting place to be.
That one conversation piece: Were never finished decorating and were always adjusting things. People often comment on the evolution of our space.
The décor: Modern. We love classic mid-century pieces and architectural furniture. We also like to mix in a few vintage elements and natural elements to break up all that modern. When we moved into this space a little over a year ago, we got rid of most of our stuff. We decided that if we were going to live in an ultra-modern condo, we would do it as minimally as possible. Were pretty close to having a strict one in, one out rule which keeps the space open and clutter-free. It also keeps it available for all the creative work we do from home.
The pair tracked down their most prized posession (a photograph by Samson K. Hatae, at left) after spying the L.A.-based artists work on a reality TV series.
Story behind the art: Our favourite piece is a photograph by the L.A.-based artist Samson K. Hatae that we bought for ourselves as our seven-year anniversary present. We were watching Gordon Ramseys Kitchen Nightmares, saw Samsons work in one of the made-over restaurants and fell in love. We tracked him down and purchased our favorite photo of his, taken on a rainy night on the streets of Tokyo. We also adore our Ryan Berkley print and we recently bought a 1960s vintage classroom map of Australia to brighten up our entryway.
Downside: The elevators. There are only two elevators in this massive tower and sometimes the wait to get up and down is ridiculous.
Neighborhood haunt(s): Fave restos and lounges: Meat and Bread, Salty Tongue, The Diamond, The Dirty Apron Deli, Nuba. Stores: Nood, Peking Lounge, Old Faithful, Inform Interiors (but we cant afford to shop there). Best coffee: JJ Bean in the Woodwards complex. Best butcher: Big Lous.
Compared to my last place... There really is no comparison. Our last place was in the West End and was a massive, rambling heritage apartment built in 1911. It was a lovely 1600 square feet but it had a horrid kitchen and an even worse bathroom. It got very little natural light and we found it really oppressive. It was well decorated though...
Most recent home purchase: A handsome print of a blue upside-down octopus silk-screened onto a page out of a vintage encyclopedia from Paper Gangster on Etsy.com.
Favourite home activity: Having friends over for prosecco-soaked dinner parties.
