Colin and Justin's Big Chill

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Most reno shows are set against a warm landscape; not Sub Zero Reno. What could possibly go wrong?

You’d think that, having lived in Canada for the best part of 20 years, we’d have learned that a typical North American winter can be wildly challenging.

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Whilst tackling our latest cottage redux – during last year’s brutal barometric arsenal – we should have bunkered down (like everyone suggested) to wait out the deep freeze, before breaking ground.

But no, we had to risk everything. In the deep mid-winter. Far from the madding crowd. At the end of the tracks: literally – saints preserve us – we should have known better.

When our new show airs on Paramount+ from January 31st, you’ll see what we endured as Mother Nature dealt tortuous cards.

In hindsight, a typical Canuck winter might have been an ally (trucks, after all, can negotiate frozen roads, and materials can be transported across ice crusted lakes) but winter 2023/2024 in Haliburton (home to the cottage featured during Sub Zero Reno) played out as a messy slush of freeze and thaw, during which we experienced as much rain as we did snow, and more, coughs, ‘off roading’ (for all the wrong reasons) than we ever expected.

So, did we cross the finishing line? Well, let’s just say we made a lot of compromises. Certain projects went to plan, whilst others were unmitigated disasters. But hey, we lived. But did we learn?

One zone which performed, sans drama, was our kitchen. First up, Habitat For Humanity claimed the former cupboards to raise funds for the local community. In our world, you see, little is wasted: we implore everyone to assign unwanted ‘deconstruction’ materials to charity (rather than landfill) so that others can benefit.

Space cleared, we installed new cabinetry, designed and built by Swede kitchens (www.myswedehome.com) and Striata 513 Porcelain counters from Caesarstone (www.caesarstone.ca)

It might seem unusual that we didn’t add a breakfast projection as part of the island, but with a dining room just ten feet away, an overhang (with stools) would have been extraneous. Plus, we needed the depth underneath for ancillary storage and extra wide drawers.

Balancing budget is always important, so when it came to appliances we opted for a marque that wouldn’t send our bank manager into cardiac freefall.

The gas cook top, dishwasher and double oven/microwave fall under the Electrolux (www.electrolux.ca) banner and have proved more than reliable.

Being that we spend lots of time preparing food, ensuring the space functions as well as it looks was important. Small counter appliances (cake stand, kettle and toaster) are by www.breville.com, whilst illumination is served using a suspended light bar from www.luminaireauthentik.com

Another sweet detail is the motorbike handle faucet set sourced from www.rubinet.com Jet toned with brass accents, it’s a statuesque beauty, as viewed from any angle.

We call faucets like this ‘kitchen jewelry’ being that (like brooches on a tailored suit) they beautifully enhance the principal aesthetic.

The aspect that ties all zones (not just the kitchen) together is what we call the ‘wood sandwich’, witnessed here on the ceiling with penny grove lumber, and on the floor courtesy of extra wide planking, with white drywall between.

The Ready Pine (www.readypine.com) ceiling treatment dramatically cut our workload: pre stained, it’s easy to install, and compliments the 10” wide ‘Louvre’ engineered flooring, part of the Monument Collection by www.kentwoodfloors.com

We’ve owned this cottage for the best part of a decade. It was there we rode out Covid, and (dilapidated as it was, when purchased) the respite always felt like a safe haven, especially when escaping the urban existence that so oft’ leaves us fatigued.

Accordingly, it was an honour to save the formerly naive structure and bring it back from the literal brink of collapse. Our contractor Brad Lodge explained that, had we waited to begin for even one more year, it was unlikely our slanty shanty would have remained standing. Guess we started just in time…

Watch for celebrity designers Colin and Justin on City-tv’s Breakfast Television and Colin and Justin’s
Sub- Zero Reno premiering Jan. 31 on Paramount TV. Find the Colin and Justin Home Collection in stores across Canada. Visit www.colinandjustin.tv.