My Houzz: Creative Moves Turn a Toronto Basement Into a Stylish Rental
See how two Canadian designers renovated their townhouse's lower level into a bright and modern one-bedroom apartment
A basement apartment typically makes you think of a dark and cramped space with low ceilings and little light. And that's what designers Timothy Mitanidis and Claudia Bader of Creative Union faced when they began renovating their dilapidated townhouse in Toronto’s Queen and Bathurst neighborhood.
They finished the lower-level apartment first so they could live there while working on the other floors upstairs. The result of the overhaul: a contemporary, color-happy space that hardly feels like a basement at all. Working on a tight budget, Bader and Mitanidis minimized walls, maximized light and crafted a cheerfully modern home that reinterprets rustic fragments of the old apartment to retain a sense of its history.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: This is a basement rental unit; Timothy Mitanidis and Claudia Bader live in the main house above.
Location: Queen Street Fashion District of Toronto
Size: 650 square feet; 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Cost: $120 Canadian (about U.S.$118) per square foot
They finished the lower-level apartment first so they could live there while working on the other floors upstairs. The result of the overhaul: a contemporary, color-happy space that hardly feels like a basement at all. Working on a tight budget, Bader and Mitanidis minimized walls, maximized light and crafted a cheerfully modern home that reinterprets rustic fragments of the old apartment to retain a sense of its history.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: This is a basement rental unit; Timothy Mitanidis and Claudia Bader live in the main house above.
Location: Queen Street Fashion District of Toronto
Size: 650 square feet; 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Cost: $120 Canadian (about U.S.$118) per square foot
The benching has many purposes. In a corner it's an area for open shelving; beneath the window it's a seating nook; in another area, hidden storage; and in the bedroom it's a platform for the bed with enough space below to store some of the bulkier objects.
The long, linear kitchen opens to the dining area, allowing the table to do double duty as counter space. A custom concrete counter tops Ikea cabinets. To make the most of the kitchen layout and ceiling height, the designers customized the upper cabinets to hang sideways, with doors that open vertically.
A simple run of LED tape lights above the uppers provides ambient light and helps make the ceiling appear higher.
Kitchen cabinetry: Akrum, Ikea; dining chairs: OH, designed by Karim Rashid, Umbra; dining table: Creative Union
A simple run of LED tape lights above the uppers provides ambient light and helps make the ceiling appear higher.
Kitchen cabinetry: Akrum, Ikea; dining chairs: OH, designed by Karim Rashid, Umbra; dining table: Creative Union
Many parts of the old house are reimagined in the new apartment, leaving traces of history. One of the most eye-catching examples is an old door with peeling paint. Sliced into three sections, the door was salvaged from the basement demolition and installed as a cover panel to conceal the refrigerator and microwave.
A detail of the kitchen shows how low-cost Ikea cabinetry can be part of a more custom appearance. Here the plywood toe kick, minimalist door pulls, concrete countertop and contrasting side-hung uppers create a kitchen that looks high end.
Reclaimed ceiling joists removed from the upper floors of the house became the dining room table. Because the wood was quite old and rough on the exterior, Mitanidis sawed each piece in half, exposing the joist’s untouched interior. Since this part of the wood was lighter than the exterior, the result is a distinctive two-tone appearance. The homeowners left the table unstained and sealed it using beeswax from Mitanidis’ father, a beekeeper.
A double-layered plywood plank finished with natural linseed oil tops the concrete bench, adding warmth to the otherwise stark space. Ikea shelving in the recess holds the homeowners' growing Lego collection.
The couple’s favorite room is the cozy back bedroom. Anchored into a plywood platform they made, the bed feels substantial, offering the perfect spot from which to watch the day slip away through a window at the side of the room. The painting, like all of the artwork in the home, is by Ecuadorian artist Daniel Idrovo.
More reclaimed doors from the demolition find new life as sliding barn doors for the powder room and walk-in closet. The concrete shower has a built-in sink as well as a lace pattern hand cast into the floor.
Drawer unit: Helmer, Ikea
Drawer unit: Helmer, Ikea
Bader and Mitanidis, shown here, relish the ability to experiment on the house, and as a result, it’s an ever-changing laboratory of ideas. Initially left as raw steel, the newly painted handrail hints to those passing by that something delightfully different is hiding just beyond the brick walls.
Though the pair have since moved up to the main-floor apartment, they’ve ensured that their vision will continue by renting out the lower level fully furnished.
Your turn: Please show us your creative basement conversion!
Though the pair have since moved up to the main-floor apartment, they’ve ensured that their vision will continue by renting out the lower level fully furnished.
Your turn: Please show us your creative basement conversion!
Benching involves pouring a new, deeper foundation inside the existing one, while underpinning means it gets poured underneath. Underpinning is much more expensive but doesn't take up any floor space, so they used it in tight areas, such as the powder room, and benched everywhere else.
Chair: Poang, Ikea; open shelving: Lack, Ikea; pine shelving, coffee table: Creative Union