AMAZING FAMILY ROOM TRANSFORMATION!

Meadowood Drive, Aurora, Fireplace Renovation

The focal point of this family room was an 80’s-style brick fireplace, which the homeowners wanted to use as a starting point for an updated design.

To start the transformation, the existing fireplace and hearth were demolished, followed by a rebuild of a structure to accommodate a new Napolean gas fireplace.   The fireplace front was framed with steel studding and clad in fire-retardant material, the surface finished in 24” x 48” polished Marvel Calacatta porcelain tiles, with bevelled corner returns on both sides.

Three floating shelves on either side of the fireplace add loads of display surface for the homeowners’ cherished collections.  The shelves are grooved underneath to allow integrated lighting to be flush with the shelf bottom.   A single dimmer switch controls all the fireplace lighting.  On the ceiling above the shelves are three small LED pot lights on each side of the fireplace to shine down on top shelf.  The fireplace unit was wired for wall-mounted TV.   A newly created mantle deflects the heat from the TV and is painted to match the doors of the cabinets below.

Full-height, shallow base cabinets on both sides of fireplace allows for additional storage behind closed doors.  The door panels are in Cuisine Ideale Fitch Bay style with Frost lacquer finish.  The countertops have same finish as doors.

To complete the renovation, the existing wall, separating the Family Room from the hallway and kitchen, was made slightly wider to accommodate seating for TV and gas-fire viewing.   Existing flooring was removed and replaced by woodgrain plank vinyl.  All baseboards were replaced.  The popcorn surface on the ceiling in the hallway, dining room and family room was scraped and skimmed, LED slim-line pot lights added in all areas, and the walls and ceiling all painted.

The new room featuring floor-to-ceiling storage, a centralized entertainment area, loads of lighting and more open space looks amazing!

See full video below.

Tariff-Free Confidence

Fortunately for both Kestle Interiors and our clients, we have remained unaffected by the ongoing Canada-US Trade War.
Our cabinetry is manufactured in Sherbrooke, Quebec by Cuisine Idéale. Cuisine Idéale’s recent factory expansion ensures their domestic supply remains stable and highly competitive against tariff-impacted U.S. alternatives.
Our main supplier of sinks, faucets, or shower systems, Vogt Industries, is also a Canadian company. They use high-quality components and materials sourced from around the world (including Swiss mechanics, German tooling, and global manufacturing partners), but since they are not a U.S.-manufactured brand, they completely bypass the retaliatory tariffs.
Richelieu is our regular supplier of hardware. A substantial portion of their catalog—including high-end functional items like hinges, slides, and decorative pulls—is imported from premium global manufacturing hubs (such as Europe/Italy and Asia). Because their inventory does not primarily originate from U.S. manufacturing plants, they bypass the heavy cross-border retaliatory tariffs targeted strictly at American-made goods
Richelieu owns four manufacturing plants inside Canada. These local facilities focus primarily on specialty wood components, such as veneer sheets, edge-banding, and decorative mouldings
As far as quartz and granite for countertops & full-height backsplashes are concerned, Canada’s Border Services Agency has no active trade restrictions or counter-tariffs on imported quartz or solid-stone slabs. The vast majority of quartz companies in Canada import raw engineered stone slabs from global hubs (like Italy, China, or India) and simply cut, polish, and shape them locally for your kitchen
Whether the quartz slab is imported from Europe, Asia, or manufactured locally, buying it from a Canadian retailer or fabricator means there are no cross-border trade war penalties added.
There are very few facilities that actually mix the raw resin and quartz crystals to manufacture the physical slabs inside Canada. The most prominent example is HanStone Quartz, which operates a major manufacturing plant in London, Ontario. Slabs poured at this facility are genuinely Canadian-made and completely clear of U.S. safeguard trade duties.

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Meadowood Drive, Aurora, Fireplace Renovation