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When Duncan first went house-hunting in 2010 she drew a small circle from her New Edinburgh office and started looking for a home within walking distance and within her budget. She loved the bungalow’s footprint and could visualize small tweaks she would eventually do.

“The home had one previous owner for about 40 years and it was in good shape. I did, however, paint everything white as the main floor was pink and floral.”

It wasn’t too long that Duncan met her sweetheart and now-husband Luc Turgeon. The two were content to travel and put talk of renovating on the backburner – that is until a violent hail storm tore several sizeable holes through their “baby blue” vinyl siding in 2012.

“We took the hail storm as an opportunity to increase the efficiency of the house and to add our own style. It was fun to sketch something with me as the client. We’ve done three renos since the storm.”

The couple hired contractor Adam Gooderham, who updated the home’s insulation, changed all the windows and replaced the vinyl siding with cedar boards, which Turgeon stained black by hand.

While on maternity leave with her daughter, Rosa, Duncan sketched designs for a basement reno to add another bedroom after turning a spare room upstairs into a nursery.

Photo by James Park / Postmedia

“Our basement was painted orange and had orange shag carpeting. Our friends thought it was really retro, but it was cool for about five minutes because it was too dark. Now the space is much more modern with better insulation, a new bathroom, an office for Luc and a guest room for visitors.”