How this Corktown condo transformed from an everyday unit into a chic sanctuary

The Place

A three-bedroom, 1,100-square-foot corner unit in Corktown.

The History

In 2021, the current owner moved here after living in a big suburban house for decades. Recently divorced, she was excited for the change in lifestyle but thought that her unit seemed dark and impersonal. Plus, the kitchen felt tiny and unimpressive. So she enlisted interior designer Kristi Bullock of Emerald Brooke Interiors to revamp the space.

Bullock gutted the interior and moved some walls to open up the kitchen. Then she covered up the exposed concrete-slab ceiling to install more lights. She also outfitted the condo with furniture and fixtures from places like Crate and Barrel, Restoration Hardware, and Anthropologie, along with a few custom pieces, to suit the owner’s modern-yet-casual mandate.

Related: How one designer transformed an old Casa Loma semi into a Victorian-Parisian hybrid

The Tour

The previous entrance was dark and narrow. Bullock swapped the flooring for bright engineered hardwood throughout. She shaved off the coat closet by a few inches for better flow and jazzed up the wall with funky patterned wallpaper from Élitis.

Since the owner was used to having a large kitchen, Bullock got to knocking down walls. She took space from a secondary bathroom, allowing for an L-shaped kitchen layout. This made way for a bespoke free-standing marble island, complemented by stained oak, open shelving and white cabinets.

The former main bedroom had two builder-grade sliding-door closets. But the owner wanted something unique. Because the layout didn’t have space for a dresser, Bullock built a custom one into the closet opening, incorporating space for a TV. She painted it a soft grey-blue and accented it with leather drawer pulls sourced from Etsy. The other closet has rods for hanging clothes, and its doors match.

Bullock couldn’t change the location of any drains in the ensuite bathroom, so the footprint was kept the same, but she added a wall of mirrored medicine cabinets to make the space feel larger. She then extended the marble counter and backsplash over the toilet, matching it with herringbone marble floors and a textured Calacatta marble shower surround. A mid-tone wood vanity with metal pulls replaced its dark counterpart.

The owner’s university-age daughter visited often and would need a place to study, so Bullock turned the old closet (with those builder-grade sliding doors) into a custom desk and makeup area with storage. It’s paired with a wall lamp made with peach-hued glass and brass.

This is the bathroom that sacrificed space for the kitchen. It used to have a tub, and Bullock installed a walk-in shower as a replacement. The new system has a large-format brown tile surround with a metallic finish.

Lastly, there’s the living room, overlooking the site of the city’s former Unilever factory. It used to hold the dining area, but with a fancy new kitchen island, the space could take on a different use. Bullock sourced a condo-friendly water-mist fireplace and wrapped it in matte-black metal. For seating, she chose a large sectional from Shelter Furniture.

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