Inside a Property Brothers designer’s century home with eclectic flair

Jean Ross worked as a production designer in film and TV for over a decade, including more than three years with HGTV’s Property Brothers. As the show’s designer, she worked on around 75 home renovations across North America, drawing up floor plans and sourcing elements to beautify spaces. She’s since taken her interior design chops to found her own business, Row Design Studio. So, when she and her husband, Craig Gordon, a camera operator she met on set, were looking to upsize out of their three-bedroom apartment, she was uniquely prepared to take on a big project. Their previous spot in the Junction had 18-foot ceilings, massive windows and a mezzanine overlooking the first floor, but with one son and another on the way, they were ready for something new. With Gordon’s self-taught building skills and Ross’s eye for design, they set out to find a new home.

When the couple started their search, they planned to avoid anything stripped of character, instead seeking a home with charm and history. They were open to relocating anywhere in the city but had a soft spot for the Junction. They quickly came across a three-storey, five-bedroom Junction home that was built in 1910. It was quite outdated, with 1950s wallpaper and a closed-concept layout. But coming across a home with so many bedrooms was rare, as was the exposed brick and vintage trim around the house. The third floor, though, sealed the deal—with two young kids, the extra space was a must.

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They sealed the deal, got the keys and hit the ground running—major renovations needed to be done over just five months, before Gordon hit the road to film Amazing Race Canada. Luckily, their work in the TV world had made them used to tight deadlines. They set a budget of $200,000 and outlined a vision to preserve the home’s historic integrity—including unique touches like the original doors, the trim and the stairway railing—while opening up the space, making it brighter and adding their eclectic flair.

First, they ripped down three walls on the main floor along with the floral wallpaper, which extended throughout the home. During this phase, Gordon rerouted the HVAC, which had been running through a now-nonexistent wall, and reinstalled the plumbing and electrical. One of the more expensive aspects of the renovation was the herringbone flooring, which cost $15,000. “It’s so classic—it will never go out of style,” says Ross. “We’ll love it forever.”

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In the kitchen, Ross preserved the exposed brick wall to maintain a rustic feel. For the rest of the walls, they put in classic white subway tile. “I love white, but I thought, Let’s just get crazy and do something different,” says Ross. So she added light-teal kitchen cabinets, stained the shelving a richer tone and added patterned roman blinds for coziness. “Any time you feel like you need to break up the tile and the cabinets and the countertops, you add fabric,” says Ross. Colourful vases and vintage plates bought at antique shops add to the room’s creativity.

The majority of the room was designed through the IKEA website, which let them pick and choose their products and buy them all together. The sink is from Wayfair, and the brass handles were $5 each from Amazon. Overall, the new kitchen cost around $50,000.

They removed the main floor bathroom, putting a laundry room in its place and installing a full bathroom on the second floor. Then Ross designed a playful powder room underneath the stairs on the main level, which revolves around a pink sink from the 1980s that Ross found at a store called Legacy in Cobourg. “There are three boys in this house,” said Ross. “I needed to get some pink in here.” Once it was installed, she painted over the exposed brick walls, and Gordon installed an arched door, also from Legacy, which he learned how to do from YouTube.

Ross kept the living room pared down to balance out the bold elements in the rest of the main floor. Rather than going with the standard couch and two chairs, they constructed a built-in sofa with storage cupboards, maximizing the space. She sourced a pink aerial rug from Etsy, which she uses as a neutral pop of colour instead of the typical minimalist grey or beige tones. Ross also snagged the room’s side chair off of Facebook Marketplace and had it reupholstered from brown to blue. “The colour feels timeless and goes with anything,” she says. Meanwhile, the dining room and staircase are lined with carefully selected art, creating a multi-room gallery wall.

During a second renovation in 2022, the couple wanted to maximize the space even more, so they built a second room under the staircase. Gordon cut a hole in the wall, laid down some more herringbone flooring and lined the ceiling with pine instead of plaster. He also added a light fixture to make the room into a cozy, leisurely nook. “I love nooks everywhere. They’re like secret little spaces,” says Ross.

Upstairs in the master bedroom, the focal point is a blue-and-green mirrored cabinet, complete with its original lock and key. “Anything with an original key makes me feel so good,” says Ross. She found the cabinet at an antique store called Juliette, where she often finds gems for herself and her clients. To justify splurging on it, the couple saved money by painting the space themselves, buying their rug on sale and purchasing the duvet cover at H&M. The upstairs bathroom got a clawfoot tub, which Ross and Gordon sanded down, painted and sealed. They kept the original hardwood floor and faucet.

In the end, the renovations came in over budget at around $300,000, which included a $50,000 basement reno to transform the lower floor into a rental unit. “By the end, we were exhausted,” says Ross. “It felt so good to finally move in and have our own home again.”

Even now, the home keeps evolving. Last winter, the couple repainted the master bedroom and rearranged the space to freshen it up. Next, Ross plans to repaint the white hallway a light blue to add more personality, rearrange her gallery wall and add a playful light at the top of the stairs. Down the line, she says, they’ll “rejig” their children’s bedrooms as the kids grow. “The idea of creating a space for them that makes them feel good makes me so happy. Your space really influences how you feel, so if you feel good in your home, you’re likely to feel better in your life,” says Ross.