Rental Apartment Renovated into a Beacon of Personal Style

David Tyl and Jenny Bassett thought they were only supposed to select some furniture. But what began as a simple furniture procurement job quickly grew into a year-long redesign for the founding partners of Twobytwo Architecture Studio.

Their client, Brian Sullivan, a retired university vice president and “septuagenarian aesthete,” had recently downsized into a 600-square-foot apartment overlooking Stanley Park and English Bay. Though the apartment is rented, he knew he was here to stay. His one-bedroom West End apartment was originally slated for a few new pieces—a sofa here, a desk there—before the design team suggested built-ins. The work was initially expected to take only a few months, but as the vision grew, so did the scope. “The timeline was a bit unexpected,” says Bassett, “but it ended up being a really important project for us, because of the nature of it being a rental and customized to a certain degree.”

Guided by their client’s personal style and a few treasured pieces, Tyl and Bassett layered in custom furniture, reupholstered heirlooms, clever millwork and bold patterns.

“I was inspired by the way that Brian would dress and mix patterns,” says Bassett. “That brought a lot of design consideration into the space.” The result is a home that fits the client’s personality as precisely as the shelves built to his record collection’s exact dimensions.

First impressions: A floral wallpaper from Svenskt Tenn wraps the entryway. Photo by Jarusha Brown

Entering the home, you’re greeted with a burst of tulips, crocuses, dandelions and forget-me-nots. The dark floral wallpaper from Swedish interior design brand Svenskt Tenn was chosen collaboratively by the design team with Sullivan and his daughter, landscape architect Amelia Sullivan from Landscape Landscape.

“I think the wallpaper is such a great conversation point,” says Bassett. “When you step into this space, you’re greeted with the personality of Brian and what you’re going to encounter throughout.”

Form and function: The living room creates zones for work, relaxation and entertaining with a cozy Article sectional, custom-coloured coffee table, Citta pillows, a vintage desk and an Artemide Tolomeo lamp. Photo by Jarusha Brown

Turning the corner into the living space, the palette shifts to shades of blue, inspired by the views outside the windows and the distant mountains. “We were really inspired by looking out to Stanley Park,” says Bassett. “In the background, there [was] this really nice dark blue.”

The designers introduced dusty navy hues with an Article sectional, millwork accents, parlour walls and a coffee table topped with a custom tray, repainted from black to match the new aesthetic. Pops of sharp yellow and deep greens balance the moody scheme.

Personal considerations guided the palette, too. “One of the [most endearing] things that Brian told me as soon as I met him was, ‘I’m a winter,’” recalls Bassett.

Personal touches: A vintage chair was reupholstered in Svenskt Tenn fabric while new wall moulding frames the bed and art. A custom-cut yellow felt top on the Kartell Componibili side table is changed seasonally to match bedding. Photo by Jarusha Brown

The deep blue carries into the bedroom (Benjamin Moore’s Kensington Blue), accented with pattern-mixed bedding inspired by Sullivan’s fashion-forward outfits. “Here we were really into the idea of colour drenching,” says Bassett. “Trying to match hues throughout the whole space and then to complement the hues with the textile on the chair.”

That blue floral-patterned side chair is among several meaningful family heirlooms, including vintage club chairs, a vide poche (a small catch-all bowl for keys and pocket items) and the top of an antique hutch. One of his first requests to the designers was to incorporate these heirlooms along with pieces from his art collection. The vintage chairs, worn over time, were reupholstered in bold red and blue fabrics from the same design house as the wallpaper, tying them back to the entrance and reflecting Sullivan’s evolving contemporary tastes.

Many of his existing art and heirloom pieces featured warm wood tones, which informed newer elements like the cherry millwork shelving built to fit below a living room bulkhead. Blending old and new gave the apartment a harmonious feel while tailoring it to Sullivan’s love of music, reading and art.

Made to measure: Custom cherry millwork houses the client’s audio equipment and transitions into a recessed art wall. Photo by Jarusha Brown

Working with Caliper, Tyl and Bassett designed custom shelving and closed storage to house Sullivan’s photo albums and extensive record collection, measuring all of his audio equipment for a perfect fit. From there, the millwork transitions into a recessed art wall, designed to display his collection while opening up the entryway and living space.

In front of the millwork sits a designated reading corner, anchored by a refreshed club chair and an Artemide Tolomeo lamp. The fixture is custom-fitted into the shelving above and adjusted to Sullivan’s height for optimal page-turning. “We tried so many different types of lamps in that one reading area,” says Bassett. “Lighting is so important as you’re aging, so the level of light [for reading] becomes very important.”

But most of all, the redesign was about creating a home where Sullivan, a proud grandfather, could gather with family despite the compact footprint. “We wanted to create a very calming, relaxing area where Brian could either read his daily paper or host his family,” explains Bassett. But the tiny parlour nook’s awkward angles meant off-the-shelf furniture would leave little seating—and some scuffed walls.

Tight spaces, big impact: The updated parlour features a custom dining table, banquette seating, wood shelving, Rich Brilliant Willing sconces, a Blu Dot Bobber pendant in Mustard, and a reupholstered HAY Rey Chair. Photo by Jarusha Brown

“It really led us to think about how we can create the most amount of seating in the most efficient way. So that was when this bench came into play,” says Bassett, nodding to the built-in banquette, another collaboration with Caliper. The pill-shaped dining table, in the same blue-tinged grey as the banquette (Benjamin Moore’s Brewster Gray), was also designed by Tyl and Bassett, constructed from wood using a CNC machine. Its cambered legs were shaped to maximize seating in the room’s tricky angles while providing enough weight to prevent tipping. Above the banquette, a wooden shelf provides more space for family heirlooms and photographs.

And while most people wouldn’t invest this level of redesign in a rental, Bassett says it paid off—proving that self-expression through design doesn’t require home ownership. “Often, we’ll just live with a typical Vancouver layout, the typical Vancouver finishes. But as a person who wanted this to be a reflection of who he was and his identity, I think it was important for him to do all these interventions.”