Western Living Magazine
2026 Kitchen Design Tip #5: Make a Modern Kitchen Feel Original With Traditional Materials
2026 Kitchen Design Tip #4: Use Bulkheads to Cleverly Disguise Plumbing Systems
2026 Kitchen Design Tip #3: Embrace the U-Shaped Island for Entertaining
Recipe: Hopcott Farms Beef Short Ribs with Black Pepper and Sweet Soy (Sườn Bò Nướng)
Recipe: Gai Lan, Ginger and Anh and Chi’s Chilli Oil (Rau Xào Sả Ớt)
5 Scone and Biscuit Recipes to Try This Week
Tofino’s Floating Sauna Turned Me Into a Sauna Person
A Wellness Getaway in Squamish Valley: Off-Grid Yurts, Sauna Cycles and River Calm
Local Getaway Guide: A Peaceful Two-Day Itinerary for Harrison Hot Springs
Protected: Audi Elevates the Compact Luxury SUV
New and Noteworthy: 10 Fresh Home Design Finds for Winter 2026
The Best Home Accessories Our Editors Bought in 2025
Photos: The Western Living Design 25 Finalists Party
2025 Architects of the Year MA+HG On Their Favourite Things
Maker of the Year Winner Andrea Copp’s Local Favourites
The trick to this look? Just pretend it's not actually a basement.
Though this open-plan room is windowless and has a typical basement-height ceiling, it feels anything but cramped. Calgary designer Nam Dang-Mitchell installed grasscloth wallpaper to give the space warmth and luxury, used white furniture to keep the room bright and added a gallery wall (a framed collection of pages cut from photography books) to visually break up the expanses of boring drywall. But what really transforms the room is the Edison-bulb chandelier: not something you see in many basements. “Anything that gives variety and adds some depth is a good idea in a blank box like this,” says Dang-Mitchell.
The editorial team at Western Living loves nothing more than a perfectly designed space, place or thing: and we’re here to tell you about it. Email us your pitches at [email protected].
Are you over 18 years of age?
Get the latest headlines delivered to your inbox 3 times a week.