Room 1:

Garden Terrace in Lions Bay

This oasis of a garden terrace could have been oriented to the view: it’s located in Lions Bay, B.C., where ocean views make the community highly desirable. But designer Ami McKay, founder of Pure Design, and her partner Don Thomas (both pictured below) decided to make the garden—which is supported on a deck 35 feet in the air—the star of its own show. (The house itself has views for miles.) Instead of a glass railing, which would have been difficult to maintain and clean thanks to the height, McKay opted for a black metal railing system from Regal Ideas. The result creates an intimacy that’s unexpected. “We created a canvas in which to show off the flowers,” says McKay. “It’s our own little sanctuary up here.”

Photo by Janis Nicolay

Two seating areas—a comfy sectional and two vintage ’60s chairs from Russell Woodard, along with bar stools by the passthrough at the kitchen—are surrounded by dozens of potted plants of varying heights and sizes. Among them are star jasmine, hydrangea and lavender, and five different olive trees, too—the last inspired by the couple’s regular trips to Puglia in Italy.

READ MORE: My Puglia: 6 Stunning Spots Handpicked by Designer Ami McKay for Your Next Italian Getaway

GREEN OASIS: Layered with throw pillows and plenty of plantings, this outdoor terrace from designer Ami McKay of Pure Design is actually 35 feet above ground level. Removing the previous deck was a feat unto itself: the couple hired a tree feller, who attached himself to the fireplace inside and hung outside the window, removing it piece by piece with a chainsaw. Photo by Janis Nicolay

The checkerboard pattern of the porcelain tiles on the deck is Italian-influenced, too— Sky-High Garden Removing the previous deck was popular abroad, but also cool a feat unto itself: the couple hired underfoot when the sun is high. a tree feller, who attached himself to the fireplace inside and hung And when it comes to main-outside the window, removing it taining all of those plants on piece by piece with a chainsaw. the deck, McKay and Thomas divide and conquer: he waters, and she prunes, deadheads and arranges the plants—and they both love it. “We have an agreement,” says designer. “We don’t go to the garden centre without each other because we feel like we’re missing out.

Room 2:

Sunken Firepit Lounge in Vancouver

This enviable space lives just across the alley from the main home—so it acts as its own little all-inclusive getaway, right in the middle of Vancouver. While the (WL Design 25 award-winning!) pool house interior, designed by HB Design, offers all the accoutrements for an indoor lounge session—Minotti sofas, fireplace, big-screen TV and a gym—the sunken firepit outside is made for a California-living-inspired night under the stars. Designed by Donohoe Living Landscapes, the wraparound seating (with custom, durable cushions from Carmel Furniture Designs) can easily host a dozen or more, and layers of materials— basalt, concrete and brick, the last a match to the home itself—bring dynamic texture to the design. A nearby outdoor kitchen and dining area is tucked under a dramatic cantilevered pergola: an engineering feat, with all of its hardware seamlessly hidden within it. It’s a leafy green space too, in part from plantings like towering Shishigashira Japanese maples, but also from the surrounding trees.“What’s fun about the area is that there’s an opportunity to use the borrowed landscape in this urban setting,” says landscape architect Ryan Donohoe. “We didn’t prune back the trees of the neighbours we let them come over the fence and continue that layered texture of the landscape.”

GLOW ON: Layers of lighting make this space glow at night: from the integrated lighting under the firepit seating to portable Paola Lenti lights and, of course, the firepit itself. Photo by Ema Peter

Room 3:

Rooftop Deck in Sidney

It’s hard to beat the location of this home in Sidney, B.C.—but the incredible view and proximity to the water were offset by challenges: the landscape is sloped and there wasn’t an easy spot to build an outdoor area at ground level. Instead, designer Jamie Banfield created indoor-outdoor living for the homeowner far above ground, with this rooftop deck that covers all the must-haves for four-season access. He and his team at Jamie Banfield Design studied the path of the sun and created an asymmetrical roofline to both provide shelter and capture summer light. The roof itself is constructed from Lunawood, a thermally engineered (and zero-maintenance) wood that will silver over time, but doesn’t need to be sealed. Linear lighting systems from Lutron are integrated right into the roof—along with heaters—so that hangouts on cool evenings don’t have to wrap up early (and the firebowl from Solus keeps things toasty, even during storm-watching season). The big cozy sectional sofa is actually two modular sofas from King Living, which easily integrate and lock together into one. Not only are they durable in all seasons, they also have great storage, too—perfect for this low-maintenance space. “They have hydraulics in them, so the bench picks up really easily,” says Banfield. “The homeowner can tuck in all of her decorative pillows, dining room chair pillows—everything fits in there.”

HOT DESIGN: The custom kitchen system from Outerspace is fully modular, with everything you’d expect from an indoor kitchen—from an integrated cutting board to soft-close doors. And because Outerspace is owned by the same Vancouver-based planter company, Green Theory, it’s also a perfect match to the planters on either end of the kitchen. Photo by Janis Nicolay
Photo by Janis Nicolay

READ MORE: More From The Room

Anicka Quin

Anicka Quin

Anicka Quin is the editor-in-chief of Western Living magazine and the VP of Content for Canada Wide Media. If you've got a home design you'd like to share with Western Living, drop her a line at [email protected]