For many, the thrill of house shopping lies in peeking into the perfectly staged lives of others. We see sofas with meticulously arranged pillows and kitchens that look like they've leaped from the pages of a magazine. But for designer Lindsay Thornton and her husband Matthew, the appeal was in a vision only they could see: a dusty, incomplete shell of a house.
A Blank Canvas in Midhurst
When the Thorntons first toured the 1989-built bungalow in Midhurst, essentially Barrie, Ontario, it was far from move-in ready. "The house was completely empty minus a subfloor and drywall, with a few random rooms containing antiques," Lindsay recalls. "There were toilets and vanities and appliances onsite that hadn't been installed. It was weird." The couple, looking to relocate from Etobicoke with their three children (aged seven, nine, and eleven) and longhaired German Shepherd, Harlow, discovered the sellers were parting ways and selling the property as-is.
For Lindsay, the principal designer of Cornerstone Design & Build, this blank slate was a perfect opportunity. "With little kids, doing a full new build felt a little much, but this was great," she says of the 2,500-square-foot space. It allowed her to customize without the mess of a full demolition. With just two months to make it livable, her transformation began swiftly.
Crafting a Cozy, Transitional Style
The design goal was to create a warm, layered home that blended her traditional tastes with Matthew's more modern preferences. Lindsay started by painting walls white and installing impactful black-mullioned windows. For durability with kids and a dog, she chose distressed light oak flooring. "It can take a lot of wear and tear. If you don't remove your shoes, whatever. And it's great for a dog," she notes.
The kitchen strikes a balance with white shaker cabinets on the bottom and sleek, flat charcoal uppers. In a dramatic shift, the dining room features deep, cocooning walls in Benjamin Moore's "Soot"—a navy-black that changes with the light. "It has high ceilings and is the room I love the most," Lindsay says of the space, originally intended as a sunken living room.
Dressed for the Holidays
Today, the home fully embodies the festive spirit. Come Christmas, it's adorned with seasonal splendour, including three Christmas trees and decorations throughout. A banquette is elegantly decorated with seven wreaths, one for each window, pinned up with green ribbon. "There are little holes, and every year I pop them back in," Lindsay says of her symmetrical display.
Her office, featuring vintage wood doors found and resized from the original house, gets its own pretty pastel tree and wreaths. Amid the holiday chaos, it's where Lindsay and Matthew enjoy coffee, soaking in the view of their snowy backyard through six-foot-high windows. What began as a dusty shell is now a personalized, cozy family home, expertly layered and beautifully dressed for its most festive season.
