Bye-bye beige. See you later linoleum. Today’s condominiums are offering choices once deemed an upgrade in multifamily addresses, helping buyers feel truly at home and giving them the opportunity to showcase their own suite style.
Rana Shaar, interior designer with Cidex Signature Homes, whose condominium undertakings include the quick-selling Brava on the site of the old Westgate Hotel, says discerning buyers have driven up the “standards” of condos currently on the market, by demanding more bang for their buck than in the past. |
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“Not like 15 years ago, when you would have had choices of A, B, or C, or maybe just A and B paint colours, we are now trying to customize as much as we can,” says Shaar.
And floorplans are just the beginning when it comes to choices at condo shoppers’ fingertips. Design centres are becoming the norm, often offering selections of literally dozens of options for counter materials, a plethora of flooring types, hues and styles, and countless looks for walls, lighting and fixtures.
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Rabih and Leila Chebhro were delighted that their first condo buy also involved a trip to the design centre for a one-stop shopping experience – and with it plenty of options to include a bit of themselves in their debut at home ownership.
“I chose the wood colour that matches my kitchen stuff, plates and everything. I like that you can tailor the house whatever you want, however you want,” says Leila.
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Rabih agrees: “Customizing your condo is the same thing as customizing your house … so that’s why we wanted to customize our condo and make it fit our lifestyle more than anything else.”
But the sky may not quite be the limit in terms of design, as plumbing and things like load-bearing walls do limit some changes, say the experts.
“We can’t move walls, but we can give plenty of colours for walls, which can affect the feel of a room,” says Shaar, adding penthouse suites may be the exception to this rule.
While the selection process is a often a delicate balance between keeping customers happy and the construction schedule on target, hence the design centre popularity, Shaar says condo shoppers in the current market have plenty of chances to leave their fingerprint on their new digs.
And these days, tech-savvy would-be buyers tend to do their homework before taking the plunge, and wouldn’t settle for any less, says Shaar.
“Customers will come in with printouts of things that might not even be on the market yet. As a builder we really do have to give them more than in the past,” says Shaar.
That includes options like granite countertops now being included, as well as nine-foot ceilings and in-house perks like amenity rooms, once considered unheard of “extras.”
“People are busy now and have to have their workout facilities nearby because they work hard and need to relive stress – years ago that wasn’t a must like it is now,” says Shaar.
While not a must, some nice-to-have features are sprouting up for condo shoppers, says Calvin Buss, president of Millennium Realty. “One of the things you are looking at in smaller suites these days are space-saving features and devices,” he says, citing eating bars in kitchens that convert to larger seating areas when guests come over, or TVs serving a multitude of purposes.
“What a lot of innovative developers are doing is having a 42-inch TV that swivels for use in either the living room or bedroom, and you can have surround sound and offer a full theatre package,” says Buss.
And since many living the condo lifestyle seldom use their fireplace, a new hot button for buyers is a cutting-edge media centre, which converts from a movie-viewing spot to a soothing aquarium scene or faux fireplace with the flick of a switch – for about the same price as a fireplace, says Buss.
“With younger people and their love of technology and the opportunity to have four different things as opposed to one fireplace it’s a natural to bring that to the market.”
But since personalizing suites often can’t include moving walls or other structural changes, projects are building in space-conservative conversion options, which can provide an instant salve for residents’ cabin fever.
“A new option we’re bringing out in one of the buildings we’re in the design stage now for is where the second bedroom has totally collapsible walls that fold back into the structure of the building,” says Buss.
Others offer rooms with glass doors on rollers, poised to open up living room space in a pinch.
Most of all, a chance to personalize condos allows buyers to set themselves apart from their neighbours, and can mean the difference between buying a unit, and having a home.
For more hints and tips about buying and owning a condominium in Calgary, watch Shaw TVís Condo Living with Barb Mitchell, every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
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