Lori Andrews’ downtown Calgary home can seem at first like a merry hodgepodge: The lighting in the communal area alone includes a chandelier, two transparent pendants, and some sophisticated David Weeks sconces. But look a little closer and the contrasting elements start to coalesce into an inevitable whole. If the furnishings appear a little miscellaneous, Lori notes, it’s because they were accumulated incrementally, over the course of a decade.

Lori, an interior designer and photographer, purchased the 1915 bungalow in 2006 with her husband, Ken Corner. Since then, it’s been the subject of a series of ongoing, tactical renovations. “I’m very concerned with the wasteful nature of poorly thought renovations and throw-it-away decorating attitudes,” she explains.

To date, they’ve gutted the bathrooms, replaced the flooring with Scandinavian-inspired Karhs engineered ash wood, and painted the principal rooms white, at the same time as they’ve introduced powerful bursts of color in the form of artwork and monochromatic furniture.

The house measures 1,180 square feet, meaning its undergone more work than many spaces twice its size. But meticulousness pays dividends when designing a permanent dwelling, says Lori: “Working this way has enabled us to purchase higher quality materials and furnishings that we hope will last our lifetime.”