Celestially Delightful Ventures
Presents
One-of-a-Kind...
CUSTOM HOME DESIGN SOLUTIONS
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ABOUT US
Allow me to introduce our company. We are Celestially Delightful Ventures and we are located in Etobicoke, On. We specialize in Custom Home Design Solutions.
Whether your needs are geared towards space saving, better functionality or artistic revitalization, by utilizing imagination and ingenuity, we can rejuvenate your home to set it apart from all those other cookie cutter homes for a fraction of the price.
By creating Custom Home Design Solutions, we create an organized, high functioning home. Condos are springing up everywhere. They are often luxurious, but they are getting smaller and smaller, often leaving its owners feeling cramped in. Through our One-Of-A-Kind, personalized solutions, Celestially Delightful Ventures may just be the answer you have been looking for. By creating Multi-functioning, Space Saving Furnishing Solutions to your home's exact specifications, you can have the lovely, organized home you've always dreamed of.
Major renovations are sometimes necessary, and they can deliver beautiful results, but can be very expensive. You may just be looking for better functionality with a fresh new look. Through Artistic Revitalization, some of the older features of your home (and even your older furnishings such as doors, bathroom vanities, etc.) can have new life breathed into them. It is a Cost-Effective way to enhance your home.
I understand; sometimes fashion trends change and sometimes people just need a change. But living in such a disposable society is not good for the planet and it isn't great for us as individuals. Why not take those long cherished items and make them SPECTACULAR in a whole new way...
With a little TLC, Celestially Delightful Ventures can provide you with THE PERFECT SOLUTION for your home.
DESIGN SAMPLES
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HOME RENOVATION PROJECTS - VIDEOS
DESIGNER'S BIO
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Miel (Milada) Vasulka. My ancestry is Eastern European and my mother, brother and I came to Canada in 1971, when I was nine years old. I presently live with my 2 roommates and 2 cats. We all live our own lives yet I have strong family values, I enjoy learning and I focus on self-development.
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I pursued an education, first, in Academics (with emphasis on Business & Administration) and then in Design. After graduating in Industrial Design from The Ontario College of Art and Design University, I took additional courses in Graphic Design, Desktop Publishing, Media Writing and Photography, Printing Techniques & Typography, Silk-screening, Upholstery as well as some Animation and Web Design.
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Manufacturing left Canada around the time I first graduated so I took whatever work was available. As I continued my studies, I generally worked for small business in Administration, Customer Service and Fundraising. I did other types of work also, such as Alarm Installations and Water Truck Driving. I reached Executive Levels in my late 20s but because this was not what I truly wanted, and because I was not paid enough to live, I changed direction and decided to return to Design.
I could not find meaningful work and I got sick. I had to go on disability. I continued to look for work and I continued to develop my design skills. As I began by exploring different options, hoping to find my direction, ideas started to come to me in all sorts of directions.
(Because I did not have much money to fix up things around the house, I had to do everything myself. I began to develop and build my own ideas. This site is dedicated to the journey of Custom Home Design Solutions, focusing on Small-space, Multi-functional and Artistic Re-design.
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Love and Light,
Miel
BLOGS
MY KITCHEN UPGRADE
NOTE - All this work was done with very few tools...
To improve the look of the kitchen, I decided to upgrade a few things such as the floor and an all-around herringbone backsplash. The kitchen needed more storage space but I didn’t want to replace all the kitchen cabinets, so, on the back wall, I installed 2 very lovely cabinets I picked up at Habitat for Humanity. (One of them has a glass front while the other is solid wood.) This would be the inspiration for the rest of kitchen.
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The existing cabinets did not need to be replaced so they were stripped down, the inside and the outside sanded and painted to match the new cabinets. When the funds were available, matching cabinet doors were added to the original cabinets.
In the meanwhile, I created temporary doors by using plywood and painting them a matching color. By having the exact measurements when I went to get the wood, they cut the individual door slabs for me on the spot which saved me time and work. I then installed the doors, using new hardware. The cabinets look OK for now, and when I get the custom doors, the cabinets will look really great.
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And here they are...
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The pantry needed to be addressed so I painted the inside, added deeper shelving and the door was refinished to match the new décor.
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And now for the kitchen island...
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KITCHEN ISLAND (AND STOOLS)
Because the kitchen is quite tiny, it definitely needed more counter space. I decided to build a kitchen island over the top of a freezer which is situated on the back wall. This allows several people to work in the kitchen at the same time. By adding a couple of stools under the overhanging counter, I've created a breakfast nook or seating for keeping the Chef company.
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Since there were no kitchen islands on the market that can hold a portable freezer, I decided to build one from a large, wooden cabinet that I bought for $40 from Habitat for Humanity. The island has to be the right size to fit on the outside of the freezer. In this case, the freezer is 20 inches deep – so the cabinet needs to be 20+ inches deep, the freezer is 36 inches long – so the cabinet had to be long enough, and in terms of height, my freezer is 36 inches high (and it would sit on a dolly for easy access) - so the cabinet needs to be 40+ inches tall. I gutted the cabinet, structurally reinforced it and I put the freezer inside it.
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The island originally opened from the top (because my freezer opens from the top) but because I wanted a matching countertop which proved to be quite heavy, I put the freezer on a dolly and made the freezer accessible through the cabinet’s front doors. The freezer inside the island needs to breathe so I left the back of the cabinet partially open. (You can incorporate any type of design and if the island is going to sit in the middle of the kitchen, you may want to continue the design on all sides.) By extending the counter top in the front and on one side, which works well for the kitchen’s space, I was able to create additional seating area. The only thing the kitchen island needs now is to be refinished on the outside to match the rest of the kitchen, and it’s done. A beautiful kitchen island for a fraction of the price...
I wanted to place two Japanese stools under the counter to have ample counter space, additional seating space, and a freezer nicely tucked away inside an island. The stools that I wanted to use were quite plain so I decided to upholster them...
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I didn't know anything about upholstery so I took an evening course with Continuing Education. These courses normally cost about $200 (which generally pays for the project) plus I got to learn a new skill. Upholstering something like stools is not difficult. I just needed to cut foam to the size of the seats, glue them down, center two pieces of fabric over the foam and then staple the fabric to the underside of the stools (making sure the fabric was nice and tight all around – this can be achieved by doing the opposite sides of the fabric and then the other two opposite sides...) I wanted a clear plastic over the seat of the stools to protect the seats from grease and dirt, (because kitchens can get pretty grimy) so at Dollarama, I bought a clear plastic table cloth for about $4.00. I proceeded to staple the plastic cover over the fabric. Once the stools were upholstered, the overhanging fabric on the underside needed to be trimmed. To create a nice finish, I then attached 1inch strips of card stock over the staples with glue or just a couple of staples.
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REFINISHING A BATHROOM ON A BUDGET
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Transforming your old bathroom does not have to be expensive (unless you have structural problems...)
The bathroom I refinished still worked but needed lots of TLC. When you are doing this type of work, decide what you will keep and what has to go FIRST and then work from there...
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The one thing that was needed is to have the tub looked at. Rather than ripping up the whole bathroom, I decided to get the tub refinished. I shopped around and found a guy in Toronto called Shiny Tubs which is a family owned business. Because the tub I was having done was a real mess, I offered the man $50 more than he asked. When he came to do the work, he was on the job all day long and he worked really hard. He did great work and once the work was complete, the bathroom looked 100% better.
The grey tiles throughout the bathroom were fairly timeless in style and still in good shape so it made sense to keep them. The floor tiles, which were brown and white hexagons were a little dated but still OK. What struck me about them is they seemed strangely out of place in that particular bathroom. If I wanted to keep the reno inexpensive, it made sense to bring these existing elements in harmony with each other. I could achieve that easily by introducing more browns while continuing to work with the greys.
I bought a new counter top for my vanity, making sure that the browns in it were a similar shade to the floor tiles. Then, I painted the walls a similar shade of brown. That made a big difference and the bathroom was starting to look better. Now, if I started to introduce some style, the whole room would begin to POP...
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I decided to paint the vanity and all the other pieces in the room in a silvery grey. This would harmonize with the pale grey tiles. (By introducing a slight variation of a more modern shade, the room would stylistically function on a deeper level. )
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I added an inexpensive pill cabinet on an empty wall, for additional storage, and I made a door for it. A kitty litter box in the bathroom was unsightly so I created a litter box enclosure. The mirror and all the other accents in the room got painted. I made an inexpensive new light fixture. All the detail in the bathroom now looked unified and fairly interesting but it still needed something....
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I went shopping for something interesting. I found natural wood wall hangings and wood carvings. I then placed these on the walls and on the doors of the vanity to create a little excitement and I found they made the perfect accents to bring the whole room together.
And there you have it. A complete bathroom makeover without breaking a sweat.
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If you would like more comprehensive information about these blogs, watch my videos listed at the top of the website...
