Whenever I phone my longtime friend Carol, I always ask: “And what’s Wayne up to now?”
And as soon as she says, “Well, let me tell you…” I’m already grinning.
Wayne, you see, is always building something — from cars to houses — and he thrives on a challenge.
He played a key role in the recent renovation of Justine Viske’s SOS Lounge, one of many interesting projects.
But he has also been working on his own home between these client-projects. And what a project!
Wayne and Carol bought their current home several years ago, in the village of Warkworth, a 90-minute drive east of Toronto. Long before they moved in, Wayne had plans.
“First up”, says Wayne, “was Carol’s garden shed (with the stained glass windows, lighting and power).”
And since Carol is a serious gardener, the front landscaping also needed attention.
And since the house was small, they decided to extend it.
“Now it’s 2014 and the addition is starting to take shape”, Wayne recalls. “The foundation and sub-floor are in place. The walls and trusses are up, and it is beginning to look like we know what we are doing!!…LOL.”
The addition houses a family room and more:
“Well, by late summer 2015, we have a washroom for overnight guests. Carol has an office, and I have completed all mechanical necessities in the main entertainment area, including the fireplace, and have built custom cabinetry throughout.”
Wayne carefully designed every bit of space.
It was the same with the new kitchen.
The original was dark and inconvenient for Carol, who is a great cook. So Wayne decided to build her a much better one, in the adjacent room. He redesigned and built the whole thing from scratch.
That’s Wayne. Where other people might see an insurmountable problem, Wayne sees an exciting challenge.
Carol has a say, of course, in both design and decor.
But she’s quick to point out that “It’s all Wayne”, while praising him for his meticulous work.
And it is meticulous – the kind of work that stands up to close inspection, whether it’s indoors or out.
“Early in the nice weather of 2016”, Wayne says, “WE decided to do a little landscaping before starting work on MY pet project, the garage — better known as ‘the Coach House’.
“As you can see, the landscaping involved the acquisition of a considerable number of fair sized rocks (I FOUND them at the sides of the road, and on the outskirts of farmers fields!!)”
“Some rather larger rocks were used in the landscaping of our new driveway, the one leading to the new ‘Coach House’. I have to admit they were very difficult to get into the back of my SUV!!!”
As their friends know, Wayne gets restless without a project. He completed the kitchen just weeks ago, and returned to the project he started last year: the Coach House, with room for his vintage cars and a guest suite.
The Coach House exterior is now complete, while work continues inside.
My family and I can barely wait to see the finished product.
Meanwhile, we’ve dubbed their much-expanded home “The Shaw Estate”.
But we’re betting that one of these days, I’ll call Carol and she’ll say, once again: “Well, let me tell you…”
Bravo, Wayne and Carol!
~~
Photos provided by Wayne Shaw.
Cynthia Reyes 
What a beautiful home! It should be in a magazine 🙂 Great work, Wayne and Carol!
And here I thought my blog was better than any magazine…. Hah! Thanks for the comment. I love with they’ve done with their place.
Come and visit!!
Wonderful!
Thanks, Brad. Trust you have arrived safely?
Yes, thanks. I’m in full service mode. 🙂
I wish I had a Wayne in my neighborhood. LOL
Ain’t that the truth!
Impressive! I’ll take one of those garden “sheds” (with the garden to go with it:)
Me too, Becky!
Wow! What an incredible house. Wayne and Carol make a great team.
They do. A terrific team. And Wayne makes her and us laugh. That man was born with a sense of humour.
Brilliant!!
Ditto!
I would love to have Wayne’s remodeling and building skills! Stained glass windows on the garden shed sound lovely. Carol’s landscaping is beautiful. They do make a great team!
I look at his fine work and wish I had those skills too, Lavinia.
So much love put into this beautiful home.
Absolutely. And you feel the love the moment you arrive there.
Blog as a magazine, that works and love the house. Renovation as sport.
Wayne totally enjoys his building work and that’s a joy to see.
I married an Architect, renovation is a sport. Love to see people who enjoy the same.
I wish Wayne lived right up the street. He’d never run out of projects here!
I hear you!
What a wonderful couple your friends are. I love Carol’s shed and all the love and care Wayne pours into his projects. Such a happy post, Cynthia. Thank you. xX
Well said, Jane. Thank you.
I could think of a few ways to keep Wayne busy! What an amazing set of skills he has–and energy!
Amazing is right, Kerry!
It certainly is a project, but what a beautiful one!
Indeed, Andrea. Beautiful.
I get them impression that Way and Carolyn are both very talented people. Their home, garden shed and garden look beautiful.
You’re right. They are a lovely and creative couple who work well together. Plus, Wayne cracks up Carol — and everyone else — with his humorous views on life.
I want a Wayne too!!! So impressive all the work they have done there. I love the yellow chairs with the yellow and blue chairs opposite. If I could buy new furniture, that’s what I would buy. The gardens are stunning and I’m hoping to get there myself one day. So much inspiration here. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your lovely response, Marlene. It’s taken them years, but what an outcome!
Happy that you enjoy seeing Wayne’s work and our gardens. Most of our furniture is second hand, just recovered to suit us! We’re always looking for bargains.
I loved the fabrics and colors chosen for the furniture and saved the photo for my own reference. It’s so open and airy feeling. Having a partner that you can work well with is the biggest prize one can have.
Now that is what I call a real handy man to have around the house. 😀
I know Carol is very grateful!
An understatement, Cynthia!!!!
What a lovely house, both inside and out. If only I had the space to expand like this!
A wonderful home! What a project!
The curbside view screams love and pride of ownership. Wow. Absolutely gorgeous inside and outside. 🙂
Ditto!
Wow! Wayne is seriously talented. The two of them are obviously a good team.
Cheers
MTM
They always make me smile. What a couple.
Wayne is an ingenious architect and Carol expresses also what she wants . This gives a wonderful house
Love<3
Michel
It does indeed, cher Michel. They are remarkable.
We are a good team and seldom disagree about how things should be, but Wayne is definitely the talented one. I love the gardening part, (Wayne does the heavy lifting!!) and dealing with interior colour choices etc. It seems to work!
Gardening ? I was a gardener too, Carol.
Wonderful Wayne! Their house and garden look fantastic!
Wow. I am so impressed. And am left with this to say … I need a Wayne. If you find any extras about, send them my way!!
What a hero! Not enough of his kind to go round. 🙂 🙂
I love looking in other people’s homes, thanks for the invite; a beautiful home they have made, including the landscaping.
Thank you, Cynthia, for that wonderful blog that displays Wayne’s amazing work! I am SO fortunate to have him!!! My friends are jealous! We still have some projects to do, believe it or not, so we’ll keep you posted. Finishing the Coach House (aka garage) is this summer’s job, and then inside “winter” projects can resume. We’re having fun:)
Thank you so much for sharing and celebrating the skill, style and sheer mind-boggling energy of this wonderful couple.
What talent…beautiful pictures
I’m thinking Wayne and Carol could see the world one project at a time. A nice RV of some sort and they could travel around while he does projects and she plays tourist. New Hampshire is nice this time of year. 🙂
Funny you should mention that idea, Judy! For years, Wayne has wanted to find a vehicle that he can convert into an RV. Nothing simple like actually BUYING one ready to go!!!! That may be his next project – or one of them – and New England is a favourite spot.
I love this project and stained glass windows on the garden shed sound lovely. Carol’s landscaping is beautiful. They do make a great team!
Embankment Stair
They make a great team indeed! Thanks for your comment.
And we’re still happily speaking to each other after 25+ years!!
Haha! That’s good. Though delaying a man’s coach house for your garden is not a good move, young lady. That’s my next blog post.
Now, just a minute! He wanted an excuse to delay the Coach House because the next job is insulating the metal roof. It has been FAR too hot to work in there and up there. He has actually enjoyed most of the things he’s done to help with the garden – mostly grunt work – but he’s so happy with the results, that he has become fanatical about seeing that the new plantings are being watered through this drought. (We are ignoring the lawn, and it is responding by remaining dull brown except for the crabgrass.)