Renovating a 60s Bungalow

What if your spouse were to suggest that you buy a house to satisfy your craving for design? That’s the idea Jason approached his partner Alykhan with. In no more than a weekend, they had bought a 60s bungalow to renovate in Calgary, Alberta. Since Alykhan has his own design firm, he was able to get his new exciting project started quickly.

One might wonder: Who does such a thing?  

Alykhan Velji aka “Aly” is a well-known Canadian interior designer, while Jason Krell works as a lifestyle and corporate public relation strategy consultant. Together they travel the globe like true style explorers. They also benefit from great media exposure, so if you love this fun and insightful couple as much as we do, you’ll easily find more of their content online to satisfy your curiosity. 

The Style Guys recently outlined the defining guidelines of their dream home on the House Rules: 

• A holistic, very natural blend-in decor. 
• A warm house with an emphasis on curvature. 
• A design that pops and integrates some unexpected accents. 

Wait… How are NewTechWood products breaking design rules? 

Well, sort of breaking. 

One must know that Aly is a successful designer who loves using unique products to make his designs stand out and go against what everyone else is doing. Since the modern farmhouse trend is quite popular with the use of board and batten siding details, black windows, etc., it was an opportunity for Alykhan to reinvent the style. NewTechWood products helped him achieve a unique look for the exterior of the house. The end look is very sophisticated, as Aly mentions, but still warm and inviting.

So, creating a design that pops and integrates unexpected accents? Check.

For our exterior, we wanted to use something that would make a big statement. We used the UltraShield siding from NewTechWood Canada. It’s exciting. It’s got curb appeal, and something a little bit unexpected. 

– Aly Velji

The fluted composite wood panelling was applied on the whole front elevation of the house. The original brick was kept and painted white, so the dark Brazilian Ipe wood-like slat panels provide a great sculpting effect. Fluted siding was also added to the back of the new garage area, in the same Ipe colour. This helped create great contrast and a separation for the exterior.

If in the final episode of House Rules, Alykhan is proud to say that his custom-framed windows are the “top of the neighbourhood”. Indeed, Aly, they are. To him, they literally “make the house”. We tend to agree. The circle windows are unique and sophisticated accents – very much to our taste. We’re proud, too, that our easy-to-cut product, the NewTechWood Norwegian profile, was chosen to help bring the key design feature forward.

Alykhan Vejli chose the dark, exotic nuance of Brazilian Ipe. Araz Piroozfard, from Mod Life Toronto, also used NewTechWood’s Ipe Brazilian fluted siding in the Beechwood Project near Lake Ontario.

How did fluted siding help achieve the desired look and feel?

Aly loves the warmth that this material (composite wood) provides for the exterior. The wooden slat look is very popular in interior design, so this was a great way to use it on the exterior of the house and create a unique look. Since The Style Guys opted to keep the original brick on the exterior of the house but painted it white, Alykhan feels this mix of traditional and modern works perfectly with the NewTechWood siding.

The co-star products were the UltraShield Naturale UH02 Deck Boards and finishers

“In the backyard, we also used the same Ipe UltraShield composite decking from NewTechWood Canada because we wanted something that was low-maintenance and that looked really good”, Aly explains. That is correct, and we get the no-maintenance reason a lot. Jamie Damak in Sherbrooke, Canada also chose our products for their look and composite wood to avoid deck maintenance.

“The backyard deck was easy to install. In fact, even we could have assembled the terrace ourselves.”

-Jason Krell

If you watch the The Style Guys’ dream home “making of” footage, you’ll also notice that Aly and Jason have pets. One advantage of building a composite wood deck is that it isn’t too hot for a dog’s or a cat’s paws. Our decking products will also resist a pup’s occasional accidents or splashes of water.

One thing that we, the NewTechWood Canada team, absolutely fell in love with is how relatable Aly and Jason are, despite their success. Their renovations journey, with its ups and downs, is simply authentic, and their desire to make a house a home that balances different tastes and needs is exquisite.

So, we wanted to ask The Style Guys… 

Why did you choose NewTechWood?

We love NewTechWood’s products because we get the look we want, the durability, and the ease of installation. The entire experience, from our first visit to the website to purchasing support, has been excellent. 

Thank you, Alykhan. Thank you, Jason. 

We are honoured to have been a part of making your dream home come true. The result is exactly the way it was intended: eclectic, yet well-pulled together. Congrats!