Bright Beauty

A blogger and her family find a soft place to land in this airy cottage-style home.

- Shelby Deering

SHAPING A HOME INTO SOMETHING THAT FEELS LIKE IT’S YOUR OWN is a transformative process that starts on move-in day and lasts until the rooms speak to your soul.

Blogger Alicia Gavaris knows the importance of this. It’s something she and her husband, Nick, have been doing since 2014, when they purchased their 1,700-square-foot home in Toronto, Canada, which was built in the late 1980s.

“It was just a builder-basic home when we moved in,” Alicia says. “We’ve spent a lot of time and energy creating a space that was cozy and inviting, not only for ourselves but for our family and friends to enjoy.”