This or That: Scott McGillivray Selects His Favourite Design Features (You May Be Surprised!)

Shower. I love the idea of a luxury shower with a rain head and steam setting. But when it comes to the resale value of your home, make sure you’ve got at least one bathtub in the house. A lot of people are removing traditional tubs in exchange for fancy showers, but it can hurt your return-on-investment a bit. Especially if your home is in a family neighbourhood. That said, when it comes to my own preference, there’s nothing better than a nice hot shower.

Want more design inspiration for your bathroom? See these Gorgeous Bathroom Tiles You Need in Your Life.

Hardwood all the way. It’s the most popular flooring type across North America, and I would always choose it over carpet. Don’t get me wrong, I know that carpet feels nice underfoot – especially in bedrooms – but I usually advise people to lay area rugs on top of hardwood instead. When carpets get stained or damaged you’re kind of stuck. With area rugs, you can send them out to be cleaned or replace them if necessary. Much easier than dealing with carpet.

Closed. In my opinion, closed shelving looks cleaner, and you don’t have to worry about everything looking perfect all the time. However, there are some advantages to open shelving, and I’ve done it in several renovations. Some modern kitchens suit it very well, and it’s significantly cheaper than closed cabinets. So if you’re on a budget, open shelving is great. Truthfully, I’ll debate all the reasons open shelving can be a good thing all day long, but for my house I’ll definitely choose closed.

This is a tricky one, because it depends what kind of paneling. Cheap veneer paneling from the 70s has got to go! As does any paneling that’s damaged or on its last legs. Painting it will freshen everything up and make the space a lot brighter. However, if a house has beautiful solid wood paneling, I would be inclined to keep it to maintain the integrity and character of the space.

99% of the time, I go with stainless steel. It’s modern, it looks good, and when people see stainless-steel appliances, they tend to think they’re newer (even though stainless steel has been around awhile now). Having said that, there have been a few cases where I’ve gone with white because they were less expensive and still suited the kitchen. But usually stainless is the way to go. It’s past the point of being a trend, and I expect it to be around for quite some time.

I hate choosing, because I have A LOT of plaid shirts. (No joke, I still have some from high school hanging around.) But I have to go with master ensuite. It can add more value to your home, and the convenience is great. Even though a walk-in closet is really nice to have, it’s not as much of a draw as an ensuite. That’s my personal and professional opinion.

This is a loaded question, because I’ve been using a lot of wallpaper recently. It’s fun to do something different, and you can see here how some papers really enhance a room. But if I had to choose one or the other for the rest of my life it would definitely be paint. It’s easy, it’s inexpensive, and you can do just about anything with it. If plain walls bore you, you can try patterns, stripes, stencils, whatever. So yeah, I definitely choose paint.

Need a price breakdown for your next reno project? Take a look at these common renovating costs.