“Our friends have their stations,” laughs Kim, who is used to hosting up to twenty guests some evenings. 

Even Joel and Kim have their own places when entertaining.  Their breakfast bar, with three black leather and stainless steel bar stools, adds to the shaker maple cabinetry with brushed nickel hardware and black appliances.

“The dining table is only used when we play games.”  It is a unique and stylish folding solid dark wood table set against the wall between two of the numerous windows in the unit.

Working in the financial sector during the week and enjoying an active lifestyle, the professional couple loves the location.  “During the week, we are homebodies,” explains Joel. “The proximity to everything is so key.  We work, live and play within a ten block radius.”  When he decided to purchase his Emerald Stone condo in November 2002, Joel knew he “didn’t want to live outside the core.”

“It’s really convenient,” adds Kim.  Joel walks downtown to work, as Kim drives to her office south of the Glenmore Reservoir.  On the weekends, “we don’t have to get in our car.  It was a lifestyle decision. There are weekends we don’t drive.”

Kim relates how Joel came to select their two bedroom, two bathroom condo:  back in the fall of 2002, “I took Joel with me to the show suite for Emerald Stone, as it had the best looking location.  It was the first of its nature.  It is a highrise.”  Kim was moving out of Sunnyside and wanted to buy right away.  But she realized it was going to take a year and a half to build, so she looked elsewhere, finding a rental apartment for two years before making her decision to buy in a building located a few blocks south of Emerald Stone.

Joel saw the timing as perfect for him.  “Before I knew it, I was signing papers twenty four hours after seeing the show suite,” he chuckles.  “It was affordable.  It was a reasonable deposit at the time, with basically nothing to hold it and the prices were locked in then, not like in today’s market.”  He then decided he wanted more windows than the first unit he selected.  Joel changed to the corner unit they are in now versus the original unit located in the middle of the floor.

Their south and west facing condo takes in beautiful panoramic urban views of Connaught and surrounding neighbourhoods.  “It’s like you’re downtown, but with the trees and residential areas, it’s so green and relaxing staring out” the large window in the den.   “Joel studies a lot in here and it feels like you are contained and yet part of the action.  We are connected but still separated from everything up here,” states Kim.  In the fall, “it’s really beautiful!”

From their deck, to the east, they can see Lindsay Park, the Saddledome and during the Calgary Stampede, fireworks and some of the larger rides.  They joke about getting a bit of a mountain view – of a mountain, depending on the day – from the west windows!

It is a quiet building, according to Kim and Joel.  The configuration of the foyer keeps hall noise to a minimum.

The couple has decorated their living space with a combination of pieces from both their previous homes, as well new ones. A variety of artwork, ranging from a wooden print to a tapestry, adorn the walls, all having the common theme of travel, from as far away places like Italy, Peru, Holland, and Africa, to Manitoba and then, closer to home, Lake Kananaskis.  Joel’s photography graces one of the dining area’s walls.  A very personal collection of two needlepoints handcrafted by Kim’s mother, as well as a collage created by Joel’s mother in remembrance of Kim’s mom, have found a prominent place in the second bedroom.

Approximately eight months after moving in, Joel modified the space above the electric fireplace to fit their 50-inch plasma television.  “I didn’t have the foresight to do this when I initially bought.”  Their fireplace is often used in the winter.  “It offers a little bit of heat to wake us up in the mornings on the weekends when we are reading the newspaper,” says Kim.

Joel opted for a few upgrades:  medicine cabinets in the bathrooms, as well as undermounted cabinet lighting in the kitchen.  He thought about hardwood, but decided to stay with tile flooring in the foyer, the two bathrooms, and the kitchen, with Berber carpet throughout the rest of the condo.  The doors, including those on the closets, their mouldings, casings and the baseboards are nicely detailed, adding a sense of luxury and elegance to the unit.

“We had to buy our own roller blinds.  We wanted ones we couldn’t notice.  We wanted to keep the sun out and keep the glare off the tv, but we still wanted to see out and see the lights of the city,” with the exception in the master bedroom where they chose heavier blinds to darken the room.

“At first, I thought the condo might be small for one, but it has plenty of room for the two of us,” says Joel.  Kim counters with how she would like to see more storage, as she had become used to the storeroom in her previous condo.  “I would suggest adding 50 square feet of storage in the unit.”

Having moved in together back in December 2004, Kim decided to keep her condo of eight months and rent it out.  Since then, the couple has added a house in Cliff Bungalow to their list of properties.  They are renting it out as well, and plan to renovate in about three years to make it their home, still keeping both their condos to generate revenue.

Sometimes it’s all about timing and location. Both have worked well in Kim and Joel’s favour!  CL