It’s equal parts well-deserved, well-chosen, and well-appointed. It’s tempting to assume that when someone under 25-years-old buys a mid to upper range property that they’re spoiled, don’t appreciate hard work, and can’t possibly understand the value of money. You’d be wrong, of course, in the case of Elizabeth who pooled her resources with her close friend Shantel six months ago to get a space neither could afford on her own.

They met at camp - work camp - for a major up-grader project in Fort McMurray when they bonded as two of the few women in the remote work site. Elizabeth spent 20 months in camp in a room the size of the master bedroom in this condo, “And we were lucky to have that”, she says. And then there was the sharing a place with five people when she first left home, a stint in McKenzie Towne that gave her an hour long commute, and sharing a basement suite with a boyfriend. When that “significant relationship” ended and she moved into her parents’ basement, it was time to start looking at buying property. “Working out at site was worth it to have this”, she says, adding “We worked really hard for this!” The two were able to afford an impressive mortgage and a property that ticked all the “must have” boxes and many of the “wow!” boxes. Having backed out of  another place when they weren’t allowed to have an inspection done, they chose this with a time span between purchase and move of less than 30 days.

“Shantel saw this place on the MLS and it looked perfect”, says Elizabeth. They needed two bathrooms and some privacy between the bedrooms. “A lot of the condos we looked at—­everything centered around the living room and kitchen. They were pretty much the same room with a bedroom on either side.” The preferred plan in this suite is more of a U-shape with wide open kitchen, dining room and living room on one side, cleverly separated by a pass-through bookcase. At the base of the U is a separated, spacious entryway that rounds on the other side to the laundry, bedrooms and bathrooms of comparable size.

Luxe Development’s Cara Ferguson, told Condo Living magazine during the launch of VŪ in autumn 2007, that the vision was to provide “an interior package so buyers wouldn’t have to worry about upgrading” and Elizabeth agrees that there was nothing that needed to be changed. The 26 suites in the building range in size from 800 to 1,250 square-feet and were listed at $325,600 to $488,000. The girls chose one of the larger ones at 1,220 square-feet. Elizabeth admits the price tag made her mother a bit nervous, prompting her to suggest looking at what that much money could buy them in the suburbs, but, ultimately, she knew she wanted to be closer to the core. “I don’t necessarily like driving that often and Shantel doesn’t have a car”, she says. Plus, the resale potential for the downtown workforce wanting inner city properties should remain high, so she’s not worried about her investment.

That same methodical planning has gone into their interior decorating. They’ve achieved the look of a well-staged show suite, yet introduced enough personal touches that you can imagine sharing a bowl of popcorn while watching videos. The modern lines in the black leather couch with chaise and ottoman, on top of the ivory shag rug in the living room works well with the crisp white walls and darker taupe feature wall and the medium tone birch hardwood flooring. They’ve chosen burgundy and cream leather chairs in two different, yet complementary styles to balance the seating area and a black tone wall unit that matches the pass through bookcase that separates the living room from the kitchen and provides a place for colourful glassware to capture the sun from the southwest-facing bank of windows. They have a view of downtown from the living room and both bedrooms, yet because their neighbour is a church, there’s no privacy issues.

The three-foot wide counter top, made of a muted brown Caesarstone Quartz, lends itself to creative cooking and Elizabeth fondly recalls doing her Christmas baking this year. With the nine-foot ceilings, banks of white and opposing side grey cabinets, cheeky Sirius taps that look like ribbons, and standard stainless steel appliances, this is a luxurious space where the food just has to taste better. The abundance of cupboard space means nothing needs to clutter countertops, and she admits that they try to keep it “as neat as possible out of respect for each other and pride of ownership”.

It was important to have a short commute downtown to the home office of the same company she’s been with for the last three years and to shopping, entertainment, and recreation facilities. In addition to the downtown core are the amenities in Bridgeland and Kensington, the Renfrew pool and the Memorial Drive pathway system. Both women love to travel and have incorporated their favourite memories into the look, so Chinese chests, photos of Paris, and gilded paintings create a cosmopolitan atmosphere with more decisions to be made. When Elizabeth says the only project left is the walls, she’s only talking about the art to be hung.

“We think the date we moved in is pretty special – 08/08/08. That’s a pretty good time to start a new home,” she says. And easy to remember too.