By HERB LAGOIS

When you’re a dad of adult children, your job of kissing away scraped knees and saying yes to one more cookie is long over. But you’re still a dad. Your parenting approach just needs to be different.

I’ve been a designer and builder all my own adult life, so in my case, parenting of my grown-up kids looks like this:

My daughter, Nathalie, a chiropractor in Western Canada, was about to have an open house at her newly-built clinic so she could show it off to her patients and the community. Behind the scenes, Nathalie’s receptionist, Sarah, and I conspired to hatch a plan. I flew out to Edmonton, snuck into one of her waiting rooms and sat there as if I were a patient. The look on her face when she walked in was priceless.

It’s fun being a proud dad.

On Thanksgiving weekend recently, we had a wonderful gathering with our youngest, Daniel, and his family at their cottage. What did we do? When we weren’t out hiking, Daniel and I started a bunkie renovation. It was great to work with our hands and to create something together. However, although we had planned this for months, the scheduled date for the electrician didn’t happen. It was for a valid reason, one of those things that couldn’t be helped; but now I need to find a time when I can be there again to show the electrician where things go. Thank goodness the project isn’t urgent, but life has a way of turning things sideways ‒ in parenting as in renovation.

Coming up next month, we will be visiting our eldest son, Andrew. I’ll be helping him with a bathroom renovation (this is clearly what renovator dads do, I guess). The challenge is that Andrew lives out of the province and I’m dealing with trades I don’t know. The frustrations have already begun: no returned phone calls, no honouring of promises. (My rule in this matter is three chances and you’re out.) It confirms my pride in Lagois. We answer our phone. We honour promises, we’re honest about telling you upfront if we’re not a good fit for each other, and we ask you to be comfortable doing the same (for a good fit).

Nathalie’s clinic is a success; Daniel’s bunkie is on hold; and as for Andrew’s bathroom…if I don’t have critical trades I can rely on, we won’t rush or force things ‒ or worse, compromise with the wrong trade. If we need to postpone the renovation until 2026, so be it. I will take the time to interview the trades in person, find the right people, and perhaps plan for later.

Maybe this, too, is like careful parenting. Don’t rush, don’t force, don’t push, don’t make it happen faster than it should. You only get one shot at this, so make it your best.

Herb Lagois is founder of Lagois Design Build Renovate.

For more ideas, information and inspiration about your home from Herb Lagois, please sign up to the monthly newsletter The Art of Living, here.

By JACOB KIRST

One day after another, our lives evolve and grow. Yesterday’s toddlers become today’s teenagers. Friends come and go, moments become memories, trends fade, history unfolds.

Home is the backdrop to each of our days, a witness to our lifetime. It should embrace us, protect us, even shape us. It should align with who we are. It should be timeless. It should know who we are.

At Lagois we believe in emotional architecture, where we design and build for experience, comfort and lifestyle: for living. For you.

Traditional architecture asks if it all works, and of course that’s essential.

From the moment you wake up

But the Lagois process goes several steps beyond this. We ask how you feel when you come home at the end of the day, how you wake up each morning, how you gather with loved ones, how you spend time alone. It’s the starting point of every Lagois design.

Your home might start out one way in early days, perhaps with young children, busy mornings, and hectic schedules. At that stage it needs practicality and efficiency sometimes even more than comfort, perhaps with great storage and easy cleanup (mudroom, pet washing area, toy closets, sports equipment space, outdoor play area, homework nook, open kitchen, for example).

When life changes and new styles emerge, you might want home to be a quieter place with more focus on comfort and entertaining (spa bathroom, exercise or yoga room, guest suite, elegant entrance, screened-in porch, soft lighting, for example) ‒ but still with great storage and functionality in mind.

Emotional architecture with Lagois takes all this into account. It looks into the future, knowing that the story of your life will probably change, because that’s what life does.

A home shouldn’t be static. It should live and breathe with you. It should have a place for everything. It should flow. It should be a celebration of natural light, free of frustration and clutter.

Design and your life story

At Lagois, we think of design as a form of storytelling. We think design should capture your values, your aspirations, and your lifestyle in spaces that will grow and develop ‒ your life story ‒ for decades.

Our design process is like editing that story so it reflects you year after year. It’s a kind of living narrative.

Many elements in design affect how you feel: ceiling height, acoustics, traffic flow, natural light, indoor-outdoor integration, beautiful materials.

A kitchen can invite conversation. A hallway can welcome everyone. Good storage creates visual peace. Windows catch the prettiest patches of light. A quiet corner provides a moment of refuge. Wood exudes warmth. Stone feels grounded. Finishes comfort. Reclaimed materials hold history.

A Lagois design makes your home feel gentle and forgiving, not cold or rigid or demanding.

Who you are, who you will be

Where does it start? I know I’ve said it before, but it is a truth that I think bears repeating.

Great design, emotional design, begins with great listening. It discovers who you are and who you will become.

It happens when we listen deeply to your needs and anticipate your life changes. It happens when we design flexibility into the very heart of the structure and layout of your new space.

The emotional architecture of a Lagois home is not an accident. It is art, crafted with intention.

It is Perfecting the Art of Living.

Jacob Kirst is Visionary and President of Lagois Design·Build·Renovate.

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