Eclectisaurus- Toronto Store Watch

This is a post on my favorite vintage furnishings shop in Toronto: Eclectisaurus.
The owner, Leslie, has an amazing eye and doesn't compromise. If she doesn't personally like and believe in a piece it will not end up on her shelves.

She acquires her stock from varied sources and as she becomes more and more known in the design community some excellent pieces are brought directly to her. She is passionate about her work and the never ending quest for finding the best of the best for her shop.

In the bleak grey light of winter, walking into this vintage store is positively uplifting; color, texture, shape and form, whimsy and elegance are all on show as your eyes rest on one lovely vignette after another.

She is a master of display and of course has great material to work with. This space is not static; you can go in on a weekly basis and always have something new to behold. Her prices being exceedingly fair, stock moves quickly.

If you live in, or are visiting Toronto be sure to check out this very special Cabbagetown Shop...

Bathroom Renovation Post #3

I thought I would do a quick post on the look of the new bathroom.
This wall mount vanity plus the mirrored cabinet above it are what we have ordered.
It is made by Duravit and is coming from Germany. (we also are getting the small wall shelf shown in the background).
I fell in love with the simple lines of these pieces. The mirrored cabinet has side lights built in which is also great for our small space;
the fact that we don't have to install separate wall sconces will minimize visual clutter.

If all goes according to plan these pieces will be arriving by late Feb.- early March.
The tilers will make a template so they can go ahead with installing the wall tile
before they arrive.

I must say it's nerve wracking making all these design decisions and
I am hoping it all works out!

Bathroom Renovation Post #2

Here we are at the not so sexy part of the reno.

it is however, where most of the labor happens and thank goodness my husband is
super handy and able to to all the plumbing! yay to the male brain! (ok, of course women can do this too and he even says it's not that hard but I guess I really don't WANT to know how to do this stuff)...

anyway; plumbing is pretty well done and now the drywall is starting to happen. it should go quickly (quicker?) at this stage...
the tilers are due to come in 9 days time. that still makes me rather nervous- does this look like it will be ready for tiling by then to you?

Bathroom Renovation Post #1

This photo signals the start of our upstairs bathroom renovation. Things reached a tipping point for me a few months ago. Lifting floor tiles, damaged surface on the porcelain sink and gross lighting that doesn't help looking in the mirror as we age finally got me to this point.

We moved into this house 26 (!) years ago. We raised 2 daughters who now are launched and living in their own apartments. During all those years we did small upgrades on our home every few years; adding crown molding, new hardwood floors, finishing the basement, new carpeting + paint a couple of times...

All through the years however, we never tackled The Bathroom. We moved into this century old house in the 80's- not a great decade for interior design, looking back on it. The main upstairs bathroom was never well done to begin with; cheapish materials and a bad layout too. (the tub goes along the length of the narrow space instead of across the width).

We have decided to 'go for it' in the fact that we are actually moving the LOCATION of the bathroom as well. By eliminating an unnecessary portion of hallway where the old bathroom was, this space can be opened up into a huge studio/office space for me. (yay). The new bathroom, which will be the same size as the old one, will be carved out of the middle bedroom- leaving enough space for a small office for my husband and for resale purposes, enough space for a nursery or guest bedroom for future homeowners.

Contemporary; clean + modern is the mandate for this new bathroom. Duravit fixtures are perfection in their simplicity. White, warm gray and watery aqua is the colour palette.

I will post updates as it all progresses including some before pictures which I can't bear to reveal just yet! Stay tuned...

Kripalu Retreat

I just returned from a 2 week retreat at the Kripalu Center in Massachusetts.

It was a glorious time of daily yoga,
3 meals a day of healthy organic eating,
seminars on all sorts of mind, body & spirit healing,
2 hour hikes through the woods and along the lake
meeting and chatting with people from (mostly) all over the U.S. & Canada.

my room in the newly built Annex building.

a weekend snowstorm layered the grounds in a lovely white blanket. this was the view from my window at sunrise.

snowshoeing through the woods.

Household Vignettes

this is a bit of what our house
is looking like these days.

moved the art around, brought in a new display shelf
de-cluttered + lightened up.
feels good.

Cabbagetown Festival 2011 Day 2

my purchases from day #2 of the Cabbagetown Arts & Crafts show.
sweet.