Sun on desk

If I were a true blue photographer, I wouldn't be a storm chaser: I'd be a sun chaser.

After a media photo shoot in my pad (SO excited - will link to article when it comes out this weekend!), I caught the sun sliding across my desk, as you see here.

I had to catch it quickly, though, as it was moving fast.

I love my desk area now, by the way.

I took a dining room table from the trash and covered it with dollar store wall paper by Ralph Lauren.

The lamps are thrift, and the spanky new phone is my recent thrift score. The desk chair was found in the trash, as was the chair to the left of the desk.

The green Toronto Harbour prints were found at Value Village for a few bucks each.




The blue head vase by the white lamp was one of my very first trades - I saw it in a junk store window when I was a starving student and traded a bunch of my jewellery with the owners - they were happy as they gave the bling to their daughter, and I was thrilled to have my first head vase.

See the finial on the top of the blue lamp? It's actually a tortoise shell drawer pull from an old vanity.

And before I knew it, the sun was gone ....

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Layaway art comes home

In preparation for a media interview tomorrow in my apartment, I was able to get my boo-ti-ful painting by artist
Julie Glick earlier than expected, thanks in no small part to the artist herself.

I hope this pic does justice to it, because I have to say it MAKES my apartment and is truly a statement piece painting on my wall.

I hung it over the green Kroehler loveseat, on a main wall that you see when you enter the living room.

I think it pops well against the green of the couch and the dark blue of the Persian carpet.

For those of you in Toronto Julie's painting exhibition is on at Red Sable gallery in Toronto until mid-November.

I just love it. I get a big silly grin on my face every time I see it.

I can't speak for all artists, but my experience is that many will work with you so you can buy a particular piece in installments. Great way to obtain an original work of art that you absolutely love!

More on media interview soon!

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Primary colours & rejigs

I haven't been blogging much about decor lately, but I have been tweaking my place constantly in preparation for a possible photo shoot (more to share later on that hopefully).


Here's a corner nook in my dining room, which I've turned into a comfy sitting and TV room. I like layering paintings on top of eachother, and the upturned lampshade adds a bit of spunk.






Here's a longer shot.

I like the unexpected combination of the orange rug with the red velvet pillow.

The colours pick up the shades from my glass collection on top of the bureau.


I picked up this huge framed print behind glass for $4.99 at my local thrift shop. Alas, the glass broke on the way home so I just took it out (ok, the man did).

It's a print of a work by John Lander, and I just love it.

I hung it low - quite low - behind the loveseat but I'm not sure if I'm going to leave it that low. Most of my art is hung on the lowish end so having such a long piece extend all the way up the wall may look funny.

What do you think?

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New room

Here are some pretty decorative details from my bedroom makeover - which morphed out of a fall closet cleanup over the weekend.

My uber pricey lampshade from Anthropologie looks even more boho girly with some of my thrift store pearls and retro crystal-like baubles laced across the top.

The lamp base, by the way, was picked up at Value Village my first year in Toronto. Call me lazy but the pricetag - $5.99 - is still on it! It's one of my fave lamps.


Showing my bedroom may be a wee bit personal - the Victorian in me is cringing - but he the decor mags do it don't they?

I ended up moving a different pic over the bed as my makeshift headboard didn't provide a lot of contrast.

You may be able to tell that I'm in pared down mode. It feels good to declutter and get rid of stuff that's piled up and clogged my life.

I think, especially with the juvenile folk-like painting, that the look is sort of peasant-y.

The blanket at the bottom of the bed I bought at an end of the line retail store - it was $20 and I've seen the exact same one for $60+ in other stores. Dag is now kneading it to death.

On the wall: a vintage wool Holt Renfrew blazer I've had since high school.

The brass bed: bought with small portion of my scholarship money while doing graduate work in Ottawa - for a mere $125.

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Layway art

What do you think?

This is a beautiful painting by Toronto artist Julie Glick Julie Glick. I found it at the Red Sable
gallery in Toronto while doing a recent Shopping Column.

Let's just say I fell in love with it.

Now reader, you know I normally get my art from the thrift store.

But Julie, also the curator at Red Sable, was flexible and let me do layaway.

I love that. Who does layaway anymore? It makes sense for big purchases like art, which will never go out of style, but not for things like fast fashion, which'll be outta style by the time you end up paying for them!

So in a few months, this lovely oil painting - here's a pic of it I snapped in the gallery with the frame - will be mine.

It's a nice feeling to have something to work towards. I love the feeling of anticipation. And every time I put some cash on it I'll get the same thrill I do when I'm in the thrift shop. It'll feel so good to finally bring it home, like I've worked so hard to get it - boy this feels kinda old-fashioned doesn't it?

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Work area makeover

I think I'm going through thrift shop withdrawal.

I'm trying to budget in preparation for my high school reunion at the end of the month, and it's rough, this not thrift shopping thing.

I still have some garage sale booty to show you but wanted to finish the big reveal re: my most recent makeover.

The TV used to be where the chair (found in the trash) with the red pillow now is.




I hated that the TV was the focal point of my living room and wanted to tuck it away, which you see I have in the far corner.

I also tried to streamline the decor a bit as I find I naturally want to pare down a bit in the summer - which makes total sense as we do it with our clothing.

I kinda like the way it all turned out. My work desk area is normally so junky clunky, so I got rid of all the papers on the desk and relegated them to the coffee table I placed by the entrance hallway, which is under the retro painting and flanked by the green lampshade lamp and teak hutch.

That table is my toss table when I come home, and it's where I'll throw all my papers and bric-a-brac collected throughout the day. Once every week or so I go through it and recycle, toss or store its contents.

I've tried to keep the teak hutch you see on the back wall (bought 15 years ago for $80 at a thrift shop in Ottawa) fairly streamlined. The top shelf features a piece of green pottery purchased at an artisan shop in Ottawa during my university days (yes even in my starving student days I shopped). The painting next to it is by my very talented twin sis (see her work at www.gadzala.com); the bowl my garage sale buddy Matthew bought me at a garage sale; and the paper vases - which I'll give you a better view of soon - are by Filipino designer Tes Pasola.

The metal shopping bins under the teak coffee table to the right I found - where else? - on the sidewalk outside my apartment.

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Emotional decorating, part deux

I truly believe we shop and buy largely for emotional reasons - when we're stressed, sad - even happy. Grunge-queen is no exception, except I revel in decorating my home and even injecting a bit of nostalgia in my wardrobe with items that conjure up happy times from my past ... all found at the thrift shop, natch.

On my way home tonight I took a quick peep in my fave local thrift shop, Stretch Thrift. I saw a glass or crystal bell on display that was pretty garish, but I thought how lovely it would be to have a little tinkle sound to announce, say, dinner or maybe even drinks.

Lo and behold my eye zoomed on on this darling brass number made in India - a dinner bell JUST like the one Mom and Dad had while growing up (except the one from childhood HAD no bell and I always missed it)!

Price? Two bucks.

Now I'll have to have a dinner party. Or maybe I could use it for the cats in the morning? Not that they need a bell to remind them, ferociously hungry felines that they are ....

Meanwhile I grew up with a clock EXACTLY like this, an Ingraham of Toronto clock in this exact green hue that Mom and Dad hung in their retro 1950s kitchen, in the decorative wood yoke above the sink.

I found it in a junk shop for $15 (bartered to $13 as that's all I had) and was so pleased to find it worked.

Crazy that I can be emotional about a clock, but hey, I used to dash down our killer steep 13-step stairs when getting ready for school as a teenager and would glance at that thing umpteen times to ensure I'd catch the school bus on time (we lived in a rural area so yes, the school bus was a necessity even for an 18-year old).

Now I have this positioned so that I can see the time when I leave and come into my apartment.

And this painting, which I've posted elsewhere, I bought at Stretch Thrift for $39.99 'cos it reminded me of how I saw Heaven as a child- as a desert wasteland of sand and sun where people slept on the rooves of houses like the one depicted here ....

I love having these emotional reference points surrounding me in my little nook of a pad - they reinforce where I've been and who I am and give my soul a sense of home.

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New mirror, new room

An area rug for $5, then a gilt mirror picked up for $3.99 on the way home from work Friday - it was all just too much for the grunge queen.

Yup, I had to do another makeover this weekend. The carpet and the mirror - they were just too special. I had to go for a glam-y Baroque-y look.

What do you think? Don't you just looove the mirror? $3.99!

It's super heavy. I think it merited being a focal point above my couch, so I pared down a lot of the art on my walls and ended up with this look.

Here's a wider shot.

I thought the orange rug really needed the blue to balance it, and the lamps placed about the same height balanced the couch and the paintings on either side of it.


Here's a night shot - love the lighting.

I'm not normally this symmetrical, but I find the order and balance comforting.

I also never thought I'd end up accenting in orange, a colour I've never worn or decorated with. The pillows and rug just add that dash of brightness to the room. Even the new work or art that you see in the corner - which I will show you more of soon - has orange in it.


Guess it's never too late for a grungy decor gal to change her colours ....

By the way don't you love the way mirrors reflect other parts of the room, like the black and white photos seen here?

They literally add new dimensions to rooms.

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My Amazing Sister

Happy Easter! I spent a lovely day with family, then friends and new friends - and am so happy to be reminded of such fab people in my life. I'm dedicating this post to my amazing twin sis (fraternal, not identical), who not only designed the "grunge queen" logo exactly as I wanted, but who also, over the years, has given me many wonderful works of art by her own very talented hand.

To the left, "Red Cup, Green Tea" (with yours truly as the model), and to the right and slightly cut off, a man on the beach - can't remember exact name as she sold the original - ... and like any twin sis made me a another one as I loved it so ....

The vases are made of newspaper and I will post their information once I find it.

www.gadzala.com

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Beddie By

I've thought twice about showing my bedroom, but heck, the magazines do it and you've most of my place already, so why not?

In truth I'm never really happy with how the bedroom comes together. Whatever I do, it just looks BLAH, never cohesive.

I love my brass bed, picked up at a junk store in Ottawa, Canada for $125 in 1998. I decided to leave the off-white duvet on (I have a bunch of duvet covers so I can change things up when need be) and jazz up the rest of the room.

You'll notice my blue antique Persian rug has been moved into the bedroom - that wasn't by choice. Dag, cat no. 2, has had a joyous time getting his scratching ya yas out on it. So before he destroys it and I freak out, the carpet will reside in my bedroom, which has a door that will be CLOSED when I'm out.

The carpet provides some contrast and actually inspired me to put together a shabby, slightly boho-Orient look, what with my silky fuchsia Kimono and small green silk carpet.

The rest, quite frankly, is just a comfy hodge-podge of stuff (where else but in the bedroom should comfort and clutter collide?). The floral pillow is from an old design company in Toronto - I found it at Value Village for $1.99. Velvet IKEA pillows also a la thrift shop around the corner for $1.99 each, and the German crystal lamp to the left was a big ticket item: $30 at my local thrift shop, Stretch Thrift in Toronto.

The dresser to the left I've had for years and the one to the right was a garbage find, given to me by fellow picker and pal, Matthew (I put new drawer pulls on it).

Oh and the Hermes scarf poster, tiny landscape above bed and self-portrait of a child were church sale and thrift store finds, all under $5 each!

A definite work in progress, this, but then again everything in my place is - joyfully so.

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Boho sitting room in the dining room

Almost 20 years ago my best friend and I, in our first apartment together, did a gutsy design thing: we moved the living room into the dining room.

Yesterday afternoon the fine Spring weather threw me onto a full-on apartment re-org, with similar results. The dining room table went out of the dining room nook, and in went one of my Barrymore loveseats.

The final result: such a cozy, lovely Boho look, don't you think?

I love the big gilt mirror on the floor, with the Group if Seven (?) print hanging directly overhead - it looks like the two are connected!

I also like the look of the pretty blue lady painting over the chest of drawers found in the trash. The boho William Morris-esque work of art beside it is by Toronto artist Caroline Price is is my most recent and much-loved art acquisition.

Even the icky overhanging lamp doesn't look so bad.

Why this works, aside from being pretty:

Honestly I rarely use the dining room table, so having it jutting out like that in the middle of the room (see my last makeover series) was a waste of space.

This little nook is a wonderful space to relax after work, free of the TV and computer that's in my regular living room area. I like the idea of having a place to go away from technology, aside from my bedroom. I will do my best to use the space well!

As you'll see in the next few days as I post pics from the rest of my apartment, moving one loveseat out of the living room freed up an otherwise cluttered space and opens up the whole apartment for a breezier summery look.

I really like the cohesiveness of this look - pulled together yet arty. You'll notice I moved all the navy pieces - the loveseat, chair, and two Chinese lamps with blue shades. It doesn't look too dark as I've balanced it out with a lighter carpet and lots of lighting.

What could this all mean to you?

Never ever think you're trapped in by design or all your stuff. I'm a firm advocate of "play" in space and also in things never being static. Your look and space can evolve continually if you want it too. I can understand how that could be scary for some, but I find it invigorating ....

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Clutter Bug Art in Kitchen, Smart Art Finale

Arg, those four boring white walls my super insisted on painting my kitchen have been driving me crazy. So too have all those tiny mis-matched frames and photos I don't know what to do with .... wedding pics, diplomas, awards and other plaques, postcards and pics I love - what do do with them?

The most logical thing: put 'em all in the same place. My kitchen is now a bit clutter bug-ish, but it looks pretty funky. I figure I'll just keep adding things so until pics go up to the ceiling.

When you think of it it's a great way to display pics you don't want hiding in an album (you've probably gathered I'm a tactile person and not at all inclined towards digital frames).

The only thing I'd change is add a pop of drama and colour, like navy blue walls and that hot pink acrylic chandelier I've been admiring in a local shop ....

Consider this a work in progress ....

TIPS: Create your own collections by hanging all the stuff you love - why should it hide away in your drawer? Pictured here, by the coffee maker, a beloved cotton puff snowman pic made from my fave male orderly in the hospital while growing up - it's even signed "Bert." Postcards from my twin sis's art exhibits (that I've put in a retro wood frame); a fave black and white photo of my sis and I in Marseilles, France. Up top, photos of the nieces and nephews, and original art from pals.

Oh, and the clock, by Ingraham Clock Co? Found it in a local thrift shop for $13 - it's exactly like the clock I grew up with and looked at a dozen times a day for 20 years -- can you imagine being sentimental about a clock??

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Print Mint, Smart Art Part 4

This print looks Group of Seven-ish, and you wouldn't believe what I paid for it: $4.99 at my local thrift shop! It's big too - almost 30 by 30 inches. The back says Simpsons Custom Framing - another retro Canadian relic!

I move this around a lot but always leave it on its own, over a bureau or low table, for dramatic effect.




DECOR TIP: I like hanging my paintings low - just a few inches above whatever surface they hover over. Sometimes I hang one extra low - but then the tableau has to be right. More to come ... .

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Cluster Buster, Smart Art Part 3

I don't just buy original art - but prints too. I like the idea of grouping pieces together on a wall as I've done here, but I learned the hard way that the look is more cohesive if spread over a smaller wall as opposed to a huge expanse.

Most of these prints were picked up for a few bucks each - the only exception being the print on the lower left found at an antique shop (don't mean to put antique shops down: they need to make a living too and have the expertise, but thrift stores are way better for prices).

HOW TO MAKE IT LOOK GOOD: As you can see here I grouped items of similar colour (gee, green, what a surprise!) and style (old world) together.

Another display technique: I group items together (again on a small wall) that I don't happen to have a space or plan for ... call it an 'overflow' wall of sorts. There's still some commonality here, though, as you can see below: the greens, and the fact that these are all paintings (while the other are prints).





The only thing I would change: make the art pop by painting the small wall a dramatic colour, like navy blue.

Over the weekend I'll show you my solution for all the wee wall art bits I don't know what to do with.

In the meantime hang in there, ak, so bad, grungequeen needs to hang her hat and hit the hay ....

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Euro Trash, Smart Art Part 2

No wonder I was drawn to this painting: it's of the winged lion statue at St. Mark's in Venice, Italy. I've always said I'm a Euro kind gal, and I love the greens and seascape (there is an artist signature at the bottom but I can't make it out). I found this at an antique market in Newmarket, Ontario (now closed) for $25 - it was more but the dealers were liquidating due to the imminent closure (great time to get deals; still wish I had picked up that Madonna head vase ... sooo hard to find!).

I move my thrift art around regularly - in fact my pieces frequently engage in a little dance with my lamps and other accessories, each taking a spin around my apartment and settling in a new home on a new wall or surface, in a new configuration and even with a new shade! Later this week I'll show you how I combine art in my displays.

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Smart Art

Aside from some original pieces given to me by my twin sis artist, I dig up most of my art at the thrift shop. Some is juvenile - literally, as in the case of the self-portrait of a six-year old girl (see "Bittersweet Thrift" from January).

When I troll the thrift shops for art, I'm just like any high-end collector: I buy what I love, what calls to me.

This painting definitely called to me - I love the urban (Paris?) scape and slightly retro feel (yes, it's mounted on a tweedy canvas fabric, tres 1970s). It looks original as the paint is raised and the signature in the bottom right reads "Brasso."

I did a quick Internet search and couldn't find much save for an auction of a Paris scene by a painter with the same name and similar style - the date on that other painting was 1970 (my birth date!) and it was valued at only a few hundred bucks.

That's OK. I love my painting and it filled a rather blank space on my icky-coloured coffee wall. It's the most I've ever paid for thrift art: $89.99, but it's worth it.

This week I'm dedicating the blog to Thrift Art - I'll take you through what I've found and how I display it - and how little I've paid for most pieces!

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Before and Afters: Dining Room Re-do

Before: Dreary-sville
As promised: here's more.

My dining area was dark and icky before. I loved the drama of the black quilted dollar store tablecloth, but the look was all hodge-podgy. I was trying to make the area a bit of a nook where I could read and have a coffee when that pip of sunlight slants through the window near the table in the afternoons, but I failed bigtime.

Then I had inspiration: go for girlie. In the dining room? Why not?

After: Light and airy chic
I wanted the tablecloth to stay, but the area needed some contrast to balance the dark. I lightened it up with a white leather chair (found curb-side and jazzed up with a cheap faux-fur rug and a silky striped cushion) and some black and white photos.

Purple sheers and a lamp with a purple lampshade zoot up the girlie-glam factor.

The thrift store stool is covered with one of my fave vintage skirts that I used to wear when I was 16 - there's no rule saying you can't incorporate things you love into your decor!


Now I'm totally digging the feminine vibe. The painting was dug up at the thrift store:ever-emotional, I paid more than I normally would for it ($39.99) as it reminded me of how I imagined heaven to be as a child (minus the brightly-clad women). The wrought iron chair, part of a Sally Ann set, was a victim of my silver spray paint phase a few years ago, but it looks tres "Shabby Chic" now that the paint is coming off a bit.

The trio of beaded Moroccan boxes (.99 cents each at Sally Ann)on the books and the stacked bright boxes from Mexico and India add a pop of colour on the black tablecloth. The black sculpture, picked up at Value Village for under 10 bucks, melds into the tablecloth and maintains the drama. The crystal lamp is an Imperlux made in Western Germany (the tag says): $30 at my local thrift shop!!

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Bittersweet Thrift

Normally I revel in the potential histories behind the pieces I find in thrift stores, but sometimes I'm reminded that items can make their way into these shops for not so cheery reasons. Once I found a beautiful silver frame with what I thought was a fake wedding photo in it - you know, the stock photo they put in to sell the frame. When I got it home I went to put my photo in the frame and found, underneath the "fake" photo, the actual stock wedding photo. The couple I had initially looked at in the frame was the real couple. They looked so happy there - what were they doing in a thrift shop and what happened to them?

I had this same feeling when I found this self-portrait of a child, with her name and school written on the back, in my local thrift shop for $1.99. I thought it was such a beautiful use of colour, such a lovely self-portrait for a six-year old - I wondered how a parent could let it go, how it got here? I couldn't leave it there. I bought the frame you see it in at the same thrift shop for $3.99 and now it's sitting on my wall, with all my other thrift store art.

I had to give it a home.

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