The story of a lamp

I have this crazy Grunge Queen story for you:

I didn't always have a fab apartment.

When I first moved to Toronto just over 4 years ago, all I had was an air mattress, a crappy outside table for a desk, a laptop and a chair. My furniture was in storage in Ottawa, waiting to be moved up when I had cash and opportunity.

I desperately needed a lamp, so one day I bought a lamp on the street for $15, pictured here. I got it from a lady who was having a garage sale on the Danforth.


She was really nice to me, even driving me to her place (which is just around the corner from the place where I now live) so I could look at some other furniture she was looking to sell.

Fast forward 4-plus years: I'm in a Kengsington Market vintage shop a few weeks back, desperately looking for a cocktail dress for that rooftop wedding I attended a few weeks back.

A women who was minding the store for her friend, the owner, helped me. We both had this feeling we knew eachother, but couldn't think of where. I stylist, she swore she had dressed me before.

A few mornings ago I bolted out of bed and my first thought was: stylist lady and lamp lasy are the same!!

Crazy how the brain works eh?

And isn't it nice that us junky kindred spirits found eachother again? I have her card and I'm going to call her and tell her where I know her from - and that I still have her lamp! (shade was mine).

I call that grunging karma.

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More mirrors, no smoke

I'm still on my mirror theme today. They add glitz and glam and light to any space and, well, they're shiny and I'm attracted to them like a kid to a lollipop.

This uber heavy gilt mirror suits my rough-and-tumble chic look. It has an old flaky gold leaf look to it that speaks of age and a certain amount of decrepitude.

It was sitting in the basement of a dingy second-hand store in the west end of Toronto (that didn't stay open for long, alas) for $3.99. Natch I snapped it up.

I love the way it pops against the deep blue.

I've already shown you my little beauty nook in a tiny hallway, where a heavy second-hand mirror (about $30, pricey for the Grunge Queen) hangs over a gilt shelf ($2 at a garage sale in Ottawa when I went on vacation last year!).

I recently jazzed up the hallway by hanging a print under the gilt shelf. It extends the space and makes the ensemble look like an entire unit.

If you look behind it to the left you'll see a smaller version of the lacquer mirror I showed you yesterday, hanging over an empty frame I found at a garage sale (3 of them for $2).

This is the smallest decor mirror I've ever bought. It was about $6.99 at my local east-end Toronto thrift store, Stretch Thrift.

I use it to check my butt out in my oblong mirror when I'm getting dressed in the morning.

I love the rustic, semi scraggy look. It provides an interesting contrast to all my pretty shiny perfume bottles.

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Retro shades & hunky Aussies

What do you think of my movie star sunglasses?

I found them in an old hardware store on Danforth Ave. in Toronto for $3!

They're not new. The hardware store, Tracy's Hardware, has been around for 55 years. It does sell hardware but the window is full of second-hand treasures like brass Buddhas and 1960s Murano glass.

I couldn't resist these - purple too!

I wore them last night to the funkiest networking event I've ever been to, held at a drive-through storage facility in Toronto called All Canadian Self Storage and organized by Toronto area Business Network News. I paired them with a fab pink A.X.L. dress I found at ENDS in the Beach for $29!

Funnily enough I tried the exact same dress on a few months ago at the same place when it was $10 more, but left it there as I didn't think it looked good on me!

I also found this ring - new - for .50 cents at another end-of-the line place on the Danforth!

It looks so classy, doesn't it? I think it may be copper.

The lady said it's from Johnson's jewellery in New York but I'm still investigating. Looks like there may be a stamp inside.


I didn't get any pics of me in my amazing dress, but someone else did!

Here I am with some Aussie football players at the The Aussie X booth.

I think I may end up on a brochure somewhere!

Sunglasses, $3; dress that would normal retail at $200: $29; necklace for a couple bucks at a garage sale - that's $34 for this outfit not including the silver leather shoes, which were part of a buy one get the second pair FREE so they were really $50!

I call that a thrifty shopping goal - or is it a touchdown?

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Family & garage sale necklace

It's been a fun, busy week as family has been visiting.

Here's a pic of me and my sis on a patio in Toronto.

I'm wearing one of my fave garage sale finds here: a 1960s three-tier necklace made of heavy plastic (I think) with gold jangly bells inside the black circles.

Crappy description, sorry, but for $22 - the most I've ever spent on one piece at a a garage sale - this necklace was well worth it.

I wear it with everything. It can morph from a classy outfit to slightly more rocker-hip garb with ease.

Grunge Queen philosophy: you can always jazz an outfit up with an inexpensive piece of costume jewellery found at the thrift store or in someone's driveway.

Nest week I'll have a story for you about a necklace I found for $10 that I just discovered may be worth something, thanks to a B-day gift from my best pal!

Happy weekend!

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True blue thrifty patio

I'm still on my patio kick. Since I haven't had time to work on my current patio re-do project, here's a little look I put together four years ago in Ottawa - along the Rideau River - using thrift store and dollar store finds.

The tablecloth was $14 at a dollar store and I ended up giving it to the person who owned the house and let me do the photo shoot there.

The rest of the items you can see listed in the article I wrote for the Ottawa Citizen newspaper; simply click on the image to the left to make it larger.






Some of my fave things:
I turned this wrought iron telephone table - picked up for $5 at a garage sale! - into a serving nook.

I threw tiny carnations into old glass sugar containers.



I think these dollar store wine flutes look perfectly elegant on an old silver tray.







Speaking of old silver I love putting flowers in old silver water jugs - the look would just get better as the silver tarnished over time.


I cheated a bit by putting old pillowcases over the bright purple vinyl seatcovers on the wrought iron chairs bought at the Sally Ann - that's the grunge-queen way: fake it!




Here's the look from afar, overlooking the river. It was the end of May and not quite full-on green-ess.


Hopefully this will inspire you in your weekend entertaining!
Have a good one!!

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Heads from the Royal Ontario Museum?

I'd like you to meet Wilhelm Kong von Wurttemberg.

I found the German royal, and about 50 other plaster discs like him, at a garage sale in April.

The owner sold me the lot for $10 - pricey by grunge queen standards but I'd like to think I paid for the story, too.

A gent in his 60s or older, the man who sold them to me told me his father found these mainly chipped discs at the CPR railway yards where he worked in the 1960s - they were destined for the trash.

Apparently they're rejects from a Royal Ontario Museum exhibition here in Toronto in the 1960s. That makes a certain amount of sense as some of the discs are identified with tags, like Wilhelm is, and there's writing on the back of a lot of them indicating the years they lived or ruled (Wilhelm was apparently the Wilhelm the 1st and he lived 1781-1864).

What I loved even more was the fact that this gent and his siblings, so the story goes, grew up playing with these head pieces. Apparently they pretended they were money!

I haven't verified his story but I love it all the same. Nor have I really taken a good look at all the scenes and heads on this dics, but there are Greek philosophers, other emperors and Greek and Roman Gods.

And I have NO idea how to display these flat coin-like discs, which range in circumference from the size of a large apple (that's Wilhelm, and he's the largest), to the size of a penny.

Any ideas???

I think it would be cool to put in a call to the ROM and see if it have any history on the exhibition.

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Uncle Ugly

It's rather apt that the only piece of furniture my family has hung onto over the years was picked up years ago by my parents at a garage sale.

It's of no value, but somehow they've held onto it. Now I have it.

Uncle Ugly, as my folks called him, was a claw-footed table with glass on top that was out coffee table when we were younger. Here are my sisters playing around it (yes that's a turquoise Betty Crocker oven in the background).


Over the years Uncle Ugly degenerated to the point of having his glass broken and before that having coke slop onto the glass and seep underneath to form an icky-sticky layer that made neat patterns under the glass (my memory of that is so vivid I must have been the culprit!).

That's yours truly sulking over Uncle Ugly in her polyester pink pantsuit ....

By my teen years Uncle Ugly had graduated to life as a plant table in the upstairs hallway and eventually, to the cold storage room in my parents' new house, where I rescued him four years ago when I moved to Toronto.

Since then Uncle Ugly's come a long way. I spray painted him silver to give him a bit of glam, then fitted a thrifted mirror over the top where the glass used to go.

I change things up often when it comes to what I put on top of Uncle Ugly. My most recent living room manifesto resulted in some major book-piling on top. I like the look for now.

I've loved this table for four years now, though I took it for granted over the years growing up. I can remember making a Barbie house under it when I was wee, with my twin sis.


I love the shape, the curves, the bow embellishments you see on the side - and yes - even those claws.

I hope Mom and Dad never ever ask for him back!!

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Empty frames

Here are some effortless decor ideas, totally in keeping with la grunge queen philosophy of inspired yet easy-peasy decorating, gleaned from my garage sale booty last month ...where I picked up three wood frames for $2 total.

Actually the oval one is a frame for a table. It's been sitting on my floor propped up against the wall with the other frames until today, when I felt the urge (in the face of looking deadlines) to do a little refresh to my living space.

My first thought: hang it on the wall, as is.

And doesn't it look nifty? I think it really completes the corner in an interesting way.


My second attempt is still a work in progress.



















I like the contrast of the heavy dark mirror frame and the shell of an empty frame below it.


















And I really love the dried up roses on the silver platter that match the pillow so nicely. I put my black velvet scarf from the thrift shop on the chair of the seat to provide some contrast.

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Reunion outfit was second-hand!

So after obsessing about my highschool homecoming outfit for months and purchasing SEVERAL dresses, grunge queen ended up wearing a largely second-hand outfit to the first night of her big reunion....

Go figure.

It worked out pretty well. The jeans were thrifted at Stretch Thrift a few weeks ago for a mere $5.99 and they're now my fave summer jeans.

The top was given to me that day, a castoff from my very well-dressed best pal Di. Under it I wore a bodysuit I bought at Costa Blanca (column coming soon on that shop).

The necklace you may recall from my garage sale dig a few weeks ago, and the square gold-tone 1970s hoops were dug up at a thrift shop for a couple bucks.

The purse and shoes were bought new months ago.

My sis (the one that looks like me) has followed the thrifting bug too: she bought the Mexx pants she was wearing at Stretch Thrift as well for a few dollars. Her top and jacket? Let's just say Di-Di came to the rescue again, this time with a loaner.

God bless best pals for their great wardrobes.

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Easy chair makeover

Let's be honest: I'm not crafty or handy in any way. In fact my best ideas about how to fix up junk entail little physical prowess or handiwork.

But I'm drawn to retro chairs like a bee to nectar, and plain and simple, I can't help but collect 'em if their bones are good and the price is right (ie: free at the side of the road or a few dollars at a garage sale).



I found this retro chrome chair on the sidewalk. All I did to spunk it up was buy some new foam, cover the seat in a textured fabric and add a silk cushion to make the yellow pop.

This was a few years ago so I'm ready for another change. The boho bonanza gal in me would want to redo the seat cover in a rich jewel tones and a patterned fabric - something that would foil the streamlined modern lines of the chrome.

I snagged this rather skanky chair (don't want to speculate on the stain) at a garage sale a few years ago for five bucks.

My solution this time was easy peasy Shabby Chic: simply cover it in a tablecloth from the dollar store and tie the tablecloth with a long chiffon scarf.

I like how the polka dots and swirly pattern mix together - the look is spanky chic. The bonus is I tend to hoard nice fabric, tablecloths and such so I can change up the look - with one of my many scarves - as often as I want. Mmm I think I have a funkier look I could come up with - stay tuned!

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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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Chair from the trash

Remember my garage sale booty (two posts below and I still have more to show you!)? On my way home that day I found this fab faux bamboo chair in the trash - fully functional!

I believe in trashing Karma: if you want something in home decor, it will eventually come to you in the form of garbage.

It's a big chair, maybe a dining room one, that I would have used at my desk if it weren't so large. For now it's tucked in a cozy corner by my dining room table.




I plopped a cusion on it I found at Value Vilage for $1.99 - it has an old tag on it that says "The General Store on Mount Pleasant Ltd Toronto" - a shop that I can't find a reference to so it must be long gone ....

I bought the coverlet that's on the seat that day too. After the garage sale I strolled around an area in Toronto called The Junction and previewed some of the photography exhibits for the Contact photography show premiering that night.







The Junction is a haven for semi-junky and architectural salvage shops. Mark Taaffe's relatively new store, on Dundas St. West near Keele, houses all kinds of quirky items this deal diva could just eat up.

I walked away with this shawl, something Mark called a great example of Victorian Industrial prowess, if memory serves. He told me it came in a box marked "great-grandmother's shawl" and was apparently bought in a London market in the early 1900s.

I love it, eventhough it's worn and is stitched up in places ... but that adds to the charm for me. It's wool and large enough to function as a table cloth, duvet coverlet or even a wall hanging. Mark let me have it for a song.

More on Junction shops soon.

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Garage sale booty

Doesn't grunge-queen look happy? That's 'cos she and her garage sale pals went trolling at the first garage sale of the season in the area that looked worthwhile - an apartment garage sale just up the way ....

Three hours later after visiting each and every table/groundsheet, I emerged with some great deals - all for the price of the scarf I'm wearing here bought at the new Anthropologie store the other day!

I bought so much stuff I can't possibly share it all with you today, so here are my costume jewellery finds and some tips for what to look for while garage-saleing for baubles ....


Sarah Coventry pin for 50 cents!

Sarah Coventry costume jewellery has been around since 1950 or so and is quite collectible.

This pin has "Sarah Cov" and a copyright symbol on the back, indicating it's from the 1960s. Pieces from different eras will have different versions of the Sarah Coventry name on them, "Coventry" being the oldest.

Not sure how much this is worth but if you see anything with a name on the back - even Avon as celebs like Liz Taylor would put their names to designs - I'd nab it.

This is a circa 1960s retro tiered necklace that's so interesting my eyes were drawn to it immediately. No marks or signatures but I can tell it's retro/older by the string and the clasp.

The black plastic (?) circles are worn slightly but I love that, and the little brass (?) beads inside jangle when I walk ... wore it to dinner last night and felt quite boho-chic.

Look for old clasps, string connecting the beads and interesting designs such as this.

These rings aren't old but they were too yummy to leave behind - the gold and red one and purple stones were used, only $3 for the two. The others were new, leftovers from a gal's Ebay selling venture and only $5 each for sterling silver and semi-precious stones.

You can tell a ring is silver by looking inside the band - most will have "92.5" or "925" stamped on the inside, meaning it's 92.5 % silver. If it's Mexican silver it'll have "Mexico" stamped on it, which means it has slightly less silver than 925.

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Coffee table glam

This is the top of my coffee table, a family "heirloom" my folks picked up at a garage sale when I was a little girl. It's always been called Uncle Ugly.

More on Uncle Ugly later. But I wouldn't say he's looking so ugly now.

I spray painted him silver a few years ago, after plucking him from mom and dad's cold storage room where he sat abandoned. The glass top had long since broken so I plopped an old mirror I found in the trash on top. On the other end I fitted in a collage covered in glass that I made in my 20s with cut-out dance images (after I learned I wasn't accepted in a big dance school - my creative tribute to failure).

Remember that cut glass cake plate I found at the Salvation Army for $3.99?

I thought it would look cute with a couple magazines and a book on top.

It's a pretty way to display books, and I like the way the plate shows against the glass.

Gee, come to think of it the plate will match with my new rug (below).

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Blue Room, Green Room

Yesterday I showed you how I moved part of the living room into the dining room by creating a cozy little sitting and reading nook where I used to have the dining room table.

Today I realized that room, with all its lush blue pieces, is "The Blue Room" - the exact name my family and I used to call the sitting room in the house we grew up in because it had a fabulous blue Persian rug on the floor.
The other room in my grow-up house, funnily enough, was called "The Green Room" because it had all green furniture in it. After my room makeover the other day, all I had left in my living room area was mainly green velvet furniture! It is now "The Green Room."

I moved the dining table into the living room area, in front of the window. I like that it's somewhat functional as it holds my decorating books. I also like that it's not as obtrusive and clunky as it was before - again the table isn't something I use often so all I need to do is move the white armchair and pull it out when I have guests.

While I took advantage of a small space with "The Blue Room" by mushing a lot of items together, I wanted to create a feeling of airiness in the main living area as I had to combine a sitting and TV area with a desk/working area AND a dining area. I like the simplicity of having one lone painting over the loveseat. I deliberately tried to make the colours more Spring and Summer-like; the palette of green and white with a dash of orange really works, I think, as do the pared-down accessories.

The black table (from the trash) on the right and the black lamp and lacquer mirror on the left add some weight and ground the floaty vignette.

I kept the work area across from the loveseat the same, except I added the dark mirror that used to be in the dining room to create a bit more contrast, and I cut down even more on the clutter on the desk. I like keeping some areas more crisp and clean for the warmer months. I love the pop of colour in the orange made in Canada vase picked up at the thrift shop for $10.

The chair is from the trash and the lamps are thrift store and garage sale relics. The desk was on old table from Sally Ann that I Mac Tac'd.


I also love the fact that the big painting over the couch (a thrift store find for $39.99) is still a focal point when reflected in the mirror propped on the desk.Speaking of mirrors, it may be hard to tell but I hid the cords under the desk and created an illusion of light and depth by lining the wall under the desk with panes of mirrors dug out of the trash, intact.

See? Even Dinky loves it ....

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