One Year Anniversary: decor then & now

My blog turns a year tomorrow, and I'd like to thank all you lovely readers for reading along, commenting or emailing me privately, or linking back to me - you make my day when I do!

Here's a pic of my living room Jan 18 last year. It's wide and open, and now that I look at it it does look cluttered, with all the stuff on the wall.

This is my NEW living room, the result of an agonizingly creative day-long apartment re-do after the holidays.

True, I essentially chopped the room in half by positioning the two love seats facing eachother, but I'm really liking the cozy vibe of the smaller space I created.

I also pared down some of the accessories to keep the look more streamlined.

I think style constantly evolves, and I'd like to think my design and decorating sense has refined itself this past year. It's been fun fun fun to play with my space!

Thanks for reading. Have a fab day!

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Retro hutch redo

Part of my apartment re-do entailed jazzing up my teak hutch, which I love but quite frankly has never suited my style. I tend to like more curvy lines and though they tell you to mix styles, I'm not sure this piece mixes well with my other furniture.

My strategy: don't fight the modern lines.


In other words I decorated the hutch with retro modern objects, then added a dash of glam. Grouping similar items together (like the retro coloured glass pieces and stacks of bright-hued decorating books) can create a real impact, especially when they pop against the black of the velvet scarf (thrifted) that I'm using here as a runner.

Add some spray-painted lamps with classy black and silver shades - placed in a symmetrical arrangement for maximum glam appeal - and toss in a thrifted gold mirror, and the look is retro modern chic with a touch of elegance.


Some of my fave pieces here: the flat green Venetian dish on top of the books, given to me by my best friend after she went to Venice; the green and gold decanter that she also gave me, which used to belong to her parents; the black sculpture thrifted for a few bucks; the retro orange blown glass vase with a 'made in Canada' sticker still on it, thrifted for $10.

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Architectural Digest score

We interrupt regularly scheduled programming re: the apartment re-do to bring you this important thrift announcement:

Grunge Queen scored some more inspirational mags yesterday!

There must have been decades worth of Architectural Digest magazine at my local thrift shop.


I could hardly contain myself. I picked up this collector's edition containing pics of Greta Garbo's New York digs. Another had pics of Rita Hayworth's abdode, and Jimmy Stewart's too.

Goldmine.

I took home only five at .49 cents each (they were .99 cents each but the guy gave me a deal).

I also picked up a few from the late 1970s. The stack appeared to start there and go to present day.



Guess what I'm buying on my way home from work every night this week?

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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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Decor & innocence

Kids love my apartment!

This is important to the Grunge Queen. One, I'm single and sans kids and always worry the little tykes will either destroy my apartment or swallow something tiny.


But more important, the fact that my tiny nieces and nephew visited my apartment yesterday and loved it - I believe my six-year old nephew called it "beautiful" - makes me rejoice in my design style and ethic.

See, Grunge Queen philosophy goes something like this: that you're happiest in your space when it's a reflection of you, your history and your tastes, and that injecting a bit of magic here and there is good for the soul.

Play is important here as a fun and self-affirming way of exploring your style is to tinker and toy around with items in your space until you come up with an arrangement that you love ... until you start playing again.

The elements of my apartment the kids were really jazzed about - the crystal ball, the swishy gold and satin pillows, the glittery purses hanging from my bureau ... basically anything shiny and shimmery - are exactly the decorative bits and bobs that attract me the most and that I seek out in thrift shops.

So what does that mean? My take? I'm a kid! The Romantic poets, particularly Wordsworth, wrote about capturing the innocence of youth that is invariably lost as one ages.



I suppose Wordsworth believed he could connect with his inner child through poetry. Just as I believe I can connect with my inner child through the creative endeavor of decorating and "playing" in my apartment.

Decor and innocence: what an amazing concept!

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Canada Day parties & sisterly inspiration

Yesterday's post should have been my Canada Day post as I featured red and white roses, but here's an entertaining post for those of you who are BBQing today.

My sis hosted a party the other day and decorated with pink everything. You can tell she's related to the Grunge Queen 'cos she kept her decor cheap n' easy.

The pink roses were plucked from the rose bush in the front of her home, and all she did was snip 'em and plunk 'em in some plain white bowls and voila: instant centre-pieces!


I love the cake - so girlie, so sweet, so preety - and so easy!

All she did was put yellow, pink and orange smarties on top - you see they match the dollar store napkins she bought!

Way to go, sis. Lovely party.

And Happy Canada day to fellow Canadians!

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Lupins and long-ago gardens

I love Lupins. They're one of my fave flowers, possibly because they always bloom around my B-day - and they're just so funky to boot.

I saw these at the flower market and they made me nostalgic for the flower garden of my youth.

My dad planted a beautiful flower garden when we were younger, and Lupins bloomed near the stream.








Here's a pic of my older sister by the Lupins, many years ago, in our beautiful garden.

The big evergreen tree in the background - we used to call in "The Giant."


My sis with my Dad ....

Why aren't I or my twin in the garden pics? We would have been really young.

And I guess by the time we were old enough to be in pics, the camera was gone. Maybe the garden was already on the decline by then ....

My sis again, this time with "The playhouse" my Dad built in the background.

I remember The playhouse as more dilapidated, so I never really saw it in its heydey.

Funny how you can feel nostalgic for things you didn't wholly experience. Still, I love and will always remmeber the garden of our youth .....

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