Entry way re-do

My New Year's apartment makeover coverage continues ....

I've had this ratty old bookshelf since I was in my 20s, and I've carted it into every apartment I've ever had as it carries my overflow of books. It was a faded yellow when I first picked it up at some long ago garage sale; then I painted it a grotesque emerald green (hey I was in my 20s). It's been white for years now.

I decided to move it to my entry way area and use it as a bookshelf and accessories holder - one, to be different, and two, it made sense as I wanted something narrow in that space that I would not bump into or stub my toe on.

I threw an electric pink scarf over top as a runner (that I've also had since my 20s) and went to work.

On the lower shelves, I've stored scarves, a few vintage purses, and some boots (the latter from the thrift store - ooh I have a fabulous boot post coming soon!), along with some old books on dancing that I've hung onto since my dancing days in my 20s.

And do you see that green peacock fabric on the left-hand side of the third shelf from the bottom? Part of a skirt I've had since I was 15 - the skirt has long since fallen apart but I love the fabric so much I am going to get someone to make me a pillow.

I tried to make the top both practical and whimsical, like those "entry way makeovers" you see in the decor mags.

I love the glam little lamp I dug up at Goodwill for $4.99. I plopped a shade on it that I had around the house.

The clear glass ashtray (used here as a change holder) and paperweight were a few dollars each at thrift shops, and the brass bowl which holds my sunglasses was $3.99 at a thrift shop.

The painting, a work of folk art by well-known Nova Scotia folk artist Leo Naugler, is called "Skiing" and I love it. I bought it from a Toronto dealer for a good price.

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Light my Fire

I'm not telling you how many lamps I have in my apartment. I love ambient lighting; it creates a wonderful mood.

This blue lantern was $4.99 at my local thrift store. For now it's sitting on my window sill and hangs out with my new blue sheer curtains, which I picked up at Fabricland in the discount bin.

These wicker lampshades are lined in satin and in fab condition. They were $5 for the pair, again at Stretch Thrift.

Again, I'm loving the symmetrical lamp look. It just adds a touch of class.

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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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New Year's apartment makeover

Happy New Year! Today's post will be extra long as I missed yesterday ....

I've started the new year off on a high decorating note by completely redoing my apartment.

Pictured here: the work in progress.

It all began with a copy of Elle Decor that my sis gave me as I was boarding the train back to T.O. after the holidays.

Elle Decor is my absolute FAVE decorating mag - it's eclectic yet elegant and that's exactly my decorating philosophy.

The mag inspired me so much that all I could do on the train ride home was brainstorm what I would do to my apartment to make it more elegant looking.

All I had was a general idea: less cluttered and junky looking; more elegant, but functional too.

It took 10 hours for me to do the re-org. Boy did I get a workout.

The key to any re-org is clearing away all the knic-knacs and bric-a-brac from furniture and dumping it in piles in a room or area that you're not going to re-do. That way you can work with a clean slate. In my case it was the desk area, the hallway and the kitchen.

I started by moving the cheap IKEA bookshelf from one corner of the apartment to a small wall.

I had to take out all the books and drag the bookshelf across the room - don't do this on your own, please, as you could end up under a heavy bookshelf!

Problem: I didn't have enough bookshelf for all my books as I wanted to turn one small bookshelf into something else (more on that later), and I had a lot of ugly paperbacks that don't really display well.



My original solution: turn my linen closet into a bookshelf and take the door off. The idea is wonderful, but it is problematic as I don't have a place to put all my linens.

So for now, the linen closet is a combo linen closet/bookshelf.

Once I can figure out where to put my linens I'd like to make the entire thing a bookshelf and just take the door off. I think it would look really funky.





Here's a makeover preview, of the bookshelf relocated to a smaller wall. I moved the blue velvet chair from the bedroom - it's such a showpiece and wasn't getting much attention there - and put it in front of the books to create a cozy reading nook.

The tiny retro glam lamp on the side table was $4.99 and found during a recent Goodwill dig; it is part of a set so I can pair the two together when I'm feeling symmetrical.

By the way, this is in my dining room area. I have so much more to show you, and I'm thrilled with my new glam look! Stay tuned this week!!

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Yesterday's steal: lamp & shade

So I ended up going into work to an empty office yesterday, forgetting it was a Stat holiday.

With nothing better to do, I left work and - what else? - shopped. On my way home, I found this festive red lampshade at my fave lamp and lighting store, Consumers Lighting, on Dufferin St. Then I popped into a Salvation Army Thrift Store on the way home, only to find it was 50 percent off day. I picked up a Ports vest for $1.50 and a sassy green Nygard trench coat for $3.50. I also found a pretty mauve Louben blazer for $3.50 that will be perfect for my Mom, and a pretty silk boho pillow for $1.50.

But this lamp, $12.99 regular price, was the keeper.

I had to fight to get it.

First I waited in line to get to the cash, only to be told it was final sale. When a lightbulb couldn't be found for me to test it, I found an employee in the back room who procured one, tested the lamp, then waited in the line all over again - only to be told the lamp wasn't part of the sale.

The cashier let me have it for 50 off in the end.

I just love it. What a statement piece. What texture. What a steal! The shade and base were made for eachother.

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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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Hanging magic lamps

Sorry for spotty posts this week; I'm working with some killer deadlines.

But I have to show you these inexpensive lights my beau was sweet enough to install for me recently (Grunge Queen is not handy in the least).

I picked this one up at Consumer's Lighting at 2482 Dufferin St. in Toronto - for $15!

It had a hole in the bottom that presumably some hardware was supposed to fit into, but it was missing. So I whipped out some glue and stuck a sparkly blue drawer pull to the bottom - doesn't it look great?

I'm not big on overhead lamps but this one is ambient - I put a lower wattage bulb in, and the cracked glass feature creates a softer look - don't you love the patterns it throws on the ceiling? So magical ....

My best friend gave me this one. It's a 1960s light fixture that her Dad had in the house he designed and built. When she bought the house she renovated and gave the lamp to me as she knew I loved it.

This one also casts neat patterns on the ceiling.

I have thank my man for putting this one up too; it was tricky and took a while.

Like the other one this one isn't in-your-face like a lot of other hanging lamps and chandeliers - I like the understated bling of both of them.

By the way I am working on my list of Top Ten Thrift Shops in Toronto for you, by reader request - will post next week!

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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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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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Blue star, super deal

If you live in Toronto and have always wanted one of these hanging Moroccan lamps, get thee to Broadview and Danforth Aves. today 'cos there's a screaming sale there.


Pealac Corp www.pealac.com is having a $20 sale on all furniture, lamps, wall hangings and accessories. Owner Nima is clearing out these goods so he specialize in Persian rugs.

This blue star lamp, which I could put put a tea light in or wire up, was originally $89.95 but I bagged it for $20. On Saturday there was a whole pile of clear lamps like this for the same price, though I betcha they're going fast.

I'm temped to go back and get more. Do you think I should attempt to wire this or just leave it as a pretty accessory?

The lamp just happens to match the antique Persion rug I bought at Nima's in February.

Pealac Corp., 815 Broadview Ave. just a couple steps north of the Broadview subway station.

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East end antique tour

As you may know, I shop - a lot. With 9 shopping columns a month at a local community newspaper, in addition to my own thrifting exploits, I know a lot of what's happening on the streets of Toronto - who's opened, who's closed, and who carries that unique find you won't find anywhere else.

These are hanging Victorian hall lamps made of glass, found in Antique Row in the east end of Toronto in a shop there. They're hard to find and represent the shop owner's entire collection....

This is a shop downstairs from the one featured above, where I bought the velvet blue chair. There are four dealers here, each with their own aesthetic and look, from Shabby Chic to French Country to, well, a bit scruffy (my personal preference!).

This is the outside of yet another shop on the antique block, which sells mostly decorative accessories like old globes, chandeliers and other bibs and bobs.

My pick: crystal chandelier strands (from broken chandeliers), $10 each or 2 for $15 - perfect for a choker necklace or drippy Christmas tree ornaments!

For the full article check it out here

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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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Great garbage find

I was wondering what I would post on the blog today as I was walking home yesterday afternoon, when 'lo and behold, I saw this funky lampshade on the curb.

It was attached to a base that looked like a robot - the industrial look was carried a wee bit too far - but I couldn't walk away without the shade ... isn't it just fab?

As you can see it's made of mesh rings and has little sprongy things hanging from the bottom - truly a grungy glam lampshade that's perfect for the Grunge Queen!


See how neat it looks lit up and how it casts teeny honeycombs on the wall?

I put it on a modern lamp base that I found in my closet - if you check out my numerous lamp posts you'll see I play around with shades and bases - and no doubt I'll play with it some more before I find the perfect arrangement for the moment.

For now I've put it in the kitchen along with a small Persian-y rug so the look is bohemian industrial for now.




This is only the beginning - think I feel a kitchen makeover coming on!

A tip on garbage picking: you have to have no shame, and looking purposeful and somewhat in-your-own world can make you look like some eccentric designer type who's going to get your big break by digging "x" out of the trash.

I picked this in full view of a family sitting on their porch. They watched me; I watched them; then I watched the lamp; then I decided, what the heck - it's too fabulous! - so I took the plunge and started rooting!

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Decorating identity questioned

I junk; therefore I am ... a good decorator?

There's nothing like seeing someone else's beautifully decorated apartment. It can cause tremendous joy, seeing art and Persian rugs and books so artfully arranged - but it can also inspire neuroses.

A few weeks ago I visited the apartment of a pal in the building, and let me just say it threw into question my very grunger's existence:

One look at my pad after and I could see what I never saw before: the clutter, the papers, the mis-matched furniture, the junky look.

It wasn't a good feeling.

Since then I've been cleaning out the papers and rearranging and editing furniture, objects and art in an effort to streamline my space.

Some furniture has been tossed. Other bric-a-brac has been shoved in the closet and may make its way to a sale of some sort, or even a thrift shop.

I'm not sure if my new look is going to work out - I think when we question and compare ourselves in negative ways that creativity can be stifled. And after all, once a junker, always a junker, no?


Still I like what I did above with the big white (new) lampshade found at the Salvation Army Thrift Store for $7.99. It had a funny base that wouldn't allow me to attach it to the lamp the correct way, so I flipped it over and voila: I have a funky Art Deco-inspired look with an upside-down lampshade!

Maybe the Grunge Queen has a tad of spunk left in her.

Stay tuned. The overhaul - and identity crises - is still in progress.

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Sparkly drawer pulls inspire

I've been obsessed with sparkly glass drawer pulls for a long time now - what better way to jazz up a beat up curbside find? - but haven't been willing to pay the $18 EACH I've been seeing them for in stores.

A troll in the Beaches the other day unearthed a new shop with a whole counter of pulls - for way less coin than I've ever seen them!

In Nesters (2207 Queen St. East, 416-698-2207) I found these blue acrylic pulls for less than $3 each! There are also glass and ceramic ones for good prices.

Needless to say I bought a wack to add a bit of bling to this dark dresser - you can see the difference here.

The old faux tortoise shell pulls are lovely, but don't really do much for this dresser, you'll agree.

I ended up buying two too many just for the heck of it - I have a lot of dressers - and just before beddie-bye last night discovered a cool alternative use for these drawer pulls.

Can you guess? Check out some of my older posts, where I switch up lampshades and lampshade hardware to create entirely new looks!










You guessed it: a lamp finial! Doesn't it look like a little jewel on the top of my lamp? I love the way it's all illuminated.

The purple shade helps - I tried the drawer pull on a lamp with an off-white shade and it doesn't look as special.

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Dinner party table

I had a dinner party last night and decorated my rarely used dining table for the occasion....

An easy yet glam way of jazzing up your table is to plop a mirror on it that can function as a receptacle for flowers, candles and a lamp, in my case.

I picked up some lovely Yves Rocher scented candles from the dollar store and plonked one in a teacup saucer and the other in a silver tub - easy peasy chic!






The purply tea roses were lovely and all, but then my date brought me my fave kind of flowers: orange-y roses, a dozen of them!

Gee, not only did my heart melt - I was also thrilled that they matched my dining table display to the tee!

The tableau looks way better with his flowers - everything matches but it's not too matchy-matchy as the black tablecloth provides some contrast and the mirror a bit of bling.

If you look closely you'll see that I wrapped the neck of the lamp in a pink ribbon. Hey I was dressed up, why not dress up my lamp a little?

I was temped to ring my dinner bell (see Emotional Decorating post from a few days ago), but since this was a party of two I thought it would be gauche.

I'll be posting another entertaining tip soon - I scammed it from a friend who had me over for dinner a few weeks ago and it's a charming idea!

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Dining room switcheroo

So if I moved what was in the dining room back into the living room (see post below), natch I had to move the living room into where the former dining room turned living room is - was?

Yes, a $5 rug and $3.99 mirror (did I mention the mirror was 30 percent off?) inspired me to redo my digs on the warmest Saturday we've had so far this Spring but no matter: here's what I came up with for the dining room....

Where the other room utilized the contrast between the orange and the inky blue and had a def glam-Baroque look, this room is my colour room, a more casual space with a modern-contemporary look.


It's not as glam but it's more lived in.

What I love:

For a gal who loves her colour, I'm surprised I'm so taken with my white lamp bases, picked up at the same thrift store (Stretch Thrift, my local thrift shop) for $3.99 on different occasions - gee $3.99 is my magic thrift number these days!












I plop whatever lamp shade I feel like on them and play a little at lamp hardware switcheroo too ....

For some reason the lamps remind me of one of my fave Woody Allen flics, Interiors - funnily enough a film that also features beautiful interior spaces ....












I'm also totally digging that I've relocated my T.V. to a corner of the room rather than having it as the focal point in the "other" living room space.

It has a little nooky feel here, and I'm so pleased I was able to finally come up with an attractive tableau to put on top of the robin's egg blue 1950s table I've had for years!

The black T.V., Elle Decor mags and black sculpture picked up at Value Village contrast nicely with the green and add to the retro colourful look of the room.

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