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Welcome 2012!

Sunday, January 1, 2012 by Chris

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How sweet it is to be greeting the new year in my new home. Never mind the chaos of clutter and boxes lurking at the edges of the frame below, I'll get to that soon enough. The important thing is that my move went off with nary a hitch on Friday thanks to the amazing Tome brothers, John and Joe who I've used for my past five moves. Lightning fast, the Tomes and their two young assistants showed up at 7:30 am and were on their way to their next job at 11:15 am. If you're in the Toronto area and you need a mover I cannot recommend these guys more highly -- totally reliable, totally professional (416.802.8266).

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Cleeve Horne House: That Sinking Feeling

Monday, October 3, 2011 by Chris

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For the progeny of Cleeve and Jean Horne, this spectacular modernist home in a picturesque valley in Pickering, Ontario, is a seldom-used summer place, an after thought that has been allowed to slide into disrepair, if not disrepute. The house is tucked away behind the main residence and barn on a 200-acre family property and as one of the Horne's adult grandchildren told me yesterday during Doors Open Pickering, it's a challenge to hold onto the place in the face of rising taxes and land values. Seeing the state of the interior, I couldn't help thinking that this architectural gem might be better off in the hands of someone more invested in honouring its uniqueness.

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A Collector Restrained

Friday, September 30, 2011 by Chris

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For an inveterate collector — her daughter calls her a hoarder — Larysa Fenyn is remarkably restrained. Her basement has become a storage facility, albeit a neat one, and if you open any of her numerous cabinets or credenzas you’ll find row upon row of high-quality trinkets. But on the surface at least, her centre hall home in Toronto’s Royal York neighbourhood is carefully curated. “I hate clutter,” she tells me as she leads me through her sunny rooms. On a sideboard stands a shimmering art glass plate and three shapely, black candle holders. Larysa has many others, some in teak, some white, but her display has been paired back to this. I admire her willingness to edit.

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Client Project: Worth the Wait

Thursday, September 22, 2011 by Chris

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Magda was/is my first decorating "client." I use parentheses because our relationship has evolved over the course of the two years we've been working together and we have definitely become friends. She introduced herself at the end of a talk I gave at the National Homeshow in fall 2009; she was looking for help rescuing her decor, which was stuck in the '80s . . . the 1880s. Magda didn't know me from Adam when we met, she'd never even seen styleNorth. I have to give her ample credit for agreeing to what sometimes felt like risky purchases but in the end it all came together beautifully.

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Two Small Rooms

Sunday, September 18, 2011 by Chris

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Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting Dennis Battler, a sometime retail stylist and home stager who rents two small rooms on the top floor of a house in Toronto's Riverdale neighbourhood. Dennis has lived large and now he doesn't. He's okay with that. In his 50s, he is actively learning to live with less. Dennis talks about the energy intrinsic in all things and has purged his life of the unnecessary and the negative and embraced the essential and the positive. He and his lovely Whippet, Shanti, occupy the bedroom, above, and a small sitting room with two chairs and a loveseat. He shares the kitchen, bathroom and laundry facilities with the homeowner but restricts his "living" to his own quarters in the attic.

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