http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog Real Canadians decorating Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:34:29 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2011/08/so-hip-it-hurts/ http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2011/08/so-hip-it-hurts/#comments Sat, 13 Aug 2011 14:37:38 +0000 Chris http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=17947 Project Runway judge Nina Garcia often describes this or that design as being "very editorial," meaning it will jump off a page and look good in her magazine. I can only assume that's why Studio Pepe Heykoop's fugly Skin collection is featured in today's Globe and Mail. If this ridiculous design from the Netherlands is available in Canada, Globe Style editor Danny Sinopoli is keeping the details to himself. You can bet the chairs cost a small fortune, which further begs the question, what kind of slobbering trend addict would shell out hard-earned smack for something so preposterous? Get a load of the Martin Margiela chair, below, described on the Pepe Heykoop site as "dirty chique." Need I say more?]]> http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2011/08/so-hip-it-hurts/feed/ 17 http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2011/06/this-is-paradise-on-crack/ http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2011/06/this-is-paradise-on-crack/#comments Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:23:45 +0000 Chris http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=17478 The all-toile bedroom has been a popular decorative folly since Toile de Jouy fabric was invented in France, circa 1760. Fashion icon Diana Vreeland famously took the all-pattern room to new heights in the 1950s when she asked decorator Billy Baldwin to create a garish red "garden in hell" for her Park Avenue apartment. Toronto artists Elinor Rose Galbraith and John Scott took the concept to another extreme altogether when they created The Bunny Boudoir - Redux (1984-2011), above, which has been installed at the centre of the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art for a new show called This Is Paradise.]]> http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2011/06/this-is-paradise-on-crack/feed/ 0 http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2011/05/designers-gone-wild/ http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2011/05/designers-gone-wild/#comments Tue, 17 May 2011 11:09:15 +0000 Chris http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=17025 From the outside, the Corus Entertainment headquarters on Toronto's waterfront looks much like any other glass and steel office complex but the interior is a whole other story. I recently had the pleasure of touring the space, whose interior was designed by Toronto's Quadrangle Architects (the building was designed by Diamond+Schmitt). The Top of the Hub Lounge is a riot of fun, contemporary furniture: the Hot Wheels-worthy, looping bench is called the Highway Sofa by Italy's Segis, the green Alcove sofas are by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra and the enormous task lamp is called the Giant Lamp from Luxo.]]> http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2011/05/designers-gone-wild/feed/ 4 http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2010/11/i-covetous-monumental-brass-chest/ http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2010/11/i-covetous-monumental-brass-chest/#comments Sat, 06 Nov 2010 10:40:59 +0000 Chris http://stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=14738 This is the worst photograph I've ever run on styleNorth, please forgive me. But I'm so thoroughly captivated by the beauty and mystery of this gargantuan and richly embellished brass chest that I just have to post about it. The chest is about 4' tall, nearly as deep and at least 5' wide; it stands in the window (hence the glare) of a would-be antiques shop at 3045 Dundas Street West in Toronto's Junction neighbourhood. I say would-be antiques shop because in five years of spending time on this strip I have never, ever seen the place open -- mornings, afternoons, weekends, weekdays, never open. Consequently, I have no idea what the chest would cost even if it could be purchased.]]> http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2010/11/i-covetous-monumental-brass-chest/feed/ 5 http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/06/folly-statues-r-us/ http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/06/folly-statues-r-us/#comments Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:20:05 +0000 Chris http://stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=10198 Lorne and Ruth Campbell's garden isn't likely to be featured in Canadian House and Home any time soon and that's just fine with them. Their mismatched menagerie of statuary, which ranges from stone and cast iron animals to Greek Godesses and Japanese pagodas is a local landmark in Toronto's well-to-do Kingsway neighbourhood.]]> http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/06/folly-statues-r-us/feed/ 3 http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/06/folly-disco-fallout-shelter-dfs/ http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/06/folly-disco-fallout-shelter-dfs/#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:08:27 +0000 Chris http://stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=9563 In Disco Fallout Shelter (DFS), Instant Coffee has constructed what purports to be a fallout shelter beneath a grassy knoll in the small park. A closed circuit monitor relays the goings on underground to a viewing station nearby. But my interest is less in the above ground art, than it is in the decoration of the space itself . . .]]> http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/06/folly-disco-fallout-shelter-dfs/feed/ 3 http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/04/elephant-house-ii-bigger-not-better/ http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/04/elephant-house-ii-bigger-not-better/#comments Sat, 18 Apr 2009 10:18:42 +0000 Chris http://stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=6396 I’ve written about elephants in the garden before but this one takes the cake. And not a good way. The giant white elephant dwarfing the postage stamp, front yard at 77 Yarmouth Road in Toronto is a folly in every sense of the word. It’s locally famous, naturally, but I also find it to be a bit of eyesore, mostly because the scale of the piece is just so wrong for the site.]]> http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/04/elephant-house-ii-bigger-not-better/feed/ 1 http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/04/werner-schmidts-junkyard-folly/ http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/04/werner-schmidts-junkyard-folly/#comments Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:00:44 +0000 Chris http://stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=7631 I’m sure more than a few of his neighbours will happy to see the back of artist Werner Schmidt when he packs up his “junk” and moves on in June. After 28 years as a tenant at 919A Ossington Ave., Werner has been told to vacate the premises in order to accommodate the building’s new owner. The 60-something Schmidt is a classic, outsider artist. He takes found scrap and junk and fashions it into the most fanciful sculptures, which he then uses to decorate the property. Schmidt’s work is perched around the yard, tacked up on the wall and propped on windowsills, some of it quite simple and some tremendously elaborate, even scary.]]> http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/04/werner-schmidts-junkyard-folly/feed/ 6 http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/03/folly-inside-the-mushroom-studio/ http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/03/folly-inside-the-mushroom-studio/#comments Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:10:15 +0000 Chris http://stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=6843 Under normal circumstances the Mushroom Studio wouldn't merit a styleNorth post but when I called the Sculpture Garden administrator to ask about the project she happened to mention that the artist had been "quite particular" about the furnishings that went into the "studio". I had inadvertently stumbled upon a story about a real Canadian decorating a highly unusual space.]]> http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/03/folly-inside-the-mushroom-studio/feed/ 2 http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/01/folly-bavarian-castle-in-mississauga/ http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/01/folly-bavarian-castle-in-mississauga/#comments Fri, 23 Jan 2009 09:47:51 +0000 Chris http://stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=5200 How could I possibly drive past this fabulous pile without stopping the car? Inspired by King Ludwig II’s Bavarian castle Neuschwanstein, this Mississauga mansion happens to be for sale so naturally I contacted listing agent Matthew Regan who was kind enough to give Mike and I a tour. WOW is really the only word that comes to mind. There's nothing Mc about this mansion, which has been on the market since last fall and is currently listed at $2,195,000.]]> http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/01/folly-bavarian-castle-in-mississauga/feed/ 7