styleNorth

My friend Rebecca was very excited to show me her latest reno project; after six years in her current house, she and husband Dan had finally removed their eighth (and final?) wall, the one standing between them and their backyard. Instead of having to go out a side door and around to the back, sliding glass doors now provide outside access and abundant light.

Like so many young couples in gentrifying cities, Rebecca and Dan fought their way onto the property ladder then slowly scaled it one rung at a time. Their Victorian semi in Toronto’s Palmerston/Little Italy neighbourhood was a duplex when they bought it and so it stayed for the first two years while they adjusted to taxes, a mortgage and all the other joys of home ownership.

When their first daughter arrived, they knew they would need to reclaim the upstairs living space; when their second daughter joined the family there was no turning back. The renos have come slowly as the couple could afford them, first as part of realigning the upstairs — eliminating a now-redundant extra kitchen, for starters — and then to unify and beautify the main floor.

The before pics, above, will be familiar to anyone who has lived through a renovation, but doing it all with young children ought to come with a special merit badge. To see the space now, all white, bright and calm is to completely forget the mess and expense.

During our house-tour tea I observed that Rebecca and Dan must really like white because they’ve used it as a neutral throughout the house. “I like a calm palette,” she said, “that then gets coloured up like crazy with the frenetic energy and very bright clothes/toys/drawings/laughter of my kids and life in general.”

I appreciate the observation that if your life comes with lots of colour, your interior doesn’t necessarily have to provide it.

Before all the walls came down it didn’t matter that there were four disparate light fixtures on the main level because they were all in different rooms; now with those spaces conjoined and unified with bamboo flooring throughout, harmonizing the lighting is on the do-to list. It’s one of those things you don’t think about until the walls are gone.

On the second floor are the girls bedrooms and a roomy family den for TV and lounging.

The third floor is reserved for the master suite, a spacious sanctuary away from the chaos of family life.

Rebecca and Dan splurged on a beautiful marble bathroom, their reward for living through this long and sometimes painful transition from duplex to beautiful family home.

Click through for a few more pics and vignettes . . .

(more…)

While I was seeing Emanuel at Old Fashioned Restoration I popped across the street to Eclectic Revival (3075 Dundas St. West, 416.766.5500) where owner Pete Breese has THE most stunning vintage Italian suspension light in the window. Priced at $3,500 the light would break the bank but OMG, what a stunner!

If I’d known this was going to be a styleNorth post I would have taken better “before” pics. Honestly, the table was a mess before I took it to Emanuel Calleja at Old Fashioned Restoration (3068 Dundas St. West, 416-767-6989). It’s a long and not very interesting story as to how I came to be the guardian of this particular demilune, suffice it to say that I felt responsible for the state it wound up in and wanted to do right by the piece before I returned it to its owner.

The white marks, above left, are mostly heat damage with some additional water damage; the finish had dulled with age and neglect. I’m not experienced enough to tackle a project like this: Emanuel says he lightly sanded the finish then used Methyl alcohol to chase away the white marks. He topped it off with several coats of French polish and Voila!, the table is gleaming again, better than new.

Emanuel charges around $250 to do a job like this so if you’ve got a good piece that needs some TLC, I highly recommend this refinishing genius, he truly is Toronto’s Wood Whisperer.

My first post about Of Things Past in Rosedale got a lukewarm reception here, but whatever. The shop is on my block so I keep tabs on it and week after week after week there is something on the floor I adore, something priced just ever so slightly out of my reach; so I wait and debate only to see it snapped up and gone while my indecision simmers. Today these charming chests appeared in the window, so Dorthory Draper the grand dame herself might have designed them. She’d certainly snap them up if she were alive and had a client to cajole. The colour, the scale, those feet! They are not going cheap at $1,100 each but mark my words, they will be going. Originally from Bugalow 5 in New York, the Jacqui 4-drawer retails for $1,700 new, plus shipping, of course. Sooner or later I’ll be flush enough to pounce when some new prey appears in the window, but today is not that day. If OTP Rosedale is not on your radar, it should be.

Every year I hear from at least one reader who saw the sale on styleNorth and snagged themselves a fantastic deal, so here we go again with the annual Gus Warehouse sale, tomorrow morning (Saturday, April 13), address details below. If you’re serious about a sofa or another major piece from the Gus line, GO EARLY! This is a serious sale that people stake out and attack with a vigor worthy of the Flintstones’ Betty and Wilma. Charge-It!