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Tag Archive | "Design Classics"

Real Style on a Real Budget

Sunday, December 25, 2011

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Today's post is a Christmas present to myself, the big reveal after a one-month makeover of a home in Oakville, Ontario. My client, Nikola, is a 28-year-old bachelor with a three-bedroom, detached home in a newish development. The location screams suburbs but Nikola wanted a space that was "modern and trendy, incorporating 'unique' vintage pieces and original art," according to the brief I distilled from our initial meeting. The client's wishlist included a revamp of the living room, dining room and master bedroom, if possible, on a budget of $5,000, which would include my 30 per cent decorating fee.

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Base Desires

Saturday, October 29, 2011

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When it comes to vintage furniture I have three weaknesses, chairs, lamps and coffee tables. There is almost never a time I don't have at least two coffee tables in my possession, as I do at the moment. So obviously I have no way to justify the purchase of this fab find at Toronto's Upside Dive (269 Queen Street East). The table is a steal at $250 and it would be steel by the time I was finished with it, I'd strip that brass plate in a jiffy and it would chrome for the ages. The piece is a copy of a design by Roger Sprunger for Dunbar that I blogged about last year. The Dunbar original has a bolt joining each gently turned leg, whereas the Upside table are straight bends attached with a solid solder. Shown right side up, above, the table comes with a good quality 40" diameter smoked glass top. But my preference with this design is always to see it upside down, a W rather than an M.

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INabstracto Pops Up at Design Exchange

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

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INabstracto owner Kate Eisen and textile/wallpaper designer Julie Jenkinson have teamed to create a pop-up store at Toronto's DX. Jenkinson's Animaze pattern, which I blogged about back in August 2009, is the connecting thread, showing up on everything from cushions and dog beds to pajamas, cloth bags and upholstery for some of Eisen's iconic mid-century pieces like a Jacques Guillon Cord Chair and a Russel Spanner dining chair. Classic vintage pieces in immaculate condition don't come cheap, however, so be prepared to open your wallet wide if you crave a piece of this action. The Chord Chair is $995 and the Spanner piece is $650. There's also an impressive Herman Miller sectional by Guy Chadwick available, five pieces priced at $4,500. Yeah, like I said, big money. But also big style.

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Cleeve Horne House: That Sinking Feeling

Monday, October 3, 2011

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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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Shops: Sputnik Vintage

Thursday, August 11, 2011

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I hadn't planned to make this mid-century week on styleNorth, it just turned out that way. Last Saturday I hiked out to the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke with my new friends Susan and Dave to visit Sputnik Vintage, a relatively new player in the local MCM furniture market. Sputnik is owned and operated by a knowledgeable and very funny veteran dealer named Peter Frampton who doesn't sing but is a master of accents and impersonations. Frampton dealt in antiques for decades but he made the jump to mid-century stuff when saw the popular taste heading in that direction. Smart move.

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