Tag Archive | "Salvage"
Finally Doing it Right
If the leggy little tray table, above right, looks familiar it's because I featured it as a quick and dirty DIY in October 2011. Too quick and too dirty as it turned out. My Red Green, duct-tape method for attaching the legs lasted a few days before it all fell apart. Then I tried epoxy, which held on for about a week. What I really needed was a circular piece of wood into which to screw the legs, and then attach the tray to the wood. This is where Michael Greenwood came in, kindly providing me with a perfectly-cut circle of 1/2" plywood.
Full post and comments...Old Wood Transformed by Greenwood
Monday, March 4, 2013
I admire Toronto-based craftsman Michael Greenwood as much for his work ethic and promotional savvy as for his talent in turning old wood into beautiful new furniture and building projects. Michael checked in with me a couple of weeks ago; business was a bit slow due to the winter so he was updating his blog and working his way through his contact list. As it turned out I needed a favour that only a woodworker could provide and so I dropped in on Michael at his new location in the artist colony at Stirling Road in Toronto's west end . . .
Full post and comments...When All Else Fails, Active Surplus
Saturday, September 1, 2012
I found this cute little Noguchi-style paper table lamp at a garage sale for $2 but when I got it home I realized it was missing one of its little ball feet. Now what? Whenever I'm faced with an impossible fix like this, there's only one place I go, Toronto's Active Surplus (347 Queen Street West, upstairs). Active is one of those head-scratching, retail mysteries. How does a store that sells bits and bobs worth 25¢ and 50¢ each make the rent on one of the city's priciest retail strips? I'm just glad they do because Active is a godsend when you're searching for that impossible little part. Clips, balls, rings, caps, plugs, dowels, wood blocks, plastic tubing, acrylic off-cuts, Active is like the world's largest junk box, go in and fish around and with a bit of luck you'll find what you need to MacGyver your project.
Full post and comments...Industrial Chic Verso
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Verso, designer Julie Jenkinson's new retail concept was barely open when she was featured in the New York Times. Writer Sarah Wildman described Verso as a "vintage curio shop," which pretty much sums it up. Housed in a repurposed garage behind business partner Kate Eisen's INabstracto (1160 Queen West), Verso specializes in the kind of industrial chic detritus our parents would scoff at and our kids can't get enough of. To my mind, Verso dwells in the zeitgeist somewhere between ruin porn and steampunk. Jenkinson is very much the author of her own aesthetic but it's the kind of thing we've been seeing in smaller doses at Queen West Antique Centre and Black Pug for awhile.
Full post and comments...Treasure Hunting in Cobourg, Ontario
Friday, January 13, 2012
Here's a post that's been in the can for months. Back in September when I scouted Waddington's new Cobourg outpost, I went on a little treasure hunt along tiny Covert Street, which I discovered thanks to my friend Susan Forint and her SAF Affect blog. Then, before I got a chance to post my thrifty finds, I learned that I had overlooked Cobourg's biggest claim to vintage fame, the massive Legacy salvage yard. So back I went with my Ajax friends Denise and Larry who kindly provided the transport.
Full post and comments...
Sunday, March 17, 2013
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