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Tag Archive | "Thrift"

Garage Sale Saturday

Friday, April 15, 2011

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Just a little reminder that some friends and I have banded together to throw what we hope will be an awesome spring garage sale next Saturday (April 16) at the Wychwood Gallery (601 Christie Street, 1 block south of St. Clair West, east end of Artscape Barn No. 1). We've got stools, tables, chairs, cabinets, rugs, mirrors, art, vases, lamps, decorative items, you name it. The sale starts at 8 am and we'll be there until the last knick-knack is sold. So save the date and plan to join us . . . please. We've got to get rid of this stuff so we can start all over again!

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Picking Their Way Across Canada

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

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Last fall, History Television invited me to a Leslieville junk store where they were shooting an episode of a new series called Canadian Pickers, debuting next Tuesday (April 12 at 10 pm EST). At that time I'd never seen American Pickers, which has since grown into a monster hit for the network. Judging by the half-an-hour I spent with Sheldon and Scott in Toronto, I'd say they have a pretty fair chance of holding their own against their US forerunners. Sheldon had me in stitches telling a story about how Scott scored a Steiff lion at a yard sale by parking so close to a fence that his mother couldn’t get out of the car and beat him to it (he claims it wasn’t intentional).

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Reader Success Story

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

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StyleNorth reader Robin wrote to me this week to share a makeover inspired by my post about stripping brass plate using oven cleaner. "I picked up the table at Goodwill shortly after I read your posting and got to work right away," she writes. "It took about two hours, but I think the result speaks for itself . . . thanks so much for a great tip." Robin is flipping the table on Craigslist and will make a tidy profit off her sweat equity. "I love projects like this," she writes, "because you get almost immediate gratification. I do a fair amount of furniture painting, but have never attempted anything like this before. Now, we'll see if someone else appreciates my labour!"

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Does Howard Really Restore A Finish?

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

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I've heard about Howard Restor-A-Finish but never actually used it until this past weekend when I helped my friend Ingrid breathe some new life into a couple of tired antiques. The product isn't widely available in Canada but Toronto's Queen West Antique Centre (1605 Queen Street West, 416.588.2212) stocks the full range of shades from light pine-maple to dark oak and ebony. Howard's slogan is "Restore it, Don't Strip it!" and I have to say I was very impressed with the product up to a point. The rub-on, wipe-off liquid was fantastically good at hiding minor dings and scratches and even removed old paint smudges with the help of some super-fine steel wool.

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As the Table Turns

Thursday, February 17, 2011

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I deliberately delayed my post about my brass-slash-chrome coffee table until it was sold lest the buyer see my piece and balk at having paid a mark-up. Well, wouldn't you know it, the buyer turned out to be another Toronto-based decor blogger, Laura from Gracefully Searching. Laura has done a post about her fab new table (pictured above) and doesn't seem the least bit bothered by the fact that I made some money on my Craigslist flip. Or did I? The table took me about 6 hours to transform, which translates into a little over $18 per hour for my labour, considerably less than I make at my day job. Maybe I'm the one who should be upset.

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