Urban Condo

My cousin told me he was selling his downtown Toronto condo and so I offered to take some photo's for his listing. In my business, I've photographed many home interiors as well as businesses for various magazines, advertisements or even real estate companies. Although his was a pretty standard unit, he had built in some very appealing features and I wanted to capture them.

It's a one bedroom plus den with lots of natural light coming from the large windows and a great view of the downtown waterfront. Pretty typical for a new unit in town (minus the view) but he had taken this ordinary urban condo, and turned it into a one of a kind space with just a few alterations. Installing this bamboo wall to feature his living room was one example.

A wood casing was made to house pot lights and river rocks where the tall bamboo stalks were embedded in a trough of river rocks. The wood was then stained a darker stain to compliment the light floors. Also, a small open shelving unit was made to divide the kitchen from the living area but also allow for more storage in this small space. I love the orange accents they had used to compliment the neutral colours in the space. Using a coloured pillow, throw and some tall leaves in a jar could be some of the easiest and most affordable ways to add colour and impact to your space.



Another feature which I thought was pretty unique to this space was what he did with a plain open wall. Most likely the choice of wall to place a television against, either by hanging it on the wall or finding a television unit to fit the wall. What my cousin had done was pretty clever. He had cut a hole in the wall, installed a swivel system and attached the t.v. to it. This would allow for the t.v. to swivel and turn 180º into the next room being the bedroom and once swivelled, it now faced the bed head on. You could watch t.v. in either room without having to purchase 2 t.v.'s or move anything (aside from a simple twist of the wrist). This also keeps all of the unsightly television and stereo wires tucked away as to keep the focus on where it needs to be.

I'm not sure if this unit is still available, but if you're looking for a downtown Toronto condo, contact me and I can give you the info!

I thought it was all pretty ingenious and I'm always impressed at the imagination that people have with their homes. This just shows what you could even do with a small space like a downtown condo. Don't be afraid to let your personality shine through. If it's simple things like adding a coloured pillow and throw or building your own bamboo wall, it's your home, an extension of who you are. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money and it doesn't have to be a lot of work. I'm always so proud and content when someone enters my home and says that it is a true reflection of who I am. Inspiration can come from anywhere, don't be afraid to let yourself shine through with whatever you do.

The "Door" Project

This summer was all about giving the front of my house a face lift. This 85 year old house would finally have that great curb appeal I had been wishing for. In just a few short months, two dedicated and determined home owners, some help from a dedicated father, and a very limited budget, we managed to do quite a bit of work around the outside of house and transform it.

Along with the front, we also worked on a few projects around the back of the house which included a new backyard fence and gate. At the front, we had painted all the windows and doors, painted a very rusty old iron railing, painted the brick and details on the front of the house and added a new gate in between this house and the neighbours. If there's time, I'd like to replace the evestrough and tile the front walk way with slate. Yes, I'm a little ambitious seeing that it's October now in Toronto and working outdoors will soon become miserable.

When we had begun our summer project on the outside of the house, we started with painting the front porch railing. Realizing that we had plenty of Tremclad metal paint left over, we continued with the windows. Sometime in the early 80's, someone thought it would be a good idea to replace all their windows with brown aluminum windows with small sliders along the bottom. Seems like everyone else in the neighbourhood had the same idea. Now I certainly don't have the budget to replace the windows because they're unsightly, but since we had plenty of leftover paint, we kept going and painted all the windows. What a huge difference a new coat of paint on an old metal railing and dated brown windows make. We've even had comments by neighbours looking to update their brown windows! Still lots of leftover paint....

In front of my door, was a brown and white glass storm door. Replacing it was a consideration, but again, the cost just didn't seem worth it.

We thought we'd try and paint that as well but knew we had a big project ahead of us. We started first thing in the morning so we could give the door plenty of time to dry. Oh, to make things easier, we removed the door and set it up on some paint cans to avoid drips. We lay the door down, taped carefully around the several windows in the door and painted, about 2 coats per side. So far so good. Later that night, it was dry to the touch, but just to be safe, we leaned it up against the wall and left it for a few more days for the paint to cure.

Next was the door. Now, when I first moved in, this door was ugly. The yellowish brown stain on the entire door covered by a high gloss laquer was not pretty. The orange patterned window inset with a small square frame around it didn't help. I hoped to one day replace the door altogether, but never got around to it. Instead, I built up the frame around the window painted the door white, and lived with that for years. But now with the whole house starting to look much better, it was time for a drastic change. I had gotten used to the ugly orange glass in the door, but it was time for it to go. I started looking at replacing the glass and saw several patterned glass options to choose from, but I wasn't loving any of them. Shopping at Home Depot one day, I discovered rolls of plastic window film from Light Effects which would stick onto windows, glass etc. I've seen these before, I have some on a bathroom window, but these were much nicer, much more stylish. I fell in love with one pattern, the Etched Lace, but it cost a bit more than I had wanted to spend. I called my my glass guy and asked him to quote me a few different options of glass. I decided to have 2 thinner pieces cut and stick the film between the two. This way, the film would be protected and no one would know it was not actually etched glass. The Light Effects treatment was super easy to use! The two pieces of glass were $18, and the window film was $30. First we had to remove the existing wood frame around the glass and then pry out the old glass, very very carefully. We managed to pull the glass out in 2 pieces, but it could of been much worse! If you're doing this, please wear protective clothing, goggles and gloves!

Once removed, we cleaned out the old glue and placed a thin bead of construction adhesive or caulking around the inside of the frame (glass facing outside). I'm no pro here, so you'll have to do your own homework as to what's best to use. Then the glass is carefully put into place and another bead of caulk is run along the edges of the glass. The strips of frame are pressed into the caulk against the glass, the screws go back into the existing holes, wood filler fills the holes. and sanded when dry. The door lock was salvageable, but the handle was upgraded for approx. $47.00. A previous door lock left a large hole in behind the newer deadbolt. I had used a metal plate to cover the hole, but as you see in the 'before' picture, it was a lovely shade of brass. We painted the plate to match the colour of the new door. Before the locks went back on, we painted around the door lock and handle holes before they were secured back onto the door. This way, we didn't have to worry about getting paint on the new hardware, and any odd brush strokes. We also replaced the weatherstripping around the door with an aluminum coloured one to match the knobs (about $17).

Finally, we primed and painted the door. The front was the same matt black paint from Tremclad used to paint the railing and all the windows (you can also use this 'rust' paint to paint wood!). The inside of the door was painted white with some leftover paint used to paint all the doors and trim inside. So for about $120, and some leftover paint, all of a sudden (ok, days later), we have a stylish new front door!
What do you think??

Sweet smell of Lavender

Lavender makes me happy. Really! Aside from the incredibly soothing scent of lavender, did you know that it has many natural healing properties? The oil which comes from the flowery spikes, has been known to treat many ailments from: skin conditions, to sleep problems, muscle aches and tension, to depression, even stress and anxiety. It is one of my favorite scents and it really does takes away my anxiety, calms me down and makes me happy! Perhaps that's why everything from my skin cream, hand cream, shampoo and conditioner, bath oil, even cleaning and laundry products have lavender in it. When I can’t sleep at night, I put a bit of my lavender scented Shea butter creme around my nose. Every time I take a breath, the calming aroma relaxes me and helps put me to sleep. I even have lavender oil which I burn in my candle diffuser to bring the calming scent to the whole house! You can even cook and bake with lavender, although at this point, I just like to smell it :) I think this scent is pretty magical, it calms me from the inside, out. Not that I'm a bundle of nerves or anything, but who doesn't like to feel a little more at peace if they could, only by the natural scent in the air they breath?

I have quite a lot of lavender in my garden, both front yard and back. The little perennial plants that I purchased years ago and planted in both gardens, have grown and expanded beautifully. When I walk by a lavender bush, I can't help but run my fingers through the stems up to the flowered spikes. I close my eyes, take a deep breath and smile as the scented oils that had rubbed off onto my hands bring a state of calm and peace over me, even for just a brief moment. I have not yet been adventurous enough to use the mass of lavender in the garden to create my own concoction of home-made soothing scented products. Perhaps I’ll leave that to the professionals. All I can do is admire these beautiful plants, and from time to time, cut a few back and display them in a vase in my home from my indoor enjoyment as well.
I walked home after a rain shower a few weeks back and admired the changing colours of the lavender in my front yard. They had gone from a pale grey lilac colour to a vibrant purple in just a matter of weeks, and the colours seemed even more vibrant after the rain. I couldn't resist grabbing my camera to take a few snapshots of the garden.
After I took some photo’s, I wanted to do more. I photographed a few strands in a tiny vase to sit on my powder room's sink. The bathroom is tiny enough to appreciate the small bouquet. I still wanted more. I looked at my ever growing collection of plates and dishes that I have for my studio props. Over the years, I had photographed hundreds of meals on lovely dishes, for various recipe magazines, but every so often, the shot was about the place setting itself and not the meal. So I though, why not use the lavender to decorate a place setting? Ok, so I'm not so formal as to use name tags for my dinner guests place settings, BUT, it might be a nice idea for a wedding, bridal or baby shower, or perhaps an anniversary party? Sky's the limit when you have fun and use your imagination!