One Month Crunchtime

Oh shit. What is it about procrastination that makes it seem so alluring but it's really poisonous? It's like a great big piece of chocolate for a diabetic. Some people have rage problems, some people snore--my problem is I procrastinate and with 1 month until we are officially moved in, I have a lot to do.

I had written down a lot of stuff I wanted to do and how I wanted it done on this blog which is precisely why I created it. Then DUH! I forgot to read it. So I have to go through it and think, think, think. I forgot about things like rugs for the bathroom and wine rack. I FORGOT THE WINE RACK!!! When life gets shitty, when there's romance in the air, when I cook....I need wine. A wine rack is as integral to my being as the TV is to a jock who watches ESPN. Seeing my wine beautifully displayed in a rack is like watching the Superbowl on an HDTV. It just makes it that much better.

So, note to self: get rug for bathroom. Do people normally freak out this far ahead? Isn't this the time when people just begin looking for apartments? I don't know if I have the time-line right or wrong but my room is filling quickly with boxes and boxes and bags of stuff and my mom is freaking out, lol. She's coming in here and falling over all these boxes I'm hoarding for some imminent date in the near future. She's been a bit concerned since a bag with ceramic mugs crushed the cat's tail. Whoops.

I HAVE AN INKLING I WANT TO DO A DARK GRAY

I am doing what I fear the most--FINALLY going to the paint store. Why have I put this off? Why have I discussed my joy to paint the room but haven't bought the goddamn paint? Well, quite frankly, I'm afraid to waltz into Behrs or Benjamin Moore and stand like some freakin' idiot scratching my head with a blank stare going on. Uh.....I've never painted anything before except my nails. I don't mean to piss off my feminist friends and sound like a dumb ditz but seriously...I don't want to fuck up the walls and I have NO clue what I'm doing. I'm going to go into the store either embarrassingly clueless or with a set of Google instructions in my hand. I'm not sure which is worse, especially since I'll probably be just as clueless with the paper in my hand. I don't know how to pick the best color for an accent wall and what happens after that. Should I tip the paint-guy to do all the brainwork for me? Lol. I'll have to credit my artistically put together apartment to some guy who picks his nose in the paint store. Yay.

Signed and Sealed

   Yay! Finally signed the contract for the Annex apartment in such a charismatic, great neighbourhood and I'm pretty stoked. It's not only that the neighbourhood is great, it's just the legalities are done and I can sit back and finally focus on the aesthetic aspect of moving in. I was able to measure the place which is about 670 sq. feet which isn't bad since I've seen New York City flats much smaller look fabulous! The hard-wood floors and U-shaped kitchen have me sold. I am going to make this sucker home!
    I wanted the space to be warm, comforting and cozy after a brutal day in the outside world and will be picking out some Benjamin Moore paint cards to decide on the best hue. Decorating a small space is so much fun--and less than a month to go!

the Junction

These are just some pics I took of the west Toronto Junction community back in the early fall. :) It is in this up-and-coming cool neighbourhood where you can find the Junction Arts Festival as well as a number of antique furniture shops and one of my favourite cafes, The Beet Organic Cafe. This neighbourhood is one near and dearest to my heart because it is where I grew up and went to school in the earlier half of my life so I have many fond memories. This neighbourhood has helped shaped who I am and it's just a funky, awesome part of the city!

Not only is it a safe neighbourhood, the characteristic 20th Century homes have not been lost to modernizing (yet). Crema Coffee Co. and the vegan cafe Rawlicious can be found in this trendy community, as well as Baan Thai, Rona, Trap Door and Delight. 

NICE TOUCHES

Everybody has a couch and a dresser but it's the way you dress them up that makes them unique. A vase of flowers, some Atlanta Hawks posters or an atlas makes the space unique and turns a house into a home. I was thinking of all the little ways I can make the apartment into a cozy little home. What nice accent pieces would really brighten up a space? I'm guessing my entire childhood teddy bear collection would look tacky but one cute, small bear on a bookcase would be cute and still remind me of the times I used to roll down leafy green, hilly lawns and make gimp bracelets and ice-skate with wobbly knees. What nice accent pieces do you have?

 

No to Bourgeois

I have changed my mind about the neighborhoods I want to reside in. I have crossed off my list Forest Hill and Yonge & Eglinton and in the future, the suburbs because I don't want to live in a materialistic, nose-in-the-air community. I think shuttling your kids in your Range Rover and sporting designer brand names is the epitome of ridiculousness. I would rather live somewhere where everyone is friendly, original, down-to-earth and caring. Who wants to live in an area where you're judged based on the car you drive and how many helpers you have (nanny, cook, gardener, etc)? I don't think there's community in that. The more likely a neighbourhood is branded "prestigious, exclusive" the least likely I'd want to live there. 

The new areas to trump those distinguished, snooty neighborhoods is the Junction and Roncesvalles (aka Roncey). I chose these two neighbourhoods or the area near and between them (like Dupont\Ossington\Davenport\Bathurst) is because I prefer to live in West Toronto than East\North Toronto and directly downtown. I think the city has a lot to offer in terms of diversity, originality and community in the right neighbourhoods. Keeping the ultra-rich in exclusive pockets and the super-poor in others just separates the city and makes it highly unfavourable to live in. I think the mediocre neighbourhoods with a mixture of rich, middle-class and lower-class are the most vibrant and the best example of Toronto's multicultural appeal. 

Fallback

Despite all the tenuous paperwork that went forth, the Annex apartment is not being rented at this point. :( And so....the search continues.

O-Range Ya Glad It's Cheap?

Couches are pricy and a huge investment. But they can make or break your living-room. A drab couch can undermine your greatest efforts to modernize a drab house, and a couch in the wrong colour can wreak havoc on the aesthetic or mood of your humble abode. I found a riveting orange sofa at IKEA with what I see as : mod-artsy potential. Fiancee thought it suited somebody with ADHD in a mental institution who had a bubbly, laugh-when-nobody's-in-the-room personality. Hmmm....Black and gray\tan couches are so overused. How many people do you personally know who have orange couches? Or a mint-green one? Or  one with bubbles all over it? Someone is selling a salmon pink sofa on Kijiji right now as we speak! Salmon pink. How is that for a bold statement? It doesn't say Tuna Time. It says : boldly different. Cheerfully here. Modern but fun. I'm pink and I still think. Something like that. Plus,  the orange couch? It's on sale. 

 

Landed Dream Digs

So, viewing of the Annex digs went splendidly well. The neighbourhood\community and surrounded areas are amazing and we have "feel good" vibes about the place. The neighbourhood is borderline Annex\Hillcrest Village and close to Corso Italia and Forest Hill and Mirvish Village and Koreatown. Can you really ask for more? Who can say no to cheap, delicious Korean food? Plus, for the pup we're going to get when we move in --Hillcrest Park is right smackdab there which has a great city skyline view and four tennis courts. Another nearby park has a 24 hour skating rink!
The fab community aside, the actual architecture of the house is fantastic. It's an older house with the homes in the area dating from 1900-1930s. It's a modest neighbourhood wedged inbetween some very ostentatious communities. The house isn't just four boring, plain walls. There's tons of built in cupboards, little wall-spaces I can add decor and big windows with some space for flowers or something nice. The walls are not all one length so I have many different angles to place various things. Though there is a cheap wall shelf hammered carelessly into the walls, I will either rip it out or work around it. 
   I can't wait to paint and transform it from a OK-spot to a very relaxing, mod-artsy chill place. I was daydreaming of the many ways to spruce it up on the pleasant ride home passing all the beautiful Christmas lightings and Italian cafes in Corso Italia. But I was right about one thing--the bedroom is small, very small and I don't mind as I'll be able to get up a lot of creative organization and shelving for clothing\accessories.

IKEA SOLUTIONS TO SMALL SPACE

IKEA IS KNOWN FOR BEING FUNCTIONAL AND AFFORDABLE SO THESE ARE SOME SOLUTIONS I'D LIKELY USE.

The Latest Annex Digs

The bathroom which will have some wall shelves full of towels.

Luckily we can build a droplead table to the U-shaped kitchen and move the couch over. I see potential.

It would be difficult to give up this opportune apartment in the safe and commendable Annex neighborhood, even if the bedroom is only big enough to fit a postage stamp. It's not particularly affordable or spacious but the neighbourhood is rad and I'm sure we'll both enjoy being part of the community. Besides, there are a lot of small apartments ex. 500 sq feet that have been cleverly decorated and furnished. The smaller it is, the more challenging and innovative the process will be. 
PS. The couch stays :) 
If we really like we will put a deposit down tomorrow (yay). It has a lot going for it and I feel like we can put our "stamp" on it. 

The first thing I'd do is paint it and liven it up. I feel the white is very bland in this particular space. We will likely paint one wall in the small living room. Since there is 7" tall ceilings (okay, I guess), I would have to make the place look bigger by going vertical (decorating up), using dramatic lights and using mirrors. I want as much floor space as possible, to look larger. To save space, we'll have to mount the TV to the wall and keep things simple but chic. I don't mind "small", we can work with it.

Where To Move?

As we still haven't found a place yet, we are searching in neighbourhoods of our choice. We don't like every neighbourhood that is hip and trendy. Some neigbourhoods we like are quiet and boring, others are far from the convenience that downtown has to offer but at least we've narrowed down our search to a few areas in our city.
We don't want to live somewhere where we'll get robbed or stuck in gun crossfires but we don't want to live in an area that's very trendy either because things tend to be pricier and busier there. 

BEACONSFIELD

BLOOR WEST VILLAGE

CABBAGETOWN

A PIZZERIA IN CORSO ITALIA

THE GAY VILLAGE

HOMES IN HIGH PARK AREA

LIBERTY VILLAGE ALLEY

LIBERTY VILLAGE

WYCHWOOD (BATHURST & ST CLAIR AVE WEST)

ST CLAIR AVE AND YONGE STREET

YONGE AND EGLINTON , OUR PREFERRED LOCATION

1. MIDTOWN -This covers Forrest Hill, Avenue Road and Yonge from St Clair Avenue to Lawrence. Our preferred location is Yonge and Eglinton. It's part of Toronto's most prestigious neighbourhoods filled with mansions, Whole Foods, pricy boutiques and million dollar condos but there is some affordable apartments here in between all the ritzy shops! 
It's our #1 area because it's very safe, it's in close proximity to my partner's work, some of our friends live\work here, and it is the location of our first apartment. :) Nostalgia....


2. ANNEX- A place we visit and would love to live. It's a community of intellectuals, high-end homes and older Victorian red bricked homes on shady tree-lined streets with a large vegan, eco-conscious, bike-riding presence and a lot of organic shops. It's safe and trendy, with a lot of cool restaurants, shops and parks. However, living here is very expensive!


3. ST CLAIR AVE WEST - While we aren't considering the entire St Clair Avenue we are considering from Yonge to Ossington which is two distinct neighbourhoods- Corso Italia (lots of beautiful designs, shops, bakeries, Toronto's Italian neighbourhood) and Forest Hill Village. We have lived here too and it is a very safe, quiet neighborhood but has close proximity to downtown and our work sites. The plus side is renting here is relatively affordable despite being two landmark areas. The only downfall is the large number of registered sex offenders located near here and the number of young girls who have been killed\taken due to many parks and ravines. This area is also known as Wychwood Park. 


4. Though the West has a lot of admirable and interesting communities like SwanSea, Brockton Village, Little Portugal and Parkdale, the new laws that made prostitution legal has made us leery of some of these neighborhoods. We don't want to be part of a seedy neighbourhood like Parkdale or one undergoing gentrification such as Brockton Village so we would only consider something in Bloor West Village or High Park. These are both prominent neighbourhoods with a lot of attractions, parks, restaurants and shopping. They are both family-oriented and safe. 


5. Downtown has the best neighbourhoods which cannot be contested. The best architecture, diversity, shops, restaurants and entertainment lie downtown but so do the highest prices which cancel out tons of thriving neighbourhoods for us although there are a few neighbourhoods we'd live in no matter the price tag! That would be Liberty Village, where I work, which is a cool art + design community with a lot of trendy, hole-in-the-wall eateries, loft buildings, art galleries, antique shops, furniture stores and much more. 
Beaconsfield which is a lot like the Annex neighbourhood and rates very high in "Cool factor". Cabbagetown for its large presence of lesbians, and the Gay Village because well it's the Gay Village...so 'nuff said. 
What's important is we live in a neighbourhood that has community, where more people live there than just visit.

Thrift Town -Queen Street West

This shop located in trendy Queen West Village (ah, if only I could afford to live my humble life there...) has some amazing second hand gear from art and decor to mattresses, bed frames, lamps, sofas and rugs. Best of all? The affordable prices and unique finds. It isn't all mainstreamed and homogenous like IKEA (a store, which I love dearly though, no matter how simplistic your $8 coffee tables are). 
As they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure and I see a mountain load of treasure here....all things shabby chic. These inimitable finds are genuine steals and I know I have to get my paws on some of that merch! Of course, I'll have my BlackBerry fully charged and ready to take various photos so you can see how charming some of this "junk" is!

MERCHANDISE AT THRIFT TOWN, QUEEN WEST

TABLE FROM THRIFT TOWN, QUEEN WEST, TORONTO

 

Check it out

Kitchen

living room

I have put a deposit down on this spacious flat in a 3-storey walk up. Not only are the windows nice and big but parking is included. I'm already ready to get the paint colours from Benjamin Moore. How exciting is this? The price is right and the space is workable. Imagine how much fun I will be having in this kitchen! The neighbourhood is alright it's not "trendy" but it's an up-and-comer. I see a lot of good things here and it's right on the lakeshore which means a lot of great jogs with the dog!
There is nothing as exciting as apartment hunting when it is in your favour. I struck lucky with this deal as I don't have to pay first-and-last which is becoming quite regulatory here in Toronto. I'm quite happy with this and see myself here for a year or two! Paint colours coming in next blog post! :D
PS. Yes, I will be painting the bottom kitchen cabinets.