Author Archives | stylenorthchris
stylenorthchris - who has written 504 posts on styleNorth.
StyleNorth founder Christopher Jones is a graphic designer and journalist who has written about homes for Toronto Life, the Globe and Mail, Canadian Living and the Toronto Star, among other publications. Chris has an unquenchable thirst for interior design and his stack of hard-cover, shelter porn books is now nearly as tall as he is. A wannabe decorator, his home—which he shares with partner Mike—is his laboratory.
Unhappy Hipsters Make Me Smile
StyleNorth reader Vanessa did me a favour when she wrote to tell me about a delightful blog, happyhipsters.com. The site poaches shots like the one above, from self-consciously hip decor mags like Dwell (photo by Gunnar Knechtel); the bloggers then add their own subversive captions that wittily undermine the lifestyle choices on display. In this case . . . "The frequent window washing and dry mopping required to keep the room sufficiently spartan became more than she could bear. The bed suffered the consequences."
How Could I Say No?
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 by Chris
I know you're not supposed to buy art to match your sofa but how about a rug? The minute I saw Scott Young's textural blue photo, left, I knew I had to have it for my kitchen to go with those amazing flat weave carpets of mine. Scott's image of an old door at the Distillery District received honourable mention in Toronto's Building A Great City Together photo contest. I tracked Scott down and he was most obliging -- he sold me the 11" x 17" print, matted and ready to frame for just $99.
With a Little Help From My Friends
Monday, February 22, 2010 by Chris
Mike moved out on Saturday leaving me with what felt like a nearly empty apartment. Of course, it wasn't empty at all, it had been stuffed to the gills before the movers arrived. Fortunately, my dear friends Nicola and Victor dropped in Sunday bearing breakfast and flowers and even more importantly, muscle. I needed help moving the bird's eye maple credenza out of the office and into the living room where it ably filled the vacuum left by the dearly departed Louis XV settee. The room isn't functional at all without a sofa but by God, it looks good.
A.H. Wilkens Tries to Fill the Auction Gap
Tuesday, February 9, 2010 by Chris
If nature abhors a vacuum so does the auction business. WIth Ritchies in bankruptcy new kid on the block A.H. Wilkens Auctions & Appraisals is stepping in to fill the gap, or would be if they could get their proverbial shit together. In my in-box this morning was a notice about the next AHW decorative arts auction, which happens to be TONIGHT! How about a bit of notice boys? Maybe a weekend-long preview to give folks a chance to peruse the goods?
Discount Standards
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 by Chris
Mike and I popped into a swish bedding store on the weekend in search of a sheet set to go with our amazing new crewel-work duvet cover. We found an expensive set of ivory sheets marked down 25 per cent but not even the discount made them affordable. This got me thinking about my discount standards and I came to the conclusion that generally speaking, I need be saving at least 30 per cent off the suggested retail price before I'll reach for my wallet. How about you? How big a price break do you require before your trigger finger gets itchy?
Friday, March 12, 2010 by Chris
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