http://stylenorth.ca/blog Real Canadians decorating Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:38:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 en http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2010/03/unhappy-hipsters-make-me-smile/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2010/03/unhappy-hipsters-make-me-smile/#comments Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:11:20 +0000 Chris http://stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=13630 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."]]> http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2010/03/unhappy-hipsters-make-me-smile/feed/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/09/fifteen-seconds-for-stylenorth/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/09/fifteen-seconds-for-stylenorth/#comments Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:26:04 +0000 Chris http://stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=12212 Dear styleNorth Reader, We need your help. Without some basic demographic information about who our readers are, styleNorth can’t pursue the advertising that will allow us to keep the content coming. PLEASE take the 15-seconds required to answer our brief, 7-question survey. Just follow this link and tell us a bit about yourself. Your information will NOT be shared with any other party, it will only be used in aggregate to create a general user profile for stylenorth.ca. Thanks in advance, Christopher Jones Founder, styleNorth.ca]]> http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/09/fifteen-seconds-for-stylenorth/feed/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/07/where-to-find-ontario-auctions/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/07/where-to-find-ontario-auctions/#comments Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:26:45 +0000 Susan Forint http://stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=10468 With Canada Day landing mid-week this year, I thought I'd take advantage of the free day and do something I rarely make the time to do . . . I went to a rural antiques auction. I consulted a few of my favourite auction listings to see if any sales were being held on our nation’s birthday. Auctionsfind.com handily tabulates auctions in Southern Ontario, in a format that's easy to scan by area and shows whether the sale includes a photo preview. The Auction Advertiser features a calendar view that lets users find auctions on a particular date, and Ontario’s Auction & Antique Paper is another good source for auction listings]]> http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/07/where-to-find-ontario-auctions/feed/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/05/resource-decopedia/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/05/resource-decopedia/#comments Tue, 12 May 2009 12:00:42 +0000 Chris http://stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=8897 Yesterday, I stumbled upon a pretty great resource called Decopedia, the modern design encyclopedia. An offshoot of Deconet, a newish contender in the online furnishings space, Decopedia is a wiki for modern design enthusiasts that benefits from Deconet's photographic database. For instance, if you search Hans Wegner under the "designers" category, you'll get a brief career overview and 200 images of Wegner furniture designs, including their current availability on Deconet.]]> http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/05/resource-decopedia/feed/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/04/kimberly-seldons-decorating-dos-donts/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/04/kimberly-seldons-decorating-dos-donts/#comments Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:41:06 +0000 Chris http://stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=8396 While collecting links for today's post about Distillery District events I came across Kimberly Seldon's design blog, which contains a useful post called Less Cash and More Splash. Seldon's budget decorating advice includes focusing on big impact/low cost improvements like paint and starting with obvious eyesores: "That 70s tile in the bathroom is not coming back in fashion," she chides, "and the balloon shades in the living room are as relevant as 80s shoulder pads."]]> http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/04/kimberly-seldons-decorating-dos-donts/feed/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/03/resource-retrostartcom/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/03/resource-retrostartcom/#comments Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:00:11 +0000 Chris http://stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=7131 StyleNorth has very kindly been included on RetroStart.com, a new directory of international blogs and assorted other 20th Century Design resources. Created by Dutch partners Pieter Akkerman and Margriet van de Wie, the duo also runs Designlover.eu, an online retail outlet specializing in retro accessories. RetroStart.com features exhaustive link lists dedicated to designers, magazines, fairs, manufacturers and auction houses, among other categories. Give it a look.]]> http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/03/resource-retrostartcom/feed/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/02/resource-design-museum-london/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/02/resource-design-museum-london/#comments Sun, 15 Feb 2009 10:05:09 +0000 Chris http://stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=5503 While gathering links for another post I stumbled upon the Design Museum London site, a fantastic web resource that I’d never seen before. Beyond features about what’s new and notable at the museum itself, the site sports a searchable design library with an impressive cache of photographic and biographical info on the world’s greatest designers, living and dead. The content doesn’t quite stretch from A to Z but you can trace from Alvar Aalto to Michael Young. Other interesting articles look at the introduction of “new” materials like aluminium and plywood and their impact on furniture design.]]> http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/02/resource-design-museum-london/feed/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/02/repeat-after-me-tawn-at/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/02/repeat-after-me-tawn-at/#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:30:54 +0000 Chris http://stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=5907 While perusing the Smash showroom Friday, we spotted an awesome set of vintage Thonet chairs, below ($395 each). We talked to sales assistant Dana about them and like many people, she very purposefully pronounced the manufacturer's name "tdone-ay". This initiated a discussion about the correct pronunciation of Thonet, a German name, that is usually mistaken for French and pronounced accordingly.]]> http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/02/repeat-after-me-tawn-at/feed/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/02/resource-vintage-bounty-at-lushpad/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/02/resource-vintage-bounty-at-lushpad/#comments Mon, 02 Feb 2009 09:15:17 +0000 Chris http://stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=5515 Melanie Carlson at Lushpad has pulled together a fun little feature called 10 Chairs From Your Parent's Rec Room That Will Make You Rich. Melanie's survey cites prices paid for these chairs at auction so don't get too excited if you actually have one of these super seats--the auction market has gone south with the rest of the economy. Still, it's a great little reminder that if you buy original vintage pieces rather than knock-offs your bounty will escalate in value as long as you take good care of it. Happy hunting!]]> http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/02/resource-vintage-bounty-at-lushpad/feed/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/01/five-quick-questions-for-arren-williams/ http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/01/five-quick-questions-for-arren-williams/#comments Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:52:19 +0000 Chris http://stylenorth.ca/blog/?p=4796 The U.S. has loads of great decorating blogs but Canada? Not so much. So I was delighted to stumble upon Arren Williams Design Lab, a site I added to my blogroll a few months back. Canadian House & Home named Arren’s site one of Canada’s best home-grown blogs in its January/February 2009 issue and the attention is well-deserved. After years of working as a freelance stylist in both print (H&H, Style at Home, Flare, Chatelaine) and television (CityLine, The Style Dept.), Arren knows plenty about how to dress up a room or a table or a bookshelf.]]> http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/01/five-quick-questions-for-arren-williams/feed/