Swansea Modern Renovation

I recently photographed another project completed by Katherine Harrison Architecture and Design. Kate has been busy working on the renovation of numerous homes in the neighbourhood of Bloor West Village. Living in the area herself, Kate has a vested interest in these homes and it really shows. She takes great care in everything she designs and makes sure the clients are extremely satisfied at the end of each project. Kate re-designed the first floor of this home, focusing on an open concept design and plenty of storage space distributed throughout.

The minute I stepped into this house, I fell in love with all the decor. 

Anything marble and I'm in love. So of course I loved the custom backsplash.

Apartment Tour

A little while ago, I was featured in Apartment Therapy's Small Cool Contest but was limited in the number of images I could submit; so here is the entire tour. I ended up winning second place in the International Category, which was pretty exciting. Every once in a while I'll stumble upon one of these pictures on Pinterest and continue to be surprised. I moved into this apartment two years ago, mainly because it's extremely close to my work and at the time, the Gardiner Expressway was being fixed and I didn't want to have to commute two hours to work each way. The space is only a little over 200 sqft, but it's a historic apartment building that's being turned into condos - it even has a coach house in the back! I think the biggest challenge is not having a bigger closet, but it's really taught me how to hold onto to the most essential items and to regularly purge my apartment of unnecessary things. 

To maximize storage space, the ottoman/coffee table opens up and holds my shoes; which there are way too many of. That stuffed dog on my bed I've had since I was a baby; and I've dragged it with me through two countries.

There's my color-coded book collection and my record collection.

The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy is one of my favourite books (pictured on the left). I also really liked The Brain That Changes Itself (it's a fascinating read; I highly recommend it) so I bought these other related brain books I have yet to read. My friend Andrew made that dog figurine modelled after one of his Golden Retrievers.

My grandma bought me that guitar for my 15th birthday. Maybe one day I'll learn how to play.

I bought the antlers in Leiper's Fork in Nashville, a town suggested to me by a fellow photographer I followed on Instagram and who sadly passed away in a motorcycle accident last year. Leiper's Fork is an extremely picturesque town filled with coffee shops, art galleries and an outdoor wooden music stage. And there happened to be a massive outdoor flea market when I went. That trip was one of my favourite trips that I've been on, not only because I've come to love Nashville, but because of the company too. I remember driving through Kentucky's Bourbon Trail and winding roads in a convertible and it was the best experience.

The American flag print I bought on my last trip to NYC. It was my favourite painting at MOMA; mostly because I liked how you could really see the brush strokes when you stood up close to it. 

 My bathroom is well-travelled; it contains a print from Paris, Rome, and a mermaid figure from Nova Scotia.

These plants are long since dead; if the three on the right are any indication.

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ROYALFUZZ at Horseshoe Tavern

The last time I saw ROYALFUZZ play was at Hard Luck Bar back in October. My friends formed the band in the summer of 2014 and have been building a dedicated following ever since. On Thursday night they played at Horseshoe Tavern and I managed to make it out in the cold to catch the show, and hang out with some friends that I hadn't seen in a while. The turnout was great...I think over a hundred people showed up! You should really check out their music; they're playing their next show in March at The Starlight Lounge in Waterloo.

Holiday Styled Shoot

I love Christmas - the decorations, the movies, music, the snowy drives through sleepy, decorated small towns, the idea of reading a book indoors while it snows outside - I literally love everything about this holiday. Maybe because I associate Christmas with road trips, as my parents would always pack me and my brother up and we would make the drive to New Jersey to see my cousin or down to Florida for the winter break. One of my fondest memories is listening to Christmas songs on the drive and singing along. Last Christmas by Wham! soon became one of my favourites, as it literally played every ten minutes and on every station. Now every time I hear that song I think of that family trip to NJ and looking out the window to see the snowy deserted towns.

My bestie and I always start planning our Christmas Movie and Mulled Cider Night as soon as December hits. Last year we visited the Distillery Christmas Market before making crafts while watching some made-for-tv Christmas movie; I'm sure this year won't be any different. I'm really excited about going to the Christmas Markets (especially the one at Blue Mountain Village), holiday parties, baking cookies, and possibly teaching a workshop at my cooking class.

When Seri from Little Miss Party Planner asked me to help her out with this holiday themed styled shoot, I was extremely excited and of course I said yes. Below are a few of the shots of the stunning display she put together. Special thanks to Hudson's Bay and CB2 who donated a few of the props.  This post was featured on Kara's Party Ideas.