Who are you?
I’m a Toronto based Interior Decorator. I pride myself in knowing my clients well and translating their unique personalities into their spaces – on any budget!

Inspiration for home?
Home has to be comfortable and functional for the way you live. A house can be gorgeous – but if it doesn’t suit your lifestyle, it isn’t good design. Inspiration for my home: lived-in, personal and on budget!

Most Cherished item/ Favorite Piece?
I love my lamp collection.  Accessories are like jewelry on an outfit – it’s in the details that rooms get their personality.

Best Deal?
My dining room chairs from an UpCountry sell off – $7.77 each!!!!!!

Biggest Splurge?
Custom drapes for the house my husband and I are moving into in March (just in time to welcome our baby in April!). I’m a sucker for good quality textiles!

Most Gratifying DIY?
Sewing my custom drapes myself! Also, learning how to operate power tools to build an ottoman.

What would you do differently?
Moving into a new house means a fresh start- and so many options!!! My plan for the new house is to keep paint and major pieces neutral, and focus on permanent details like hardware and moldings. It’s going to be a fun and challenging endeavor- I can’t wait to make my home my own!

Plans for future?
Decorating a nursery, and developing my new show Reclaimed Chic for HGTV Canada.

I live with my husband in 750 square feet at Yonge and Eglinton. It’s an early 20th century building (with many of the fixtures and layers of caked on paint clearly indicating this fact!) with gorgeous French doors and dark wood trim. Our home is full of things from antique shops, off the side of the road, and other cheap and cheerful items that we’ve made our own.

We went with a soft green on the walls, which matched perfectly with a rug I found for under $100 at UpCountry on clearance. The bookcase we found for free from an office that was redecorating and our sofa (that converts to a futon for overnight guests) was under $300 on clearance from The Brick. The most practical thing we purchased in this room are our two Debbie Travis chairs- with full storage inside for all our CD’s & DVD’s. So practical!

This trunk which came to Canada via the same liner company as the Titanic we picked up at the Pefferlaw antique market on a summer road trip. It gives us lots of storage and is a real conversation starter.

Living in a small space we had to get creative with how to give a room many hats. Our dining room is also our home office (computer and paperwork all gets neatly tucked away in the brown armoire from Staples. Our table (bought As Is from IKEA for $120!) converts to a design station for me during the day. Vintage chairs are matched with more contemporary chairs (another steal from an UpCountry sell out- each chair was a whopping $7.77!). The previous tenants left us a nice ledge built upon the radiator, which is a great place to display photos and my ever growing (to my husband’s chagrin) collection of lamps!

Our tiny kitchen, while lacking in counter space, makes up for it in charm. We embraced the previous tenants creative efforts with a fork and spoon for drawer handles and added a 1950’s bread box we picked up at an antique shop in Queen West.

The washboard in our bathroom was another antique marketplace find, and while it no longer washes clothing it is a great backdrop to our hurricane glass full of toilet paper! Who said even toilet paper can’t be pretty?

Our bed is from IKEA and is flanked by two vintage teak pieces. I didn’t know what to do with all our cards after our wedding, so I picked my favourite and hung them in inexpensive frames above the bed.