-
The Art of Mate Drinking
The graceful and sociable art of drinking Mate — the traditional South American infused tea made from steeped leaves and twigs of the yerba mate plant — is so complex, one really needs instruction of what is actually a whole…
-
Woolfitt’s: Staffed by Artists, for Artists
Ben Woolfitt has been a painter for forty years and, for the same amount of time, has run his famous art supply store on Queen Street West. We talked to him recently about both his art and his business.…
-
Green Thumb: The Mikado
Always on the lookout for house plants that grow well in condos, we found this spiky little number at Poppies on Queen West. The plant is called a Mikado–like Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta-emperor of Japan–or, less poetically, a bog…
-
Design We Love: Is Driftwood Making a Comeback?
We remember (admittedly, it was quite a long time ago) when driftwood was considered to be a really chic design accent–people were putting soft, sinuous hunks of it here and there (on mantlepieces, on bookshelves, in the corners of rooms).…
-
Green Thumb: Double Yellow Tulips!
Impelled by the stirrings of spring in our hearts, we made another visit to Peter Demarco of Demarco-Perpich on Queen Street West–in pursuit of some essential spring flowers. “How about these?” asked Peter, pointing to a bowl of…
-
Design We Love: Herman Miller Meets Julie Jenkinson
Here’s a charming example of revitalization. For her sprightly reimagining of classic Herman Miller seating designs from the 1970s (by Don Chadwick), Toronto-based designer Julie Jenkinson has reupholstered the chairs in her crisp Animaze fabric, silkscreening her drawings onto 100%…
-
Green Thumb: Spring Blooms
We dropped in recently, on impulse, to see Peter Demarco of Demarci-Perpich on Queen West and were immediately engulfed by flowers of the most opulent sort–tulips and roses. At Demarco-Perpich, it was already both spring and high summer. First we encountered…
-
Green Thumb: Eucalyptus
The eucalyptus, a member of the myrtle family, is a gift to busy condo dwellers because a) it looks great, given its severe architectural growth pattern and b) because it doesn’t need any care. We bought this solitary frond at…
-
Design We Love: Prairie Tables
What might first appear as mere abstract detailing in the eccentric shapes of these sleek, white, interlocking tables turns out to have geographic meaning: the tables, which have MDF tops and solid ash legs, actually come in the shape of…
-
Design We Love: Black Cat Lamp
We were both attracted and, at first, a bit put off by the funky directness of this little lamp. Its tasteful black shade is profoundly belied by the body of the map—which is a feral-looking black cat-made of fired clay!…
