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Orange Crush
Two dedicated vintage hounds, armed with an eye for bargains and a can of paint, make chic from Craigslist By Veronica Maddocks
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When Christopher Jones, a city employee, and his partner, Mike Kollmel, a chef, first moved in together three years ago, they sold the majority of their individual possessions and started fresh. As inveterate surfers of high-end vintage furniture sites, the men can instantly recognize a trend. But furnishing a Bloor West semi on a limited budget necessitates creative shopping. “Money is not a prerequisite to having a beautiful home. You just have to work a little harder,” says Jones. He points to his 1970s coffee table, its $20 stainless steel base spotted at a vintage clothing store supporting a giant basket of second-hand shoes. “We saw an exact match on-line for $4,800!” The two regularly scour the city’s sales and “junktique” stores, such as GUFF, the Art Collector and the Painted Table. They found the handwoven orange flokati that became the foundation of the living room’s decor on Craigslist. Jones watched the Day-Glo woollen shag (a wedding gift brought from Greece but rejected by the bride) languish for weeks, its price slowly declining from $400 to $200. “I worried Mike would think I was mad,” he says. Kollmel loved the rug, and insists that “if you love something, you can make it work.”
To avoid clutter, house rules state that for anything to come in, something must go out. How to appease the continual urge to forage? Start your own blog. On stylenorth.ca, Jones posts daily finds and tips about the fine art of marrying A-list decor with a B-list budget.
Photographs: James Reid
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