Tag Archives: kitka

It’s been a big day, and it’s time to relax

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With a day spent in the Junction (post to come) and hearing “Silver Speakers” getting played on CBC Radio (post to come on that too), I’m just about ready to kick back for a while… might as well slip on these brand-new bad boys and paddle ’round the ‘partment.

I’m not really a “slipper” guy, and though I haven’t been shy about lugging around a pair of Vans to people’s houses when it’s party-time, it was time. Normally, this isn’t something I’d normally write about either, but I wanted an excuse to write about John and Juli’s new “pure Scandinavian” shop, Mjolk. I’ve been reading their blog, “KITKA design toronto” for a while now, and it was nice to finally meet them in person.

Since starting their blog in order to enhance and compliment Toronto’s presence of all things design online (inspiring many readers to drop their own notes on interior design, myself included), they’ve now opened a shop crammed with some of the finest Scandinavian selections I have ever seen in the city before.

Despite being all the way out in Toronto’s Junction neighborhood (Dundas and Keele), it’s worth making the trip out there… even just to check out the unique charred wood exterior and stunning wood feature wall. I didn’t waste my time taking photos on my phone, you can check out Juli’s great shots here. (No, this is not an advertisement).

So I knew that when I made it down there for the shop’s first Saturday in business (it opened earlier this week), I knew I had to get something. This is a dangerous affliction I feel all of the time… it isn’t healthy.

What I ended up with were these awesome wool-felt slippers, created by Swedish designer Pia Wallen. Here’s a blurb from their site:

The Unisex slipper was first designed in 1992 for Progetto/Orgetto Cappelini. The slipper was inspired by the Scandinavian tradition of using wool linings inside boots, to survive the cold Swedish winters. Designed with the use of minimal pieces and a clever construction, the slipper reminds us of industrial materials updated with a fine level of finish and detail. Functionality, simplicity and comfort are why this model remains poplular today

Very cool! And this is going to sound strange, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the same price they are listed at on piawallen.se is only about 3 Canadian dollars less than what they were listed at in Mjolk. I figured that because many (if not all) of their items are imported from overseas, that they would be marked up like crazy… but that’s not the case.

And now that someone else in the apartment has discovered how nice and soft they are, it looks like we’ll be making a trip back for another pair.

Finally found one: Arabia Finnish planter

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500_POTI’m sure I’ve already bored you to death with one post about planters and how much I love the KITKA design blog, but this is another find that I have to share with you.

This is the first piece of authentic Arabia pottery that I’ve ever seen in person, and I after too many fruitless eBay and Craigslist hunts, I didn’t hesitate to scoop it up. At the time, I was just on a random browse of Markham street in the Annex district of Toronto when I finally happened upon vintage/antique store Twice Found, when it was actually open for business (it’s been closed on every trip I’ve been on down there).

I’ve read about “Twice Found” on KITKA when they raved about finding their own Arabia planters there, and I can’t say enough about how I love the simple, bold character of these guys.

Arabia is a landmark brand of Finnish design, and has created a distinct line of objects for over 130 years. This design here has two parts; a bowl with a hole at the bottom, and a matching saucer that fits underneath.

Until I have the perfect spot for this particular planter, this is going with me to brighten up my cubicle space at a work, with a healthy jade plant that should survive in my dusty, dreary workspace.

If you want to see more of these Arabia wonders, check out KITKA’s photos of their pots here, and Factory 20′s extensive gallery here, which also has a few for sale (oh the perils of internet temptation!).

I will definitely be back to “Twice Found” to finally upgrade our dinnerware with a nice set of vintage/retro dishes. And yes, I’ll probably post pictures.

Blue, white and sunlight: The trio of royal blue potted plants

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500_blue_clay_potsThis summer we’ve been trying to redo our apartment with a little bit of style… since one of us has been spending so much time there this year, it’s been worth it to make parts of our house a little more comfortable and vibrant. Unfortunately, all of our walls are beige, and we can’t paint, so we’ve always been trying to find ways to make the apartment look a little more exciting without resorting to doing anything with the walls.

With this challenge, I often find myself inspired by the great Toronto design blog, KITKA, who are always making me jealous of their amazing vintage finds and their ongoing danish-inspired cottage renovation. They’re always spying on great trends and designs, and I can’t recommend visiting their site enough!

With that said, one of the recent updates we made to our apartment was finally clearing away all the black IKEA storage boxes out of our windowsill, which were great for privacy, but kept out too much natural light. Instead, we re-potted a combination plant that our friend Amanda gave us earlier this year which we’ve successfully kept alive for many months. We put them in this trio of clay planters that we found by chance at Canadian Tire while hunting for a replacement air filter (in our little apartment, we go through them a lot).

500_blue_chairOne of the techniques we’ve used in the past for decorating our apartment is using simple, bold coloured items to bring some eye-catching detail to our pad, and attract attention to the bright objects instead of our seas of beige walls.

I’ve always loved royal blue (black is still my favourite colour… even if it technically isn’t one), and after spotting this painted lawn chair outside a Leslieville antique store, I was inspired to keep my eye out for something along these lines.  Our clay pots work exactly the way as the blue chair, and really give a sense of vibrancy to the green of the plant and the sun-soaked concrete that lies outside our window.

Stay tuned for more post about interior design ideas for little apartments, and if you have any design blogs that I should add to my Google Reader, please pass them on!