DECORITA
Love is fleeting but furniture lasts forever
November 21, 2009
Rita Zekas
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Most women prefer to be wooed with flowers, champagne, candy, cashmere and chocolate.
Not Kelly Gadzala, self-styled home-decor grunge queen. Bring her your tired, worn, distressed furniture. She will give it a good home in her Danforth Ave. apartment.
Her place is furnished from thrift shops, garage sale and curbside treasures. Her decor look is bohemian chic – glam with grunge thrown in.
Gadzala is a pro. She blogs at grunge-queen.blogspot.com and is a shopping columnist for the Town Crier community newspaper.
She's single, in her late 30s, with a lot of dating as well as decorating experience – before being kicked to the curb, her ex beaus bring her stuff they have found on it.
Her most recent ex dug a stereo, a retro dining room table and a vacuum cleaner out of the trash.
"It started years ago when a beau (Georges) dragged two Barrymore loveseats out of the dumpster for me. It was back in Ottawa....Georges walked by and saw them in the dumpster. He hired a kid to watch one while he lugged the other over to my apartment.
"Georges knew I'd love the Barrymore loveseats. It is like a cat bringing you a dead mouse. That's the way they show they love you."
What about the TV?
"It came from my best friend. Nothing is new in here.
"My most recent ex hauled the dining room table out of the trash and we had dinner on it. It was very romantic. He lives in Forest Hill where the pickings are still good. Even in recessionary times, people are still dumping things....I got the red rotary dial phone on it at the thrift store for $6.99."
What about the bureau by the kitchen? It has a lot of mileage on it and looks not unlike the pricey distressed barnboard bureau that was in the window of Hardware on Queen St. E.
"I saw it in the trash. It has cheap veneer but I love the curves. You embrace the wear and tear. I think furniture should have a worn look. It tells a story. "
What does her current beau bring you?
"He buys me new stuff. He's Texan and goes to Neiman Marcus and buys me cashmere."
Is there anything that doesn't involve a love story?
"The rug is from Eldorado Second Hand Store at 482 Roncesvalles where you can buy stuff by the pound. And the shade on the lamp in the kitchen (which casts a wonderful filigree shadow on the wall) is from the Salvation Army. The base is from Value Village. The chandelier is from Consumers Lighting & Lamps on 2482 Dufferin and I glued a door pull on the bottom."
Are there any family heirlooms here?
"Yes, the coffee table. We (my twin sister and I) grew up with it when we were kids and we called it 'Uncle Ugly' because it was so icky. I spray-painted it with toxic silver stuff and threw a mirror on top. I found the mirror in the trash. I was lucky that it fit perfectly.
"I am a Gemini; it will all change in a month. Things rotate – except for that green '50s Kroehler couch in the living room I got at a garage sale in Riverdale. I was with my burly garage sale pal."
Do you shop vintage for your clothes?
"Yes, my fashions are from thrift shops. I do buy new clothes but why spend $100 on jeans when I can get them for $14.99 at Stretch?"
What is your cut-off price point for furniture?
"I normally don't go over $50. I couldn't afford a new Barrymore or Kroehler."
What do you buy new?
"I buy makeup, underwear and some clothes new, but not a lot. I can't afford things at Holts. I will always be the starving-artist type so even if I had the money, I don't know if I'd spend it."
Besides, there is no telling what her next man will bring.
Toronto Star