Upside of Daydreaming...

And I felt something real - my fingers brushed the square by square of hanging fabric. A sense of love and hate, fraying and collected.

Daydreamin' a Grant Heaps Remix can be viewed at MADE, 867 Dundas St. West until June 12th, 2010.

Upside showcase!

Way back in the late summer, the lovely Jewel Weeks came into our shop and bought a slender teak coffee table and from there a friendship began. A coupla months ago, she came in this time on the hunt for quite a few pieces, but not for herself. She had been propositioned to decorate from scratch, a friend's newly bought loft in the Tip Top building. Jewel took on the task, with a few things in mind. The client hated purple and wanted "retro-chic, with a sense of laid-back warmth." Keep in mind the client is male, which I think can often lead a designer to that heavy masculine styling, dark colours, wood/chrome everything, something that reeks of a bachelor shag pad - ugh. 
Jewel did quite the opposite. She kept it light, open and airy. She softened the roughness of the loft with a bright blue palette and mixed in warm earth tones. Keeping it modern with sweeping mid century lines, but anchoring a distinct look with distressed post war and reclaimed industrial pieces. Jewel was the ultimate hunter and bought pieces from many different sources, and UpsideDive happened to be one of them. Below are some lovely shots of the space taken by Aristea Rizakos. Jewel did such a beautiful job putting this space together, and most importantly her client was extremely happy with the results. 
We would like to thank Jewel for the opportunity to be a part of a project like this. The brown couch, pink & orange distressed oval mirror, teal school chair, bank of blue lockers, Goines print and the '60s op art wallpaper in the washroom are all items purchased here at UpsideDive. Also one of our favourite things about running this business is to see how our customers use the pieces they buy from us. So we were especially excited to see the photos. If you've bought a piece from us, please don't be afraid to send us photos of your items in their lovely new homes. It would make our day!

Shop Closed Early This Friday, March 5th...

Heads up all. The shop will be closing early tomorrow in preparation for The Chosen One Sale (see last blog entry for details). We'll open 10-4pm tomorrow and be back to regular hours on the weekend.

Those in the Toronto area, the sun's on your side so enjoy.

The Chosen Ones Vintage Sale

This weekend a selection of our beloved clothing, shoes, boots and purses will be available at The Chosen One sale at 107 Shaw Gallery on Shaw St. The sale runs 11-6pm Saturday and Sunday. They'll be other lovely purveyors of vintage selling hand picked men and womens goodies as well! Digging need not apply- its all good stuff.


This months vendors include: Andrew Gunn • Lacey Surprise • LAB here. by savannah • Krista Marie Starr Leilanni Land • Philistine • Sunday Girl Tomorrow Never Knows • UpsideDive Vintage Alter

Oh and in general, think Spring 'cause its on our heels and colour is about to lovingly kick us all from behind.

Bestest,
Ang & Mike.

Upside of apartments...

In this snow-globe weather we're having, all I can think about is how can I take control of the mess that is my home. I'm a pack rat. Love-hate relationship with clutter. I know i'll never be a minimalist, I'm far to frivolous for that. And of course, hellooo, I run a vintage shop so I'm always, always on the hunt for the good stuff. But it's true collections become clutter so easily and I just can't function under all that junk.

We recently, my man and I, moved into a new apartment back in December. I find the hardest part about moving is trying to fit all the furniture from the last place in the new place without making it look too much like the last place. And there's always the issue of storage space. This new apartment doesn't have as much cupboard space and no built-in shelving like the last one. Ultimately I don't really like the idea of hiding all your stuff away, but there are things that aren't so aesthetically designed and hence don't need to be in plain view. The food processor to be exact. But the biggest problem so far has been the books/movies/music that has little or no where to live. So the hunt for shelving has begun, and where I can't find it, I'm trying to rejig or attempt DIY projects. Ultimately I want pieces that I can take with me, preferably modular so that when the space changes the pieces will still fit. Is that too much to ask for?

So to solve the shelving problem I've been internet/magazine prowling. For the office we picked up a bunch of old apple crates that are currently stacked and do the job for now, holding books and mags, but I'm not super happy with them. Some ideas are a brewing though. I spent the night obsessively reading every post on The Brick House blog, and found this project she did amazing.

I love the sleek, airy look. I don't want to copy it exactly but I think I'll incorporate it into something.

I also decided I really wanted a Tomado Holland shelf or a vintage copycat. So after much ebay watching, I decided to check out some other online shops and I ended up with a beaut from DesignLover. It's not a real Tomado, but I love the quirky simple colours and since this shelf is going in the washroom, I think it will blend well with a mix of colours.

And of course I'm also pretty sure I need to purge. My tastes are often scattered, which I like, but there are things that aren't getting no lovin' sitting around aimlessly and maybe need to find a new home. I always kinda liked the idea of starting fresh when you move into a new place, but alas my pocket book doesn't reflect that mindset. And maybe that's the silly consumerist inside me talking. There are definitely pieces of furniture that I own that I adore, so I'll make do indeed.

I leave you with a photo of the Eames Case Study House. I draw so much inspiration from these two, it's really unbelievable what they could come up with. The ability to really define oneself through their living/work space with such a positive outlook is just so beautiful. Trying my best not to be jealous. That doesn't get me anywhere now does it.

mike.

We all get a lil' heart break.

This Valentine's Day you're gonna throw it to the ground.

Oh and be sure to wear your ruby reds, with the stiletto heels.

Upside of ...Love?

Ang and I were dreaming up these windows for a few weeks now, but 'cause the busy/lazy bug can bite real bad sometimes, we didn't get them in till this Wednesday. But here they are! Not as lavish as we originally wanted, but I think they look swell. A hint of Valentines Day, amidst the choas. The decor side with the title of Love Potion No. 9 tells a vague story of a mad scientist trying his best to decipher the female species and attempting to create his own. The attire side, titled Mad Love, is possibly a Stepford Wife who has gone bonkers over the pressures of being house bound and so she releases the Bride of Frankenstein within. And did you notice the new blue hue on the side walls? Yeah we thought it was about time to switch out from the acid yellow into something much more spring. Come by the shop and take a peek, there's lots of lil' bits to play eye spy with.