Toronto Shopping Love

For todays post I am going to share a look at our time in downtown Toronto. 

Anita and I had such an awesome time, from shopping to window shopping, to patios and cocktails el fresco in the beautiful weather, to visiting Chinatown, Kensington Market, Queen St West, The Distillery District, St Lawrence Market, to meeting up with a fellow blogger, to visiting the design district and all the lovely inspiring shops... hello run on sentence.

This was the view outside our hotel window.  Love the giant Canadian Flag!  There is just something about waking up every morning and being reminded that you live in one of the best countries in the world. 

I snapped this pic on Queen West with Toronto's famous CN Tower in the background.  What happens on Queen West... major shopping!

I should have recognized that my Visa was in for a major shake up after seeing these signs.  Yes, indeed this was a SIGN.

My new shoes, one of several pairs I bought... several is the new ten :)

I received an email invite for lunch from Grace at http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.com/ .  I was thrilled to meet another Canadian blogger.  This is her and Anita checking out pretty packaging in a chocolate shop at the Distillery District.  Shes amazing, love her.  It's so cool to meet up with someone whose blog you follow!  It's almost like you know them already.

For anyone who thinks Toronto is a concrete jungle... Wrong.  Downtown is full of beautiful parks and flowers.

There are huge flower baskets and parks and trees and secret little courtyards everywhere....

My cafe latte... how delicious does this look?  After a bit of lunch and a hit of caffiene it was off to hit some designer home shops.

Our first stop was Horsefeathers Home in the Distrillery District.  After introducing myself they let me take all the pictures I wanted.  I'll share a couple of my favs now...

Bamboo bar and stools... love! 

This is the most gi-normous basket I have ever seen.  I think I could hide in there.

This shop is very eclectic. Everything from pottery, to French Antiques, to modern furnishings, to seashells...

Rustic plus Bling.

Our next shop was Urban Amish.  Gorgeous shop with fab furniture custom made by the hands of Amish craftspeople.  http://www.urbanamish.ca/about_us.asp

Solid wood everywhere ... NICE.

Next up ... Lighting, Decor, Extrordinaire...

So we're walking by peeking in store windows and that massive white light fixture totally drew us in... I hope you can tell how huge that chandelier is... afterall still using iphone camera.

Amazing!

  We are now at

Klaus by nienkamper   http://klausn.com/

I had to zoom over to check out this spa tub... OMG

And that light fixture.... with the pretty notes.  I think Sarah might shop here :)

The displays and products were an incredible feast for the eyes and senses.  This mobile was ... speechless!

Like have you ever... seen a horse light fixture in your life?  Now you have...

Sexy sofas, stunning artwork 

and more oversized lighting in abundance.

 

This chair... so pretty, LOVE!

The next stop was UpCountry.  http://www.upcountry.com/

I loved it here.  The displays, the furniture, everything...

I saw alot of cross over to our lines of merchandise at Moving Designz Home & Cottage.  However, this showroom was 10 times the size of my little shop.  Each and every room vignette perfectly done.  I need a bigger store!  Been saying that for awhile now... :)

This distressed rustic table look is hot and everywhere.  We saw it at the show and in almost every shop we visited.  Tables with iron bases and rustic wood planks.  Very organic.

Each individual room space had it's own story to tell.  This one was telling me ... what is with that window?  Must go closer to investigate...

Close up.  This has to be one of the most beautiful intriguing things I have ever ... and I mean EVER seen.

This is a frosted window and behind it growing outside on the building are vines.  The sunlight shining through it makes it look totally surreal.  Please send me your comments on this... I am printing and definitely framing this image for my home. 

The sexy diningroom vignette... and another of those windows.

Livingroom vignette ... hey we carry those sofas.  It was the art again that caught me.

 

The salesman who showed us around, Bohdan Chrunciw, went on to tell me this original artwork is painted by a member of the Max Webster band, Terry Watkinson.  Now thats talent!

Another great livingroom vignette.  These spaces are totally liveable.  

 

Still seeing lots of white and chocolate.

And sometimes I have to take a picture ... just because... I like what I see. 

And I liked seeing the beautiful patchwork fields of PEI as we were making our decent into Charlottetown Airport.  Home.

Thanks for reading.  Have a great weekend!

Susan