I’m sure a lot of you might be surprised to read I’m not really a big shopper, though I can’t resist peeking into the windows of home furnishing and accessory shops when I’m taking a stroll. In Toronto, a good window display is necessary to get me to cross the threshold, though that changes when I’m traveling. Perhaps it’s because I’m more relaxed when I’m away from the city that is my work incubator, plus I do enjoying purchasing a memento of any trip. It provides a story of my travels, and assures my purchase is more likely to be ‘unique’ to Toronto.

With the main floor of our Charlottetown triplex completely gutted, in the throes of construction with two new additions, and its transformation imminent, there’s plenty of reason to shop for this soon-to-be three bedroom one and a half bath luxury rental suite. Although the progress is far from complete, as you can see in the photo below, it’s only a matter of time that our electrician will be asking us to provide the light fixtures for installation.

What brought me to Victoria? I flew out to visit the family and meet the newest member of our clan, Avery Lea. Awwww, isn’t she delovely?

When I’m visiting, I love popping into Victoria’s Design District to peruse the local shops. This time I reveled in the treasures of Trade Roots whose purveyors, Christos and Carla, have all sorts of inventive wares, many which are custom one-of-a-kind creative pieces. Here are a couple of snaps of the shop, including their extremely reasonably-priced product (that leather suitcase and trunk were each less than $80 each!):

What caught my eye was a light pendant with its porcelain socket, antique finish, bright red cord ($89), and accompanying  Ferrowatt Carbon Filament light bulb ($18). This is destined to hang over the sink of our bijou powder room in front of a tall narrow mirror. Do you like?

Within minutes of committing to the purchase, Christos tweaked it to suit by making the optional 11 foot long cord with plug into a 30″ pendant with outlet connector. How amazing is that?

It will be a couple of months until we see this hanging, but stay tuned for a photo of this gorgeous piece that will have journeyed from the west coast, to the east, to find its rightful place in our charming Upper Hillsborough manse (recounted in The Tales Of Upper Hillsborough).  Thanks Christos and Carla!

~ Steven

City Living
Tales Of Upper Hillsborough
Travel