What it is: Four bedroom house in the burbs.
Price or rent: My husband inherited it mortgage free.
Square feet: Bigger than average.
Occupant(s): Myself: Isolde N. Barron, aka Queen of East Van; my husband: party organizer/playwright Dave Deveau; my theatre company, Zee Zee Theatre; and my Siamese cat, Skyler.
Major selling feature: Huge backyard (its a double lot), self-contained basement suite, and our big deck.
First thing we changed: We ripped up the carpets and threw out all fabric curtains, bedding, cushions, etc. and we painted all the walls and ceiling and had the floors refinished.
Features we brag about: Our huge deck, installed by my brother-in-law, our gorgeous hardwood floors that are even in the kitchen and our lovely bank of windows in the living room where afternoon sun pours in.
That one conversation piece: The wallpaper in the kitchen. Its the only room in the house where our renovations have not been completed. So for now we live with 1970s cupboards and 1950s wallpaper the yellow daisy/bamboo combination is quite something. Of course my teapot collection does look quite good against it.
The décor: Antique meets chic.
Story behind the art: We practically live at The Cobalt on Main Street, with my weekly show Apocalypstick every Sunday and the parties my husband throws Queer Bash, Hustla, etc. we are always there. As well as big gay dress-up dance parties, drag shows and of course beer-pong, the Cobalt also exhibits some rather lovely art work. We bought these gorgeous etchings (pictured left) from an artist who was showing his work, they reminded us of East Van and our own little dirty-sex-bar-home away from home.
Downside(s): We live in the suburbs
Neighbourhood haunt(s): We live in the suburbs
Compared to my last place... We have more space!
Most recent home purchase: We just bought a fabulous patio set with two armchairs, a loveseat, and a glass-topped coffee table with umbrella. It even came lovely throw cushions. If we have to live out of town we might as well live comfortably.
Favourite home activity: Entertaining! I love having people enjoy my home and we really are only 20 minutes from Main Street, and with our basement apartment friends can spend the night in comfort. And of course working on my garden is my other passion. The front yard is on its way to becoming a formal Provençal inspired garden with neatly trimmed hedges and only blue and white flowering plants while the backyard will remain a bit of a jungle. I enjoy extremes!
