Canadian House & Home, April 2007 - The condo's Den, Photographed by Michael Graydon.

After the renovation work was completed it took almost another 2 years for us to finish furnishing the condo. Early in January of 2007, Canadian House & Home arrived for a photo shoot of our little condo reno and the photos and story were published in the Aril 2007 issue. In addition to that issue, the kitchen was also featured on the cover of CH&H's special edition Kitchen's 2007 issue, the condo reappeared again in a small feature in their special edition Condos & Lofts 2008 issue, and again in the current CH&H special edition Condos & Lofts 2009.

Above and below are some of the photos of the condo as published in the April 2007 feature. The photo of the den was one of my favorites because aside from the kitchen the cozy den was my favorite spot in the condo and where we spent most of our time. Except for one small pale blue vase, the small yellow vase and a teeny white vase, everything seen on the shelving was our own and displayed as it looked before the photo shoot. I loved the cube style shelving (expedit from Ikea) which was perfect for displaying our books in stacks but I really loved standing the books up to show off the artwork on the covers and then mixing in my vintage ceramics among them. When we had dinner parties I used to put votive candles on every other shelf and it became this wall of twinkling candles. There was lots of room to neatly house my piles of magazines and the baskets across the bottom concealed samples and supplies for my office.

Canadian House & Home, April 2007 - The condo's Living Room area, photography by Michael Graydon.

Canadian House & Home, April 2007 - The condo's kitchen, photography by Michael Graydon.

Canadian House & Home, April 2007 - The master bedroom, photographed by Michael Graydon.

Canadian House & Home, April 2007 - The condo's office nook, photography by Michael Graydon.

Canadian House & Home, April 2007 - The condo's master bath vanity top, photography by Michael Graydon.

Canadian House & Home, April 2007 - The condo's laundry closet, photography by Michael Graydon.

Canadian House & Home KITCHENS 2007 - Cover, photography by Michael Graydon.

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm not personally a fan of pastels or bright colours, not in my wardrobe or in my home, so I wasn't the happiest of campers when I saw all the pastel and citrusy coloured accessories the editor and stylist brought in for the shoot. In turn, I could see they were disappointed that all my sheets, towels and dishes were plain white and... that I refused to give in to them when it came to the pastel pink kitchen aid mixer. I realize those colourful touches were brought in to make the space look more 'spring' like, and that it did, but I have to say I couldn't wait to put everything back the way I normally live with it. It was an interesting experience to see my own space styled and photographed thru someone else's eyes - and despite the anxiety I had about all that colour, I think the end result was beautiful. How could it not be with Michael Graydon behind the lense!!

In comparison, below are some of my own photos of the condo, taken in the months or days before the CH&H photo shoot and how it normally looked on a day to day basis (well, excluding the dishes on the dining table!).