Toronto Life Home Guide 2010 - Review

As I mentioned earlier today, while I was out and about on my lunch hour, I picked up a copy of Toronto Life's very first Home Guide.

I hadn't had the opportunity to really flip through the pages as I was already waiting in line, but the cover itself was enough to convince me to give it a try. Implying that it would be a resource for the best of everything home related in Toronto, as well as provide "Toronto's most Stunning Interiors", it seemed like it may be worth the $7.95 that I threw down for my copy.

I arrived home from work tonight, sat back and starting browsing my newest mag. What's my general consensus - I'm glad I paid up.

What's the reasoning behind my decision? The biggest thing is that it is 100% Toronto focused!

The magazine is broken down into the following main sections:

• Favourite Things
• Ask the Experts
• The Essentials
• Great Spaces
• Industrial Renos
• The Way We Were
• The Directory

Pretty fantastic I must say. Though every section has something great to offer, my favourites would have to be "The Essentials" and "Industrial Renos". 

The Essentials

Toronto Life takes the most important rooms in your home (Living Room, Kitchen, Bedroom, Kid's Room and Bathroom) and devotes two pages to a spread of fantastic finds from stores right here in our glorious city! What makes it even better is all of the prices, stores names, addresses, websites, etc. are listed next to those pretty little pieces making it much easier to locate that one thing that you just have to have. Each room has a fantastic range of affordable pieces for the budget friendly buyer, along with a ton of drool worthy splurges that will leave some of us looking for the perfect "look-alike". I think it's great that they mix it up that way and support local business (of course, there are a few chain stores like Anthro and Restoration Hardware that make an appearance - but who doesn't love those stores?)

Industrial Renos

This is the section that absolutely blew me away. Sticking with lucky #5 again, we get to peak into five amazing industrial spaces turned home (a Dairy, a Fire Hall, a Roofing Company, a Truck-Building Plant and a Shoe Warehouse). With the original build date, and often use of the building listed, we're offered a quick run down of what the new owners have done to make their old industrial places feel like home. These people are not joking around, they have put together some seriously stunning homes... my favourite would totally have to be the reno'd fire hall!

What I'd Like to See Next Time

While I believe that Toronto Life did a pretty great job with their first Home Guide, I can think of one thing for sure that they could add. As we Toronto bloggers know quite well, there is a whole slew of fantastic interior design, decor, renovation, etc bloggers and other online sources out there that could totally be featured or looked to in the next issue. I mean, Toronto is one great big community of real estate loving junkies. I think rather than focusing solely on "The Experts" and people who have already made a name for themselves in the city - why not give some fabulous, intelligent and talented bloggers a chance to share some of their gorgeous interiors that they have DIY'd up so nicely. I mean, as can be seen by the Toronto blog community, DIY renovations are a pretty big part of what we do, am I right? Just think about it Toronto Life... 

I'd say, blog friends - go out and pick up a copy. Would love to get your thoughts on this issue. If nothing else, I think the fantastic directory that the good people at Toronto Life rounded up for the back of the magazine will be extremely helpful to our future projects and shopping needs. 

Happy reading!