A thrifted 450 sq ft Toronto condo on the 39th floor
Maycel shares a furnished 450 sq ft Toronto condo with a roommate and makes it their own with Marketplace finds, grow lights and lamps.
Maycel shares a 450 sq ft two-bedroom condo in Toronto with a roommate. The landlords rented it furnished, including a kitchen island and two art pieces Maycel helped choose. They worked with those limits and treated decorating like a school project with a set of constraints.
Lighting came first, because Maycel sees it as the cheapest way to change how a room feels. IKEA paper lanterns sit at different heights, and bamboo lamps cast shadows across the bedroom. Grow lights for the plants turned out to be a happy accident. Their warm purple glow pairs well with the orange and yellow in the room.
Most of the furniture came from Facebook Marketplace, and Maycel carried almost all of it home. A $15 rug needed a scrub with hot water and bleach on the balcony. A mid-century wood and glass coffee table took about three hours to bring back by streetcar in two pieces. Square plates from a thrift store remind them of the ones they grew up with.
From the 39th floor, the south-facing windows look over the Financial District and Lake Ontario. The balcony runs the full width of the condo.
