A white-and-gold Toronto condo lit by vintage chandeliers
Gaurav filled his 888 sq ft Bayview Village condo with secondhand crystal chandeliers, Persian rugs and gold paint, working around its long, narrow hallways.
Gaurav and his husband bought their 888 sq ft condo in Bayview Village, in north Toronto, in December 2022. The two-bedroom has long, narrow hallways that eat up space, so Gaurav planned every corner around one theme: white and gold, to brighten the rooms.
Much of the gold comes from a can of spray paint. He painted light switches, picture frames, the legs of his IKEA desks and even a trash can, and brushed gold paint onto door knobs he couldn't remove. Marble-look wallpaper covers his desks and a kitchen wall. In the darkest hallway, IKEA mirror tiles edged in gold tape bounce light from the living room.
Each room has its own crystal chandelier, and no two match. Plenty of Toronto owners swap theirs for pot lights, so Gaurav buys them secondhand and hangs them himself, using YouTube tutorials. The living room's Swarovski chandelier cost him $100.
A small den off the first hallway holds a Hindu temple for prayer. Lucky bamboo, a money tree and tulsi grow near the kitchen, and wool Persian rugs from Kijiji cover most floors.
His husband jokes that it looks like a granny house. Gaurav loves it anyway.
