It’s an option that more and more Toronto seniors are taking: Selling that house while the market is hot and downsizing to a more accessible, more centrally located condominium unit, with enough capital left over to keep your retirement comfortable. But downsizing means weighing what to do with all that stuff—furniture and mementoes that won’t fit into a more efficient space but are legitimately hard to part with.

Here are four tips for making it through the household cull—and coming out feeling lighter.

Give yourself permission to struggle

Yes, ultimately, they are just things—and that’s the attitude many people will take when whittling down their possessions for a leaner, cleaner life. But for every person who finds it easy to let go, there’s another who picks up that tablecloth and remembers the friend who gifted it, and every wonderful family dinner that started with putting it on the table.

Sometimes this can be hard. And it’s okay if it’s hard. For some of us, it’s hard to feel like losing the touchstone we’ve attached all those good memories to is losing the memories. You’ll still have that friend, and you’ll still have those family dinners, but if you need to grieve a little when passing that tablecloth on to a new home, don’t let anyone tell you that’s wrong, or unnecessary.

Evaluate the usefulness of everything

Old closet-cleaning tips can really come in handy when downsizing to a new space: If you haven’t used it in a few years, you’re very unlikely to use it again.

While it’s important to set reasonable time boundaries for yourself, pick a boundary and keep it firm: If you haven’t worn that jacket, played those old board games, used those office supplies, or read those books inside your chosen time span, hold yourself to finding them a new home.

Likewise, think about quantity. It’s easy to accumulate multiples of things when you have the storage space to keep them, but downsizing inevitably means choosing fewer things to keep, which are used more often. Decide on how many coffee mugs you will realistically ever need at one time, and cull down the ones you’ve got until you hit your target. Don’t worry about the what-if: In the sheer eventuality you need one more, you can always go and get it once you’ve figured out what your new space will accommodate.

Send it to a good home

Downsizing for a move doesn’t have to mean never seeing those items again. Children, siblings, and close friends might be happy to give the items you don’t want to take home—especially if they have their own sentimental attachments to a favourite teapot or family heirloom. If you have grandchildren or other relatives just starting out on their own, they may be happy—or may not, depending on whether they’ve got a strong sense of personal style—to take in that set of dishes as they begin their own household.

The rule of thumb here is to make sure that offering items to friends and family members will alleviate a burden—in time or money—rather than create one in storage space or obligation. Respect a no, but check within your close circles in case someone will give you an enthusiastic yes.

At its best, passing on items to willing friends or family members can make them feel considered and loved as do your downsizing, and make sure the possessions that have served you well can have a second life.

Do good with the things you shed

One of the hangups that often comes with downsizing is the idea that anything you can’t repurpose in your own networks, you have to keep. Unfortunately, like many major cities, Toronto is a city that has a lot of need—and rather than keeping those things friends and family don’t want, but you can’t throw out—you can help alleviate that need by donating them.

The City of Toronto has great listings for social service agencies seeking housewares, furniture, books, clothing, and more on its ReUseIt program website. Each listing clearly states what an organization currently needs, their contact information, and enough background to get you started on supporting causes that matter to you with a donation of the things you no longer use.

Best of luck!

You’ve found that dream condo—but it’s a little expensive for your budget, and now buddying up with a friend and sharing the place seems like a really attractive option. But finding a roommate who fits just right is just as finicky as finding a good romantic relationship, and the emotional and financial cost can be just as huge when you break up with your roommate.

So before you take the plunge, here are a few tips to consider when looking for your perfect roommate.

Think about your systems

We have systems with the people in our lives: How we make plans, how we interact together, how we solve problems when something goes wrong in the friendship or relationship. The first thing to ask when you’re eyeing a friend to potentially be a roommate is your systems of interaction: How developed are they, how solid are they, and how do they work?

In short: Can you solve problems well together, and not hate each other after you do it?

The best roommate relationships aren’t ones where you never disagree, but where you respect each other’s needs and boundaries enough—and trust each other enough—to work together to repair the issues that come up and build better systems going forward. Live with someone who you can forgive and who forgives you; live with someone you’ll sincerely do better for next time, and vice versa. But if you can’t mutually compromise or work forward with that particular friend, don’t live with them.

Talk about your respective habits

What’s the shape of your day? What’s the shape of your potential roommate’s, and are they compatible?

Sharing a space can mean a lot of different things to a lot of people: Some will want a family-style arrangement where you pool the grocery money, eat dinner together, and spend quality time, like any other household does. Some people look at roommate relationships as two people sharing a space, period, and won’t be aiming to interact with you more than any other part of their life. If you’ve got different concepts or goals for a roommate relationship, that can be very hard and put a great deal of strain on the relationship—and on your feeling of a comfortable home.

In less big-picture terms, quiz each other on your day-to-day lives. How much time is each of you at work, and when are you working? Do you have opposite shifts? Do you like to have friends over a lot and entertain, or are you more into meeting people elsewhere and keeping your home as a private space? How clean do you like a kitchen? When do you pay bills? What annoys you? What are you allergic to? If one of you is in a relationship, or gets into a relationship, what ground rules do you want to set on how their SO moves in your shared space? (No naked parts on the communal couch is a perfectly cromulent house rule.)

While you don’t need to have 100% agreement on what the proper habits for a upright and just person should be, you should have a solid base of commonality—and the ability to flex for each other on the disagreements without those disagreements being total deal-breakers.

Be clear about money

The money talk is one of the most awkward ones to have, period, but if you’re looking at living with someone, have it. Moving in with someone means forming a household, and you can’t make functional decisions without knowing what your household finances are.

Set clear guidelines together about what you can afford in rent and utilities, how you’d like to handle bills, and what your bill-paying habits are. Which utilities can you live without? Which ones are necessities? How much of a cushion do each of you have if everything goes south and you have to look for new work contracts, and are you comfortable with each other’s cushion?

Decide how the money will go, and you’ll spare yourself potential bad surprises—up to and including finding yourself on the hook for your roommate’s rent.

Check out their current space

How people live how they’re going to live later. Or, alternately, there’s what people say they want and what people do right now.

Habit’s a really strong force, and no matter how much someone says they want to change, if there are dirty dishes in the sink when you’re over at their current place, those dishes will be hanging out in your sink in a roommate situation. If someone’s current living situation makes you itch—or they’re always complaining about it, and looking at you with beseeching eyes—they’re probably not a good candidate to take on as a roommate, because sometimes “I hate all these dirty dishes” means they’d love it if you did theirs.

Keep your standards high

If you find yourself going, “Well, maybe that endless dirty sock collection won’t be too bad. It’s only a year,” remember: Yes, it will.

Just like with dating, anything that already annoys you will be magnified by ten thousand when this person is the person you come home to. It’s tempting to try to let things slide—especially because we’re told that certain kinds of forbearance with other people’s tics is what makes us Good People—but again, just like dating, roommate relationships are a question of fit. The socks will drive you crazy. You’ll drive your roommate crazy grinding your teeth about the socks. Just hold out for someone you’re more compatible with and save the friendship.

Best of luck!

Condominium living is, in a lot of ways, living in the heart of our modern sharing economy (share and save). Tenants and owners in every condo building across Toronto pool what they’ve got to turn it into more: an exercise room instead of a hundred gym memberships, or a theatre room instead of a hundred movie tickets.

That ethic isn’t just about living space, though. There are multiple programs across Toronto dedicated to helping you save storage space, reduce the sheer spread of stuff, and expand your ability to hammer, cook, grow, and learn without having to shell out so much cash to do it.

Today, we’ll highlight places in Toronto you can extend your sharing ethic and pay a little to get access to a lot more—including and especially the communities they’ve built.

The Toronto Tool Library

Started out of a basement in Parkdale, the Toronto Tool Library was born from the same common-sense approach that realized two people might not maintain and use a pool, but two hundred could do it just fine: two friends realizing that most of the tools people spend money on—and genuinely need about once or twice a year—spend the other 363 days sitting idle.

Four years in, the Tool Library has over 1,200 members—and 13,000 loans—between their four locations, which encompass a maker space, laser cutters, a full wood shop, and 3D printers, as well as the paint, screwdrivers, garden trowels, and bike pumps they started out with.

A standard individual membership only sets you back $50 plus HST, and gives you access to TTL’s huge tool inventory, a range of workshops from 3D printing to drywall, and their community nights and parties, where you can meet other people who are really into fixing, building, and making things new.

The Kitchen Library

Spun off of the Tool Library, Toronto’s Kitchen Library is a haven for home cooks with small storage spaces—or a small budget. Even if you can’t afford a Vitamix, stand mixer, or espresso maker, the Kitchen Library has them, and it has your back.

With an inventory of over 50 appliances, you can borrow the kinds of tools you’ll need once in a while: to throw a holiday dinner, cater a party, or just play around at home. The library stocks cake pop makers, canning pots, dehydrators, 36-cup coffee urns, tomato strainers, crepe makers, and more, right down to a cookbook swap where you can trade out your already-loved recipes for a brand new set of challenges.

With one location on Eglinton east of Yonge, and one in Regent Park, the Kitchen Library’s accessible whether you’re downtown, midtown, or uptown, and runs you an almost ridiculously affordable $9/month—or $15 for a one-time, week-long loan—including advance reservations and discounts on Kitchen Library workshops, which range from practical meal planning on a budget and meal planning for teens to topics like making homemade pet treats and freezer cooking.

The Toronto Seed Library

Unlike the tool-based libraries, the Toronto Seed Library is absolutely free.

Run on donations, the Seed Library is all about spreading the love of gardening, seed saving, and urban agricultural skills across the city. So there’s no membership requirement beyond a mailing list signup, no check-out limits—although they ask that you take only what you will definitely use—and no stringent requirements except that you use the resource in good faith.

To help you potentially contribute and pay it forward, the Seed Library holds workshops on seed saving and gardening events, seed literacy classes, and offers guidance in getting your own garden to sustain itself indefinitely rather than buying seeds every season.

With a focus on open-pollinated and organic seeds, food plants, and heritage varieties, the Toronto Seed Library can be your gateway to that balcony garden—and cutting down your grocery bill while catching some sun this summer.

Bike Share Toronto

Though it’s growing increasingly common, not every condo building has a bike room, and management companies are understandably a little gun-shy about tracking road dirt through the hallways so you can store your ride in your unit. The answer? Toronto’s Bike Share program.

Bike Share has dozens of stations around the downtown area—Dufferin to the DVP, and Bloor to the lake—and multiple plans, depending on how you ride. Winter warriors can take advantage of a year-round pass that only costs $90, while cyclists who stick to the summer months can ride with the weather at $18 a month. If you’re just pulling out a bike for an occasional ride, or to do a few errands, a daily pass is only $7—just a touch more than two TTC fares.

Bike Share’s model is very much geared to short-term trips, errands, and commutes—there’s a usage fee as well, with each trip under 30 minutes free and a small, escalating charge for every half hour beyond that—which makes it ideal for riders who need a bike here and there, and don’t want to buy their own just to watch it gather dust.

 

Once the heart of Toronto’s indie culture scene, Queen and Spadina absorbed a wave of high-end retail in the early 2000s and turned from the place you went to get band bootlegs into the destination for designer boots. But once the hot new businesses chased the cool factor west to Ossington and beyond, Queen and Spadina emerged with its own unique identity: a low-key, comfortable neighbourhood in the heart of downtown, minutes to the more frantic traffic of University, Yonge, or the King Street corridor, with all the modern conveniences and self-assured personality anyone could want.

With projects like SQ at Alexandra Park ready to open and select new rentals becoming available for May 2017, we’re bringing back our neighbourhood focus series and checking out the living at Queen and Spadina.

The Essentials

A downtown neighbourhood is either drowning in choices for grocery shopping or desperate for them, but Queen and Spadina hits the balance with ease. For the more one-stop-shopping oriented among us, the Loblaws at Queen and Portland provides the local megalopolis of food, alongside a pharmacy counter, coffee bar, bakery, cheese wall, seafood counter, and a non-trivial organics section.

Those looking for a higher end dinner can hit the Fresh & Wild at King and Spadina, which offers an organic produce section, fresh sushi rolls, deli and cheese counters, and a selection of the high-end green grocery products you’d normally find at a Trader Joe’s. With the office crowd hitting it for lunches every day, a significant chunk of Fresh & Wild is given over to ready-to-eat food, but if you’re looking for that very nice fair trade bottle of vanilla extract, they’re guaranteed to have it—and both stores deliver for a small fee.

However, Queen and Spadina is also literal minutes’ walk away from Chinatown and Kensington Market, both neighbourhoods packed with small grocers, butchers, fishmongers, bakeries, and cheese specialists—and not limited to a gourmet price point.

Being a Chinatown or Kensington regular is half preference and half voyage of discovery: Everyone who shops there has their own map of the neighbourhood, their own favourites and spots they’ve never tried before even after a decade of weekly grocery runs (and we’ll regularly throw down about which produce store has the best deals or freshest Ataulfo mangoes). Recommendations here are less about objective quality than the kind of fandom usually reserved for the Leafs or your favourite Star Trek captain. But there are a few objective bests in the neighbourhood, both old-school and new: Queen and Portland’s branch of The Healthy Butcher, which offers butchering and kitchen skills classes alongside their selection of organic-raised meat, charcuterie, and cheeses; Sanagan’s Meat Locker, a small-and-local-focused butcher shop with some of the best sausages, small-batch condiments, and staff expertise in the city; and Global Cheese, whose huge counter stock is only matched by their no-nonsense, big-family practicality and willingness to have you try something new today.

Finding a drug store is also a simple matter at Queen and Spadina: the large Shoppers Drug Mart at Queen and Ryerson includes a passport photo service and an all-important Canada Post location, and is open until 10:00 pm nightly. The equidistant Shoppers at Queen and Beverley has all the same features, but makes it until midnight. Rexall partisans have a short walk east to Queen and University, where the store closes at midnight every night.

Dining

Queen and Spadina used to be a bar and club neighbourhood, and you can tell from its food offerings: there’s a huge emphasis on the kind of quick, filling, delicious snacks you want before or after a night of dancing and beers—but grown up into an art form.

Banh Mi Boys and Fresh Off the Boat both specialize in portable-yet-decadent sandwiches, tacos, and fries with an Asian feel. While the first brought Vietnamese subs back into the popular eye with ridiculously delicious ideas like five spice pork belly steamed bao, the second takes the concept and goes straight for the seafood: snow crab fries are a house favourite. Add in a local branch of The Burger’s Priest right across the street and the eat-it-with-your-hands box is well and truly checked.

Up Spadina, though, there are the entire riches of Chinatown, including pho, dumplings, and the dinner most like a combat sport, hot pot. Celebrity Hot Pot on Spadina, just south of Dundas, offers a huge selection of meats, veggies, and broths to dip them in, as well as a station to mix your own dipping sauces and top up drinks without having to flag down a server.

For the more tea-and-pastry-oriented crowd, Butter Avenue, one of the city’s nicest patisseries, is perched comfortably just west of Queen and Cameron. While it’s their macarons they’re known for—and they are very pleasant macarons—take time to try the tarts and cakes too.

Get some culture

While it’s been a few years since Queen and Spadina was where you went for a blurry night of up-and-coming bands, beers, and warehouse movie theatres, turning residential didn’t wipe its creative community away.

Some of the most venerable bar venues in the city—The Horseshoe Tavern and The Cameron House—host live music every night of the week, with the former focusing on rock and the latter on folk and roots. Farther east, at University, The Rex offers daily jazz sets; west of Spadina, Velvet Underground has reinvented itself from the goth-rock haven of the early 2000s to a DJ and alt-rock concert venue.

The books world hasn’t moved too far from the intersection either. While it’s been years since the street in lit festival Word on the Street’s name meant Queen West, edges of that reader’s culture still linger in some Queen and Spadina institutions: local café-slash-institution Tequila Bookworm, just west of Spadina, lovingly maintains its wall of bookshelves alongside a craft beer and cider menu. Type Books is still selling frontlist a little west along Queen, at Bellwoods, with a focus on art, design, and literary fiction.

But Queen and Spadina was always—and still is—a quiet centre for another creative culture: fashion. Alongside the ‘zines and music venues, Queen and Spadina was, not too long ago, home to a hotbed of independent designers—who set up shop right next to the fabric and fiber crafting stores that supplied them. Though some of the fabric and costume stores have shut down or moved online, the craft community still has some significant mainstays in the neighbourhood.

Affordable Textiles and Queen Textiles are the granddaddies still standing of the Queen West fabric store strip, with piles of fabric and notions stacked high and a line on everything you’d need for a sewing project, whether it’s your first homemade pillowcase or a full-on ballgown. On the other side of the fiber arts spectrum, Romni Wools, just a short walk west past Queen and Bathurst, has all the yarn, knitting, and crochet tools you could ever dream of, and a healthy magazine, book, and how-to section besides.

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Queen and Spadina is still cheerfully reinventing itself, from punk paradise to fashion strip to outdoor mall to its current incarnation: a curious, liveable, creative neighbourhood that’s found a balance between all the lifestyles Toronto throws out there. With SQ at Alexandra Park opening this spring, it’s a great time to take a walk through the Queen and Spadina neighbourhood, and to see if you’re going where it’s going next.

Scarborough’s got to be the town with the most mixed-up, contentious rep in the GTA: it’s some people’s fiercely-loved hometown, some people’s ground zero for the Toronto music scene, and some people’s wilds of Scarberia (neighbours, we’ve got to stop the hate here). Whatever you’ve heard about Scarborough, it’s definitely mixed up in myth, pushback, and politics.

So why check Scarborough out when you’re looking for your next home? Well, there are lots of reasons—and they aren’t always the ones the stories talk about.

Scarborough has more communities per square inch

Scarborough was—and still is—the destination for decades of new immigrants to settle down in Canada, and those multiple waves of immigration have built an area that has more community in it than anywhere in TO. There are solid Chinese, African, Tamil, Indian, and Caribbean communities thriving in the borders of Scarborough, just for starters. No matter how you look or who you are, you’re never going to be alone in a crowd when you’re in Scarborough, and you’ll be less likely to have to explain where you’re from for the thirtieth time that week.

And Scarborough has the community resources to back that up. If you want to cook your grandmother’s recipes and need that one special ingredient, there’ll be three grocery stores that have it; if you’re looking for a place of worship for your religious community, it’ll be there; if you’re looking for the true heart of multicultural Toronto, this is it. Scarborough has always been the place to build a stable home in a supportive community, whatever your background may be, while getting exposure to a whole bucketful of other cultures.

Scarborough is ridiculously safe

It’s front and centre every time Scarborough gets bad press: the idea that Scarborough’s a hotspot for violent crime. The myth of Scarborough as dangerous is one that’s persisted for decades, and there are more than a few theories about who—or what prejudices—are to blame for that one.

Dig into the facts, though, and it’s pretty clear, pretty fast, that Scarborough’s violent crime rates are consistently—for the past twenty years at minimum—at least 3% lower than the rest of Toronto’s, and those were already pretty low. North Scarborough, according to Toronto Police statistics, is the safest division in the city.

If you’re looking at neighbourhoods based on security, and where you’ll feel safe walking home at night, the stats have been clear for a while: Scarborough’s your place.

Scarborough encompasses more than a suburb

The second big Scarborough myth is the Scarberia charge: That, like most of the communities that were, at one point, Toronto suburbs, Scarborough has nothing going on outside its mall. This could not be farther from the truth.

Scarborough hits all the urban living checkboxes in its City Centre neighbourhood, where most of the rental condo development has focused: a walkable, miniature downtown with a mix of offices, residential, and things to do. In short, think Liberty Village, but surrounded by the kind of greenery and parklands you’d have to drive out to Muskoka to enjoy.

Because Scarborough is also greener than any other part of Toronto. It’s home to Rouge Park, Canada’s first Urban National Park, where you can go hiking, spot deer in the Rouge River Valley, learn about the Paleolithic history of Toronto, and have picnics. It’s the equivalent of teleporting to Algonquin for the cost of a TTC fare, minus the bears, and being home in your own bed by nightfall.

Scarborough has transit everywhere

The big stumbling block for many Torontonians considering a move that doesn’t involve downtown is transit: How to get to friends, jobs, and family in other neighbourhoods. But no matter where you go in Scarborough, you’re connected.

Scarborough is the only outer borough in Toronto that’s 100% accessible on the TTC. No matter the neighbourhood, if there’s not a subway stop, there’s an LRT; if there’s no LRT, there’s a dedicated bus route. The commuter nature of development over the years in Scarborough means it’s been connected, reliably—even if it might mean a full bus ride in rush hour—for years now, and you’ll be able to map your routes with ease.

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The realities of renting in Scarborough are a living demonstration of why it’s important to look past the hype, whether that’s good, bad, or just kind of ridiculous. If you’re looking for flexibility and community, look into a Scarborough condo. It’s got more to offer than you’d think.

You’ve decided: Yes, you want a condo.

Now, which condo?

Not all condos are created equal, and what’ll be the best! place! ever! for one person can easily be an insufferable set of limits for another.  Here are some questions to consider, decisions to make, and quick tips to make sure that the condo you rent is the condo that’s right for you—before you put your name on that lease.

Know thyself

Any decision about a new home is tied up not just in who we are, but who we want to be: Of course we’ll use that exercise room every other day, if it’s just there for us; of course we’ll throw a dinner party a month in that common dining room on the top floor.  But if you’re not the person who’s already throwing dinner parties or hitting the gym, it’s important to understand that moving to a new home isn’t going to make you that person.  If your happy place is Netflix on a Sunday night, expect Netflix on a Sunday night to reassert itself after moving, no matter where you live.

This is not to say never have dreams.  But when checking out rental properties that are priced with their amenities in mind, it’s good to draw up a list first of dealbreakers—things you absolutely need and know you’re going to use, because you already do those activities in your everyday life, today—and perks, which you might use to change your lifestyle, but might not use after all.

Having an amenity in close proximity, just down the hall or up the stairs, can be a great way to get through those days where eating ice cream and reading a book would be much easier than doing your cardio.  But fundamentally, moving is not going to change you.  Rent the unit that’s good for the you who exists now, not the you that you’d like to maybe be in two years’ time, and save both the money and guilt that can result from the change in scenery not changing your life.

Look for the amount of space you’re going to occupy

Likewise, it’s important to know how much space you need.  Micro-condos are available for lower prices, and that can be exceptionally attractive, especially if your income requires keeping the monthly rent down or you’re saving up for something big.  But it’s a very risky idea to white-knuckle it through a whole year’s lease in a place that’s smaller than you’d like and assume you’ll, well, just deal with it.  It’s hard to move forward to the next stage of your life when your home makes you feel trapped and unhappy, and it doesn’t make you a great neighbour, tenant, co-worker, or friend.

Likewise, if you’re the kind of person who loves to be out of the house—and basically uses your home for a place to cook, crash, and stage your next adventure—there’s no sense in paying for that second bedroom just for a sense of appearances.

Consider anyone else who’s living in the house, too.  If you’re renting with a partner, think about what kind of space you need if and when you argue: Will that open-concept condo, with no doors to close, force a situation where every argument means one of you has to literally leave your home to get some space?

In short: Be realistic about how you use space in your home, and what kind of space you need in your day-to-day living—and look at condo rentals that can work with your use of space.

Know your plans

Life happens.  Life frequently bowls us over, which is one of the most wonderful and terrible things about it, simultaneously.  But if you’ve got a sense of who you are and where you’re going, take that factor into consideration when shortlisting condo units for viewing.

Are you looking to start a family in the next year or two?  You’ll probably want a second bedroom, and a neighbourhood that’s easy to navigate, transit- and amenity-wise, with an infant.  Are you looking for a quiet nest for your retirement years?  Check out accessibility features in the building, even if you’re in good health now, because it’s a terrible thing to have to pile moving on top of recovering from an injury or illness.

There’s a fine line between renting for the person you want to be (not always a great plan!) and planning ahead for the life circumstances you know are coming your way (a good idea!) and it’s not always easy to know what side of that line you’re on.  But if there’s a definite life event coming your way, factor it in.

Ask about the intangibles

Living in a space is a multisensory experience, and it’s important to ask questions for all five senses to know if a space is right for you.  Is there smoking in the building, and does smoke travel through the ducts between units?  Is there loud noise anywhere nearby that will disrupt your sleep if you work non-standard shifts or hours?  How good is the air conditioning, and if it’s a glass-walled unit, how does that wall of windows affect your unit’s internal temperature?  Is the building having any construction or major maintenance work done, and what are the schedules for completion?

All of those factors will be part of your day-to-day living, and affect your comfort in—and enjoyment of—the space.

Best of luck!

You’ve unpacked and settled into your new condo, and while the space is warm and cozy, the walls are looking a little bare. Since painting is usually off the table, the next best solution is to hang something with personality.

Before you head to a poster sale, though, high-quality art isn’t just for oil tycoons. If you’re on a budget and looking to spruce up your wall space, here are five easy ways to pick up affordable art for your condo without breaking the bank.

1) Check out the student galleries

There is no less figurative up-and-coming artist than the artists you’ll find at student galleries.  Both the OCAD U Student Gallery and Ryerson Artspace exhibit regular and eclectic collections of student work, and yes, they are for sale.  Exhibitions rotate throughout the year, and programs are available on their websites or on a drop-in visit.

If you’re into innovative, cutting-edge, new-generation work—or just like the idea of being able to follow artists from the start of their career (and say you knew them when!)—the student gallery route is a great one, and gives you the chance to pick up something original, one-of-a-kind, and fabulous without a major markup.

2) Visit an art fair or pop-up craft market 

Summer and fall in Toronto are rotten with creativity.  Once the weather gets nice, a veritable bouquet of art shows, craft fairs, pop-up markets, and exhibitions bloom all over Toronto, with exhibitors from around the GTHA.

The big one is The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, the most venerable of local art and craft shows, which runs every September at City Hall and brings over 350 artists a year to show their stuff at booths and demos.  It’s juried, which means your haul will definitely impress anyone in your life who’s prone to being impressed by art.

But every major downtown neighbourhood will have its own art or craft pop-up, from the Beaches show in June to the Roncy Flea to regular events at CSI Annex.  Check out event listings near you to see when it’s your block’s turn in the barrel and spend an afternoon browsing.

3) Hit the art show at your local fan convention

If you’d be okay with hanging landscapes as long as they’re in space, get thee to your nearest fan convention.  Not that you likely needed much prompting.

While Toronto conventions like Ad Astra, Fan Expo, TCAF, and more are pretty ridiculously famous as places to get celebrity autographs, hear talks about how comics get made, and talk over the finer points of your favourite fantasy novels, they’re also home to in-convention art shows, complete with auction-style bidding and best-in-show awards at the end of the weekend.

Fantasy, science fiction, anime, or other fandom-inspired art can reach an amazingly high quality—especially work by professional cover artists and the steampunk community, which prides itself on an aesthetic—and the fact that it’s a niche interest means original pieces don’t reach the kind of price tags you’ll see for original fine arts work (except perhaps in comics, where original art can get steep).  If it’s your niche, you’re in luck.

If bidding isn’t your thing, you can also pick up prints or sometimes originals in each convention’s artist’s alley or dealer’s room, where working artists man tables and sell prints and sketches, zine fair-style.

4) Timeraise

If you’ve got a little more time to use than money, your next stop should be the Toronto Timeraiser, an annual silent art auction that buys work from emerging artists at a fair price—and then sells it to you for a commitment of volunteer hours to one of the participating local non-profits.

Instead of dollars, you bid in hours to an organization you’ve picked from the attending group at their (pretty swanky) spring fundraising night, and if your bid wins, you have a full year to work the volunteer hours you’ve promised before taking your awesome piece of original art home.  You win, the artist wins, and the charity you’ve helped out wins too.

Non-profits that throw their hats in the ring include Big Brothers Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, Toronto Friends of Refugees, the Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto, St. Christopher House, and Evergreen, so there are a whole range of causes to choose from.  And once you’re done, that piece of art won’t just be a great accompaniment to your couch; it’ll be a reminder of doing some tangible good in your town.

5) Go online

Etsy has a rep as home for everything crafty—whether it’s great or not so great.  But there’s also a whole section of the site devoted to painting (by medium!), photography, prints, collage, glass art, dolls, and even sculpture.  Prices range widely—it’s a marketplace for individual creators rather than a curated selection—but there are one-of-a-kind works to be had here, and they’ll even ship them right to you.

Closer to home, local startup Eye Buy Art has a mission to make art affordable and accessible, and sorts its photography offerings by price point: $100, $250, and onward from there.  With easy shipping options and an inclusive framing service in the works, it’s an online market run by people who understand art well.

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Happy decorating!