Happy Thanksgiving

                Source: nowserveme.wordpress.com via Spring on Pinterest

Well for the first time in a while, there are no open houses to report in the Dovercourt-Wallace-Emerson-Junction areas this weekend, so there will be no Sneak Peek Friday's post.  Meaning that if you're living in one of these areas and thinking of selling, no time like the present!

Anyway, it's Thanksgiving long weekend, so I hope everyone has an awesome Thanksgiving, filled with lots of turkey comas and awesome family times. I'm off to San Francisco today for some girlie good times and the Madonna concert, so I'll see all of you back here on Wednesday.

Oh and one more thing.......my second design project and latest listing was featured in Toronto Life's, House of the Week, so very exciting!!!! To see the full feature, just click here.

Have a great one!!!!!

Design Sponge + Vacay Alert

I have some very exciting news to share, remember my 4th renovation project that I blogged about here earlier this week? Not only did it get featured on one of Toronto's top blogs, Eat.Live.Shop, as if that wasn't an honour enough, it was also featured on Design Sponge! I feel so honoured and grateful and feel all of my hard work as paid off on this renovation.

To view the full post on Eat.Live.Shop, just click here
To view the full post on Design Sponge, just click here

On a further exciting note, I will be away on vacation for the next 10 days, which means a vacay from blogging, something I will truly miss! Make sure you don't stray too far, as there are lots of great posts to come when I return. In the meantime, here are some lovely pictures of where I'm headed....French Riviera

First stop....Cannes




Second stop....Monte Carlo

See you all here when I get back, I promise to have a ton of pictures!

***Images via Best Beaches & NJ Charters***

Home Safety Tips For Summer

Since I've been feeling under the weather these last few days, I thought I would treat you to a guest post today. Here are some great tips for your home, if you're planning a getaway this summer.

With summer only a few weeks away, your kids will soon be out of school for the summer and vacation season begins.  Now is the perfect time to start planning your family getaway. When leaving your home for long periods of time it is extremely important to protect your home and family.  According to a report from the Conference Board of Canada, Canada had 682 burglaries per 100,000 people, with the majority occurring in the peak vacation months of July and August. Home break-ins could be prevented if homeowners would take simple steps to burglarproof their homes. Break-ins may seem like random acts, but they tend to be crimes of opportunity. Do not give burglars the opportunity or the upper hand. Below are home safety tips to help keep your home safe while you travel:

·      Stop delivery of your mail and newspapers—or have a friend or neighbor pick them up for you.

·      Keep bushes and shrubs well-trimmed. Use timers on lights, televisions and radios to  provide sound and lights the inside of your home.

·      Keep the outside of your home well lit. Would-be thieves prefer not to be seen.

·      Have your lawn maintained if you will be gone for more than a few days.

·      Leave the air conditioner on. A silent compressor on a hot day is a good indication you aren't home.

·      Unplug everything but the refrigerator, freezer, and the lights and radios you have set on timers.

·      Where possible, turn off the water to your sinks, toilets, dishwasher, washing machine and hot water heater.

·      Use your home alarm systems. Be sure to set your home security system before you leave and check to make sure the company has the best number on file to reach you if anything should happen.  

·      Contact your local police department. Check to see if they offer courtesy house checks. Also let a trusted neighbor or friend know that you will be out of town so that they can check on your house or report any unusual activity.

Follow these tips and you’re sure to have an enjoyable—and safe—summer holiday.

This guest post was by Portia S., a staff writer for Protection 1, one of the largest and most respected alarm monitoring companies. The company provides installation, maintenance, and monitoring of single-family home security systems, business security systems and multifamily security systems.

Were these tips helpful?
***Image via We Don't Speak The Language***

Happy Easter!!!!

For all of you either celebrating Easter or just the long weekend, hope it's a good one! I know I'm going to be stuffing my face with lots of Easter chocolates, how about you?

***Image via Britt Irene***

Happy New Year!!!!!!

Happy 2012 everyone, I hope your new years night was filled with lots of great memories that you will cherish forever. My goal for this year is to take this blog and the RealtyqueenTO brand to the next level (once I figure out what that is I will let you know), as well as RealtyRoyalty. Be good and kind to the ones that love me dearly and be successful and prosperous on the house project I'm currently working on and find another one in a timely manner to get my hands dirty!

So Happy New Year to everyone and all the best in 2012!!!!

Let me know your goals for 2012

PS. I will be back to blogging next week
***Image via Curious Sofa***

Happy Holidays!!!!

Happy Holidays to everyone this weekend!!!!! I hope your weekend is filled with joy, laughter and lot's of quality family time. Enjoy

To all of those celebrating Christmas, Merry Christmas to all, hope Santa will be good to you this weekend!!!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!!
***Images via Sweet Casual Style***

Not So Traditional Xmas Tree

With the holidays fast approaching, I thought I would acknowledge them and do a few blog posts during the month of December to be festive. A lot people tend to go crazy when it comes to decorating their homes/condos/apartments for the holidays and I must say that it can be pretty tacky and overwhelming at times, this includes Christmas trees too. If you're one of these victims, don't fall into this vicious cycle again this year and try to do something different. One of the easiest places to start is your Christmas tree, try doing something that is not so traditional this year to mix things up. Here are some ideas to get you started on your way to a non-tacky Christmas. These ideas can also be implemented if you're limited on space, don't have a fake Christmas tree or don't want to deal with the hassle of getting a real one.

For more information on each tree, just click on the picture.

Let me know what you think!

Can I just say, I love that chair!

Love the collection of "useless but pretty objects"

This is very unique, a tree made out of wire, great space saver and fun DIY project
If you're looking for a more traditional look, how about printing out a giant colour copy of a tree and taping it to your wall. Hope you have lots of ink cartridges handy

Have a few empties kicking around? Then how about doing something like this? Note to self, this is not a child friendly Christmas tree

Looking to spruce up a bookshelf, then how about a bookshelf Christmas tree, what a cool idea!


Absolutely love how old rulers were used to make this tree, perfect for tiny spaces or make it on a larger scale


Another fun DIY project and definitely not tacky at all, love the rustic feel!


If you're a post-it fanatic like I am, then this tree should be right up your alley

Instead of one big Christmas tree, how about a few mini ones, the trick is to pick one colour and stick with it


Check out this environmentally friendly tree, all you have to do is find a dead branch, bring it home, decorate it and voila!

Close up of the cute decorations used, most of them homemade



Last, but not least, if you insist on a Christmas tree, how about doing it with style like this one by Renee Elliott from Eat.Live.Shop, I love the rustic theme and DIY ornaments made by Renee herself, this is how to do a Christmas tree properly!

Hope this has inspired you to do something great with your tree. I would love to see pictures! Don't be shy and email them to me.
***All images via Apartment Therapy, Eat.Live.Shop, Craft Gossip, Style-Files, Carmen And Kids & Pure Green Design***

DIY Holiday Workshops By Eat.Live.Shop

This post is not usually one that I would do, but when it comes to supporting my friends, there's nothing I wouldn't do. One of my closests girlfriends, Renee from Eat.Live.Shop is running a series of DIY holiday workshops for the month of December. I think these workshops are truly a genius idea as I have never seen anyone else do them before. Also they are all holiday based this month, which is perfect for the holiday season which is just around the corner. Be prepared and sign up for one, two or three of them! All workshops are $35 and include materials, wine, yes I said wine and sweet treats, great for a girls night out or for a boyfriend trying to impress his girl (trust me, women love this kind of stuff!). I have signed up for 2, the embossed gift tags and cards running tomorrow evening and the sweater stocking one running on December 14th. Please show your support for Renee and come see me as well. I have posted the workshop schedule below as well as the links to buy tickets online, it's that easy, so you have no excuse!

Workshop: Holiday Gift Tags & CardsWhere: Bicyclette (880 Queen St. W)
Date: December 1st, 2011
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Includes: wine, treats & 15% off at Bicyclette
To purchase tickets click here

Workshop: Holiday Gift Tags & Cards
Where: Re: Style Studio (344 Westmoreland Ave. #104A - near Dupont and Dufferin)
Date: December 12th, 2011
Time: 7 pm - 9 pm
Includes: tea & treats
To purchase tickets click here
Workshop: DIY Bracelet
Where: Re: Style Studio (344 Westmoreland Ave. #104A - near Dupont and Dufferin)
Date: December 5th, 2011
Time: 7 pm - 9 pm
Includes: tea & treats
To purchase tickets click here
Workshop: Recycled Sweater Stocking
Where: Re: Style Studio (344 Westmoreland Ave. #104A - near Dupont and Dufferin)
Date: December 14th, 2011
Time: 7 pm - 9 pm
Includes: tea & treats
To purchase tickets click here

Hope to see you there!

Halloween Night!

How was your Halloween? I know mine was great! I took out my god daughter and my little sister as well as Harley, of course! We went trick or treating in my neighbourhood, the Junction Triangle, where tons of kids and adults were all dressed up. Our night consisted of scary houses, jack-o-lanterns, doggies in costumes and lots of silliness, I must say Halloween was a huge success!

Scary House!

Since Halloween is just around the corner, I thought I would feature how one of my clients decorated their new house this Halloween season. Check it out and let me know what you think. I think it's pretty scary!!!













I have a busy weekend planned of Halloween parties, a birthday party and trick or treating. I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween weekend and here's something I thought I might leave you with for the weekend!