Finally, a house I can afford

The weekly micro-decorating newsletter * Issue 5 of 13, SS23 *
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Like many Torontonians, I've always found the idea of owning a house so out of reach that it barely registers as a concept. I know that I'm a renter for life and have learned to tune out stories of bidding wars, bully offers, and ever-escalating property values.

That said, I have to confess I'm drawn to images of houses – not photographs or realistic renderings, but the most simplified versions you can imagine, with the pared-down geometry of children's drawings.

I thought about this after seeing the April exhibition at Likely General on Roncesvalles, a series of painted plywood folk-art-inspired works by Erin McPhee. It was called Lucky Charms – the Toronto incarnation of a show in Hamilton last September – and seeing these pieces for the first time gave me goosebumps. Especially the houses.

I couldn't fend off the urge to own one of them.

When I returned to Likely General on the last day of the exhibition, the wall was already bare, and I learned the artist had scooped up the unsold works to take back to Hamilton. It took some maneuvering, but after an e-transfer and several weeks' time, I swung by my local Penguin Pickup to retrieve a neatly-lettered cardboard box. In time I was slicing it open, peeling back bubble wrap, and being flooded with that rare, coveted sensation: I own a house!

Here it is in all its glory, upper left:

At three-hundred-and-fifty dollars, it was well within my price range. I plan to cherish it for decades to come. Secretly, I hope that one day I'll resell it for an exorbitant sum and glow with satisfaction.

The pull to acquire the house was no doubt the same impulse that led me to purchase the picture-book "Home" by Carson Ellis, with its playful illustrations of various types of dwelling, and understated musing on why we live where we do:

In the past, it's also compelled me to buy a house throw pillow:

It even tempts me into displaying a "new home" greeting card as a visual grace note:

It must be the case that these stripped-down renditions of houses contain some of the magic of the real thing. They're a form of coziness condensed.

It's so good to have these reminders of the well-being we desire – and can also attain, in our own creative ways.

See you next Wednesday,