SMASH 2880 Dundas West, 416-762-3113, smash.to Rating: NNNNN
SMASH 2880 Dundas West, 416-762-3113, smash.to
When you consider how much buzz the opening of Smash has created among Junctionites and other downtowners, it’s clear that this stretch of Dundas West has officially left its dry, dowdy days behind. Not that location is the only reason people are talking. Paul Mercer (former co-owner of Post & Beam Reclamation), Jose Nieves and Jose Ortega (both partners in the Lula Lounge) have put together a clever, eclectic mix of antiques, artwork and home fixtures.
Take the shop’s centrepiece, an oversized carved banquet table topped with tarnished silver platters and lined with a bank of Herman Miller chairs. Above it hangs a pair of industrial medical spotlights, and next to it is a Lambretta scooter, degraded from its days of functional transport to become a well-worn piece of modern decor.
Prices can get stratospheric, but the architecture and design book area, stocked by Kensington Market’s Function 13, means no visitor has to leave empty-handed.
Hot tip: Mercer recently returned from an Argentine treasure hunt with over 40 styles of spacey 60s ceramic tiles, which he’s selling for $5 each.
Smash picks: Go deco with a tall 1920s Venetian glass mirror, $2,950; a set of technical drawings for doorways and elevator entrances is framed in hardwood, $950; trick out the teensiest powder room with a fold-out stainless steel railroad sink, $1,250.
Look for: Collaborations between Smash and Jerome Jenner Galley (jeromejenner.com) on rotating art shows that have already covered samurai and tattoo culture.
Hours: Monday to Saturday 10 am to 6 pm, Sunday noon to 5 pm.
