CLIMBING UP
The women of Orange Peacock salvage unwanted furniture
Natasha Alrawda and Jenn Smutnicki are the founders of Orange Peacock, a fledgling business dealing in refurbished old furniture. The duo live in two bachelors in Broadview Mansions. One day, they noticed a metal ladder in their building’s dumpster. The women knew that ladders were popular in interior design magazines, so they asked their superintendent if they could have it. They refinished and painted it and Orange Peacock was born.
“We live in such a disposable society. But so many old pieces are solid and have a story behind them.”
NATASHA ALRAWDA
Not long ago, I had an unexpected email from Chuck Fong, my longtime postal carrier from the many years I lived in Riverdale. I hadn’t talked to him since moving to the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood more than two years ago, but he wanted to tell me about Orange Peacock (theorangepeacock.tumblr.com). Founded by two women who live near Broadview and Danforth Aves., it’s a fledgling cottage industry dealing in refurbished old furniture.
Natasha Alrawda, 31, and her friend, 36-year-old Jenn Smutnicki, live in two bachelors in Broadview Mansions, a pair of midrise heritage buildings from 1927 that are considered a beautiful example of Edwardian Classicism.
Alrawda, who had worked in product development in the fashion industry, and Smutnicki, an event planner, found themselves between jobs and looking for work in their respective fields.
One day, they noticed a metal ladder in their building’s dumpster. The women knew that ladders were popular in interior design magazines — both functional as shelving and providing a trendy industrial stylistic touch — so they asked their superintendent, Cecil, if they could have it.
“It was very cool looking, with the knobs and wires on it,” says Alrawda.
Fond of finishing each other’s thoughts, Smutnicki says, “We were so excited; we cleaned and painted it in one night.”
Adds Alrawda: “We called it ‘the Cecil.’ ”
Named in honour of their elderly superintendent, who always lets them know when promising furniture has been thrown out, it is for sale but at the moment it’s sitting in Alrawda’s approximately 450square-foot unit, for which she pays $800 plus utilities. (She shares it with Brooklyn, her Labradoodle, and Soho, a grey-and-white cat.) A couple of other pieces, also for sale, are, for now, part of her home decor.
“The Ophelia” was an intricately carved wood chair discarded by its owners. Alrawda and Smutnicki painted it black and added blueand-white floral upholstery and coral knobs, a whimsical touch. “The Jojo” chair is painted an antique grey and reupholstered in an eye-poppingly colourful print that brings to mind Picasso. Their lives have an interesting symmetry. Alrawada was born in Jasper, Alta., but grew up in Georgetown. Smutnicki, a skiing and golf fanatic, is from Welland but moved to Jasper for a summer job and stayed for 10 years. They met a couple of years ago when they became neighbours and discovered a shared love of fixing up old stuff. Today, they rent three storage spaces and a spot in the building’s medieval-looking underground parking garage where they do the messy or noisy work. In nice weather, they can often be found refinishing a piece in the alleyway behind their building, where the pictures of their work found on their Tumblir site are taken. Smutnicki shows me a picture of “The Murphy.” An elderly optometrist in the neighbourhood had gone into a retirement home and his sister was selling the contents of his home, which included metal cabinets covered in a bright orangeand-yellow wallpaper (a legacy of the ’60s). Smutnicki had to soak them in her bathtub to work the wallpaper off. Then the two women refinished them in green hues using high-gloss spray paint. “We live in such a disposable society,” says Alrawda. “But so many old pieces are solid and have a story behind them.”
Which brings us to the story of how they’ve come to be renters at this stage in their lives. They admit they hadn’t thought much about their philosophies on renting until I contacted them, but since it’s come up they’ve been talking about it.
“I’ve had a lot of pressure from my brother-in-law, who is in the financial industry, as well as my sisters, who both own homes,” says Alrawda.
“They think I should invest in a condo, own something. But I’ve never had the desire. It seems like everyone I know in their 30s who have bought houses or condos say to me, ‘I’m so poor.’ They seem to sacrifice practically everything just to own a home.
“It seems to be like that in society. If you’re married, you’re considered successful. If you have an impressive job title, you’re successful. If you own your home, you’re successful. That’s how things are measured, although I don’t see it that way.”
Smutnicki shakes her head. “I don’t get family pressure. I’m the eldest of three. My younger brother just bought a home and my sister also owns. But I never hear a word about it from anyone. My dad has visited me and he thinks this area is great and he loves my apartment. If I told him I wanted to buy a place he’d be all for it. But if I rent for the rest of my life, his attitude would be, so long as you’re happy that’s all that matters.”