About Toronto's The Beaches

Kew Beach, Toronto, Ontario ...

..........................a beautiful beach and a beautiful neighbourhood in East Toronto.

If you haven't been to Kew Beach, you have no idea what you're missing.

Take your picnic basket, your cooler full of water bottles (maybe a little Vinho Verde or Prosecco - I won't tell) ... and do what I did for a few hours - NOTHING at all.

It was exhausting, sitting there watching the sail boats in the distance, wishing I was in one of them. It was even more exhausting watching everyone else try to find a spot, on what started out on a pretty empty beach, but soon was crowded, and the laughter and happy screams from children chasing balls and frisbees, or chasing their dogs (who were very happy jumping in the water to cool down), filled the air.

It was exhausting ... doing nothing at Kew Beach.

My guests had fun. We haven't had great weather, but today was absolutely gorgeous, so I thought I'd take them to a Canadian beach, since the poor things have never experienced anything but a Mediterranean beach (so sad).

Here are some photos, which I hope you all enjoy ... and again, if you haven't been there, you should go. If you don't want to take the picnic basket, then don't. There's no lack of great restaurants, cafes and fast food spots - a little bit of everything, within minutes of the boardwalk. And if you go early enough, you may even find a parking spot, with no trouble at all.

Visit Kew Beach - take a walk on the boardwalk or the sandy beach .... you may not want to leave (especially when you picture yourself living in one of those beach front homes).

© Copyright 2009 - All rights reserved.
All photos are copyrighted property of Sylvie Conde.
Do not reproduce or reprint without the express written permission of Sylvie Conde.

Toronto Real Estate & Life Blog by Sylvie Conde, Broker
Sutton Group-Associates Realty Inc., Brokerage 416-966-0300
(Independently Owned & Operated)
sconde@sutton.com
www.sylvieconde.com
www.torontorealestatelife.com

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Toronto's Number One Outdoor Music Festival/Street Fest is back.

Kick off the festivities at Lakeshore & Coxwell - at Woodbine Park, on July 17.

Admission is free. Take a hat and a folding chair, and enjoy the music.
There will be wheelchair and scooter accessibility.

Leave the car at home, and enjoy the beer gardens.

Starting July 23rd, 50 bands will entertain you over 3 days, along the 2 km stretch, along Queen Street.

There is something for everyone:
Big Band, Swing, Dixieland, Smooth, Post-Bop, Afro-Cuban, Fusion, Funk, R&B and Soul .....

Admission is free.

There will be FREE jazz concerts over the weekend, at Kew Gardens, July 25 and 26.
Take a beach blanket or a folding chair.

If you want to broaden your jazz experience, you may want to participate in a Workshop or Lecture, which will take place at the Mennonite New Life Centre, at 1774 Queen Street East,
from July 20 to July 25, from 7 to 9 p.m.

You can pick from Vocal Jazz Bootcamp; Turning Pop Songs into Jazz; Jazz Dance for Youth; Jazz Guitar Workshop, Jazz Piano Workshop, and much more ....

A lot of the neighbourhood streets will be closed to car traffic, so remember to leave your car at home, and use public transit.

How to get there:

From the Bloor Line Subway:

- Woodbine Subway station: take the 92 Woobine SOUTH Bus
- Coxwell Subway station: take the 22 Coxwell Bus

You can also take the 501 Queen Street Car EAST, from the Queen or Osgood Subway Stations.

If you must drive, and you're coming from the North, you can take the DVP South, and exit at Lakeshore Blvd. East. Travel along Lakeshore East to Coxwell Avenue, and turn left, then turn right on Queen Street.

If you're coming from the West, take the QEW to the Gardiner Expressway and exit at Lakeshore Blvd East. Continue along the Lakeshore until you reach Coxwell; turn left (go North) on Coxwell and turn right on Queen Street East.

Have fun - enjoy the festivities - and remember not to drive if you drink.

Toronto Real Estate and Life Blog - Sylvie Conde, Broker
Sutton Group-Associates Realty Inc., Brokerage 416-966-0300
sconde@sutton.com
www.sylvieconde.com
www.torontorealestatelife.com


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In this example, I would like to demonstrate to Realtors and Homeowners the importance that colour and decluttering has when marketing a property on line to get onto "The Must See List" of buyers. In this room all I did was paint a neutral colour, use bedding in a less busy pattern, hang appropriate artwork and declutterd.

It's a well known fact that vibrant colours do not show well on listing photos. It is much more appealing to see a neutral backdrop in a room to allow the scale of the room to be highlighted.

The second important step in marketing the space in a room is to declutter. Excess furniture should be stored off the premises to allow the buyer to see how they could live in this room. Does it have enough space for their things? To accomplish this you must show as much floor space as you can. It also allowed the beautiful wood floors to be featured.

In this property in The Beaches in Toronto the final step is to make sure that patterns in fabrics do not distract from the focal point of the room. In Real Estate you are selling space and light. By using a lighter coloured bedding ensemble it created a more open feel to the room. Now buyers are able to see how they could move their belongings into this room.

Advantage Staging will market your property to stand out from the competition every time.

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless.

In this example, I would like to show Realtors and Homeowners the importance of decluttering and storing items that are not essential to everyday living. By doing this, you allow buyers to see the scale of the room in the listing photos so they can see how they could live in your home. It allows the function of the room to shine through for all to see.

This is a critical part of the Home Staging process to market the home and get it on the "Must See List" of buyers. In this room all I did was reposition the furniture to create a conversation area and ease of movement through the room, added lighting, an area rug and decluttered.

In the before photo you cannot see how warm and inviting this living room was. It really needed to be decluttered to allow the ambience of the room to be featured. Now this living room in The Beaches in Toronto makes you feel at home as soon as you enter the front door and look into this room right off the foyer.

Advantage Staging will market your property to stand out from the competition every time.

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless.

In this example, I would like to demonstrate the importance of addressing negative issues to stop offers from coming in from buyers in the main bathroom of this property.

For some reason, when the previous owners renovated the main bathroom, they installed the sink on the wall below the window instead of on the opposite wall where they could have mounted a mirror and cabinet for storage.

Moving the sink was out of the question, so I did the next best thing. All I did in this room was suggest installing a mirror on an expandable arm so the new owners could see their face to wash or shave. I also suggested that a storage cabinet be installed above the toilet for storing personal bathroom neccesssities.

In this property in The Beaches in Toronto the before and after photos clearly show the immediate benefits of the simple, cost effective minor improvements to this room. The buyers are now able to see how they could use the room and not be inconvenienced by the lack of a mirror or storage options.

Advantage Staging will market your property to stand out from the competition every time.

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless.