A 1912 “Heritage Apartment” Was Furnished Mostly with Secondhand Finds

Simon Tuit and Christopher Fysh have rented this two-bedroom apartment for three years: The 1912 heritage apartment is shared with my husband, Christopher.

We moved in during the COVID-19 pandemic while most shops were shut down — and while we’ve always enjoyed secondhand/antique hunting and thrifting for things, this forced us to really make use of things we could source mostly online via Marketplace/Craigslist and various other online decor websites.

Christopher owns an interior plant decor shop called Kermodi. Simon mostly helps him with the venture and also dabbles in various creative ventures such as photography and styling.

Christopher is more of a maximalist, and Simon leans more minimalist (due to living in numerous countries and having to move with as little as possible).

By limiting the colors, we think it strikes a good balance so the space doesn’t feel too cluttered or overwhelming. Everything has been chosen by us and if something doesn’t work, then oh well — we try something new!

Describe your home’s style in five words or fewer: Neutral, calming, organic, heritage, eclectic.

What is your favorite room and why? The dining room is probably our favorite room for the simple reason that it has beautiful original wood-paneled walls. The dining table was a $200CAD Marketplace score that we restored ourselves and the mismatched chairs were all secondhand finds (our favorite chair is an authentic Hans Wegner chair gifted to us by a friend).

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? We recently found a huge haul of Ruska Arabia of Finland dinnerware from the 1970s that we love for their rustic pottery look and it suits the brown tones of our decor beautifully.

Any advice for creating a home you love? Mix and match old and new to create an interesting home that functions well for modern life but that showcases your unique style. And compromise when there’s more than one of you!

Thanks, Simon and Christopher!

This submission’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.

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