the NATIONAL BALLET of canada’S SUMMER MIXED PROGRAMME OPENS JUNE 13
(SEE FEATURE PAGE 44) AND ITS MAD HOT II GALA IS JUNE 17, 6:30PM. GALA
PERFORMANCE AND POST-PERFORMANCE RECEPTION TICKETS $50-$100. FOUR
SEASONS CENTRE for the performing arts, 145 QUEEN W. 416-345-9595.
WWW.NATIONAL.BALLET.CA.
Who: Grant Heaps, assistant wardrobe coordinator at the National Ballet of Canada.
What: A two-storey, semi-detached house in Brockton Village.
The story: It’s difficult to decide on where to look first when you step into Grant Heaps’ living room. Your eyes quickly dart from the piles of books neatly stacked in several spots on the wooden floor, to the vintage landscape paintings covering almost every inch of wall space, to the sea of wacky toys and knick-knacks crowding shelves on the back wall.
“I kind of think of it as a museum,” Heaps says of the space. “I always said I was a collector, not a decorator.”
Behind each collection is a story, which Heaps is happy to share. He picks up a bright green frog from his piggy-bank collection and strokes the head. “This is the first one I got when I was a child,” he says. He then points to a pile of vintage heart-shaped boxes on the floor: “I used to send one to my grandmother every Valentine’s Day.”
In addition to 1950s cocktail barware, irons, sailor dolls and “cheesy old gay novels,” Heaps collects old photos, several of which hang from mini clothes pegs on thin wire strung across a bricked-in window. Below the display is a bright lime green couch, which Heaps chose to give the antique-filled room a modern touch.
Rather than decorating with a distinct aesthetic in mind, Heaps aimed to make the space a reflection of his interests and memories. “I’ve had to just mull it over and think, ‘What do I really want now?’” he says. “I knew I wanted happiness.”