Thornbloom – The Inspired Home

I look forward to shopping for Christmas ornaments at Thornbloom every boxing day. Their selection is well curated and unique, not the everyday items from Hallmark etc. Some ornaments are pricey but if you don’t mind waiting the discounts go as low as 70%, if memory serves.

This place is rather above my price range, but I can’t help but go in over Christmastime — even if it’s just to scope out what to come back for on Boxing Day. Seriously though, if you’re in need of a special Christmas tree ornament for yourself or as a gift, they have loads of truly beautiful ornaments, and lots that are incredibly specific to one’s interests.
The rest of the year they have lovely home décor items. It’s always worth a pop in — I got a really nice bracelet at Thornbloom recently when I’d just stopped in to browse. I like the new location on South Park St., as it’s easy to browse before or after grabbing a coffee at Humani-​T.

I love this over-​the-​top little shop. Tucked away by itself in the weird but nice (I guess?) Spring Garden Place Mall, almost every surface is covered with something glittery, shiny, or otherwise flashy for in the home. If I were to describe it as a Halifamous person, I would say it’s Neville MacKay. In a good way.
Particularly fun around Christmastime, I tend to just poke my nose in for a bit of inspiration or just to kill some time looking at pretty things. From area rugs to armchairs, table lamps to decorative owls (presumably), if you’ve got an upscale budget, you could easily have some fun here!

So you are having a bad day. Maybe you are downtown stressing over your holiday shopping. Maybe you are on your lunch break counting the hours until you can go home, crack open a bottle of wine and sit in front of the tube. Well, fret no more. Put down that corkscrew, stop giving death stares to salespeople and Santas on the street and step into Thornbloom.
As you walk up the stairs you will undoubtedly be greeted by the husbands, boyfriends and significant others of other patrons taking a rest on the display-​only furniture outside the store. Probably surrounded by shopping bags and purses and most likely with exasperated looks on their faces. Feel free to leave your tag-​a-​long here as well. Hey, he’ll have company!
Now try not to smile as you enter the store: how can you not? It literally looks like Christmas threw up all over the store, and not the stuffed animal singing, chipmunk carol blasting, multi-​coloured, seizure inducing nonsense that is normally in stores these days. We’re talking hand painted glass ornaments that you can see your kids’ kids removing from the tissue paper asking their grandmother where they got this pretty one. And you, of course, promptly freaking out and yelling at the kid to be careful!
This is my recommendation: ditch the man/​boy/​guy and take a good friend instead. Trust me he won’t find it nearly as entertaining as you do. Only a good friend will walk around the store with you ooohing and ahhing over all the pretty ones and laughing every time you pick up a highly absurd one (cause really who wants a glass ornament of a jewel encrusted cell phone?) And if they are really good friends like mine they’ll chase you around the store with a giant glass owl with soul stealing eyes. (What? Owls are creepy okay?)
Fair Warning: Stuff ain’t cheap here. Whether its during the holidays or just a regular Tuesday, be prepared for the inevitable sticker shock. But they do have sales, especially after Christmas — just get there early cause it sells out quick!

My obsession with pretty things extends into home interiors. Thornbloom is certainly an inspired spot where folks can obtain custom designs or furniture straight out of the showroom. Sleek minimalist pieces inter-​lay with antique inspired armourers and delicate accents. Its a lovely spot to indulge the trips of fancy.
Out of my price range? Mostly. I’d still like to dabble in window shopping and accessories, but my ongoing experience here has provided a pattern of poor customer service. While I do, perhaps, appear younger than my actual age, I see this as no reason to blatantly ignore me in my browsing. A polite «hello» or some form of acknowledgement seems appropriate, respectable and the cordial thing for a business as such. Sure, I get that I’m not the obvious big-​time buyer, but come on. It reflects poorly on the business when staff members squeeze by me in an awkward attempt to ignore my presence.
Hm. I like the spot and its holdings. But the staff here are repeatedly blasé, and its unfortunate.

Thornbloom — the place to shop when price is not an issue.
Here you will find some very nice high end furnishings, everything from kitchen wares, cushions, linens, rugs and of course those wonderful pillows Courtney raves about.
Yes, this place will run you a little more, but even if you can not buy, it is a nice place to look around in.

This is a home store that sells items ranging from tea balls to sectional couches. It’s not a huge store, so by deciding to sell such a wide range of items it means they’ve sacrificed a bit in terms of selection within each department. For instance if you’re in search of baking pans they have two or three styles, but not too many options. Despite this, there are still a ton of fun little things you could pick up here, and as a kitchen geek I found myself cooing over more than a few.
I didn’t buy anything, though, because prices run high here — items I was actually interested in were pricey enough to turn me off, like the $ 35 pizza cutter, or the cheapest dishes which were not so cheap. One other thing I found off putting was how silent the store was. No music, very little noise at all. Not a nice atmosphere for browsing! Also I was not greeted or even acknowledged at all while in the store, even though it was nearly empty.

‘Thornbloom’ is one of those ritzy household apparel stores that catch you a bit off guard with their pricing. You nonchalantly walk in, pick up a teapot, and nearly let it smash to the ground when you realize said pot could run you $ 75+.
Thornbloom is a good stop off if there’s a specialty item that you have been on a quest for. Years of sleeping on university residence bunk style beds, and fifth hand box spring/​mattress sets was starting to do a number on my back. It’s mighty unpleasant to wake up in your early 20’s and role out of bed like an old lady, complaining about aches and pains. For this reason I started doing some research on high quality pillows and mattresses. I quickly stumbled upon the ‘Natura’ brand and established that ‘Thornbloom’ distributes their products. When I walked into the shop the sales lady helping me was very well educated on the specific pillow I was looking for and explained that her husband had bought one after realizing how comfortable hers was. Sounds good to me.
Upgrading to a better pillow did wonders for my sleep! I highly recommend checking Thornblooms out if you are looking for a specific high end product. Just beware the window-​shopping. Very few people need the ‘Henckel’s 8 inch carving knife’ ($ 160) but this store and its sales people could convince you otherwise.

I’ll be honest — I’m not a big fan of Christmas and all its trappings… but I have to admit that this store, more than any other, brings out the glitter-​lover in me. Especially around Christmastime.
A visit to Thornbloom when the Christmas decorations are out is like a visit to an enchanted land of colour, glitter, and light — it really is fantastical. Every nook and cranny of this shop is stuffed with decorations — trees, bulbs, lights, and all the glorious gewgaws that make the holiday season sparkly. They really go all out.
The stuff is expensive, perhaps not surprisingly. This shop caters to the upscale home décor market. But even if you can’t afford to buy, it’s kind of fun to look. Maybe just don’t touch.