A selection of pieces from The Curated’s instagram.
If you’ve ever stayed up until two a.m. hunting for the perfect kitchen table because you’re sick of awkwardly eating pad thai on the couch while you watch television (no? too specific? just me?), you’ll definitely appreciate how much of a pain it can be slogging through page after page of mostly terrible furniture pieces on Kijiji or Craigslist. Fortunately, there’s a new website in town that aims to make shopping for second-hand home accessories much, much easier.
Former Calgarian Nya Irwin, 33, launched The Curated during March of this year. The site curates home décor, furniture, and collectibles by sifting out all of the bad stuff to show the hidden gems buried in classified pages. For now, the site is run solely by Nya, and has pages for a number of Canadian cities – Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax.
Nya relocated to Vancouver from Cochrane in her early 20s for University, and has been living there ever since. I chatted with her about the website, and asked her to share a few tips for aspiring bargain hunters.
How did the idea for the website come about?
I am a self-professed “classifieds” junkie! Whenever the need would arise for something, rather than going out to a department store to buy it, I would always search sites like Craigslist or Kijiji first. I am definitely intrigued by the thrill of the hunt. I had seen sites that had a similar idea [to The Curated], but most focused on American cities. I thought to myself, ‘Why not offer this type of service to my fellow Canadians?’ Thus, The Curated was born!
After talking to others, I realized that not everyone enjoys the hunting aspect of classifieds, and that is where The Curated shines. It has literally skimmed through and sifted out all the crap that is on most classified sites, and displayed the great pieces in a neat, easy to see, pretty little package.
How do you find the pieces for each city?
I have a system of searching each classified site by certain keywords. In my searching I have come across some neat patterns for different cities across this great country. Some cities are loyal to only Kijiji, and others use a mixture of both Craigslist and Kijiji. Some cities that have a large older demographic have the most fantastic antique, retro, and mid-century finds. Other cities that tend to be more affluent seem to simply buy things and then sell them right away, because they are already redesigning, giving the buyer the opportunity to literally snatch up a brand new item at a fraction of the cost.
Any tips for aspiring bargain hunters?
Be patient. Sometimes it can take weeks or even months to find that perfect item!
Check back often. Being consistent in your searching will allow you to find what you are looking for much faster.
Think outside the box! If you have to use a thesaurus, then do so! What you may call a desk, others may term a console, secretary, or lectern. Using this method to search will allow you to have greater success finding what you’re looking for.
What’s next for The Curated?
I would love to expand it to more cities, and possibly include some American cities in the future.
If you’re hunting for the perfect piece of home décor, or simply love browsing a well curated site with cute furniture picks, you can visit The Curated’s Calgary website here.