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Jean Grant

Jean Grant has been a freelance writer since 2015, covering a range of lifestyle topics like shopping, interiors, wellness and culture for publications like Maclean’s and Toronto Life. She also enjoys working with brands to develop custom content, and shares personal essays through her Substack newsletter, Nobody is Thinking About You.

Latest from Jean Grant

How to turn your house green

How to turn your house green

Advice from Toronto’s doting plant parents and the shops that supply them

This Trinity Bellwoods couple spent $75,000 transforming their new backyard into a cozy retreat

Real Estate News

This Trinity Bellwoods couple spent $75,000 transforming their new backyard into a cozy retreat

They turned a sad patch of grass into a cozy cedar-filled escape, with a stone fountain, fire pit and plenty of storage

An ode to mid-century design, built from scratch

Real Estate News

An ode to mid-century design, built from scratch

This couple’s dream house was 20 years in the making

10 ergonomically correct standing desks for the WFH-weary

10 ergonomically correct standing desks for the WFH-weary

They look good, feel good and will make working from home seem less like living at work

The best winter running gear for those cold Covid jogs

The best winter running gear for those cold Covid jogs

Since outdoor cardio is one of the only ways to get in a proper sweat session

A Toronto couple could work remotely. So they moved to this $1.6-million Blue Mountain mansion

Real Estate News

A Toronto couple could work remotely. So they moved to this $1.6-million Blue Mountain mansion

Parker and Chrissi wanted an outdoorsy lifestyle. So they sold their place at Pape and Danforth and looked for something outside of the GTA

The 10 most covetable pieces for sale at Art Toronto

The 10 most covetable pieces for sale at Art Toronto

If Covid has turned you into a wannabe art collector, here's your chance to invest in some stellar Canadian work

Five Toronto companies that deliver curated party boxes for your next virtual event

Five Toronto companies that deliver curated party boxes for your next virtual event

Including a boozy virtual paint night

Toronto hotels are renting out work suites by the day. Here's a look inside

Toronto hotels are renting out work suites by the day. Here’s a look inside

Five hotels offering packages for the frustrated WFH crowd

Real Weddings: Inside a secluded Arab-Canadian elopement on Toronto Island

Real Weddings: Inside a secluded Arab-Canadian elopement on Toronto Island

"Covid helped us refocus the importance of the day on the commitment we’re making"

Nine of the best fall jackets to get you through the socially distanced season

Nine of the best fall jackets to get you through the socially distanced season

It's the only piece of apparel worth investing in this season

"We've been mostly sold out since Labour Day": How the owners of The June Motel opened up a new boutique inn during the pandemic

“We’ve been mostly sold out since Labour Day”: How the owners of The June Motel opened up a new boutique inn during the pandemic

"People were asking us why we chose to open at all for only three weeks of business"

Toronto's best online fitness classes

Toronto’s best online fitness classes

Cardio, bodybuilding, yoga and body-weight blasts, all streamed directly into the comfort of your living room

All of the drive-in screenings you can catch at this year's slightly different TIFF

All of the drive-in screenings you can catch at this year’s slightly different TIFF

Twelve buzzed-about titles you can watch from the comfort (and safety) of your car

Ten striking new murals honouring front-line workers have popped up across the city

Ten striking new murals honouring front-line workers have popped up across the city

As part of StreetARToronto, local artists have turned bare stretches of walls and alleys into tributes to essential workers

This company will build you an all-weather private office studio in your backyard

This company will build you an all-weather private office studio in your backyard

How a construction entrepreneur started producing prefabricated office pods

How this couple pulled off an extravagant four-day Ismaili-Hindu wedding during Covid

How this couple pulled off an extravagant four-day Ismaili-Hindu wedding during Covid

They hosted 120 people over four days—with rotating time slots, socially distanced settings and two different religious ceremonies

How one couple turned a decrepit old canning factory into the perfect pandemic retreat

Real Estate News

How one couple turned a decrepit old canning factory into the perfect pandemic retreat

It was an epic six-year reno, and the owner opened a furniture showroom partway through so he could afford to deck the place out the way he wanted

The Want List: super stylish, highly functional picnic paraphernalia for your weekend excursions

The Want List: super stylish, highly functional picnic paraphernalia for your weekend excursions

Everything you need to be the envy of your fellow park-goers

Every drive-in movie, concert and event happening over the long weekend

Every drive-in movie, concert and event happening over the long weekend

A weekly roundup of the best entertainment you can catch from your car

Every drive-in movie, concert and event happening this weekend

Every drive-in movie, concert and event happening this weekend

A weekly roundup of the best entertainment you can catch from you car

Our 200-guest wedding at the AGO was cancelled, so we got married in my childhood church

Our 200-guest wedding at the AGO was cancelled, so we got married in my childhood church

Inside a chic micro celebration at the Ancaster Mill

This backyard is inspired by idyllic Japanese gardens

Real Estate News

This backyard is inspired by idyllic Japanese gardens

The owners built a miniature landscape evoking Canadian cottage country

This couple built a huge backyard paradise

Real Estate News

This couple built a huge backyard paradise

It's in the east end, and it's keeping them sane in these pandemic times

Summer Camp Guide

Summer Camp Directory 2026

Summer Camp Directory 2026

Discover our top-rated summer camps for kids of all ages

Best New Restaurants

Toronto Life ’s Best Restaurants returns for its 10th-anniversary edition on June 8

Toronto Life’s Best Restaurants returns for its 10th-anniversary edition on June 8

General admission tickets are now on sale for Toronto’s biggest culinary night, featuring top chefs, restaurants and drinks

Big Stories

These are Toronto’s best new restaurants of 2026

These are Toronto’s best new restaurants of 2026

This year’s list includes a 150-square-foot omakase counter, a Parisian brasserie in the Annex, Korean comfort food, Filipino karaoke and a Summerhill seafood spot that’s reinventing the raw bar

Hoop Dreams: Inside the making of the Toronto Tempo, the city’s newly assembled WNBA team

Hoop Dreams: Inside the making of the Toronto Tempo, the city’s newly assembled WNBA team

After years of false starts, months of nail-biting negotiations between the league and the players’ union, and an 11th-hour scramble to build a roster, Toronto finally has its own major-league women’s basketball team. Now it just has to live up to the hype

Live From New York: Inside the slay-or-be-slayed world of Studio 8H with SNL rookie Veronika Slowikowska

Live From New York: Inside the slay-or-be-slayed world of Studio 8H with SNL rookie Veronika Slowikowska

Slowikowska is the first Canadian to join the cast of Saturday Night Live in more than 25 years. She’s also this season’s breakout star. Now all she has to do is keep crushing it

Better Call Deepak: Meet drug lord Ryan Wedding’s self-styled cocaine lawyer

Better Call Deepak: Meet drug lord Ryan Wedding’s self-styled cocaine lawyer

The man who represented the infamous drug lord is unapologetically flashy—he has a Lamborghini and two Maseratis and wears $1,200 Louboutins. But did he become an accomplice to his client’s crimes? Deepak Paradkar says he was just doing his job. The FBI says he crossed a line

The Redemption Tour: The Blue Jays are back. Can they finish what they started?

The Redemption Tour: The Blue Jays are back. Can they finish what they started?

We’re not over it, but they are. Six months after that devastating defeat, the Jays take the field once more, bent more than ever on winning the World Series. Dispatches from the dugout

My Life as a True Crime Spectacle: My father’s crimes fractured our family. Then came the press

My Life as a True Crime Spectacle: My father’s crimes fractured our family. Then came the press

My dad was the infamous Rolex Killer. The news of his crimes nearly broke me. And ever since, my family has been hounded by reporters, podcasters and true crime fanatics—a whole new circle of hell

Robby on the Line: Out and about with Robby Hoffman, comedy’s equal opportunity assassin

Robby on the Line: Out and about with Robby Hoffman, comedy’s equal opportunity assassin

Larry David is the indisputable king of brutal honesty. But if anyone comes close, it’s Robby Hoffman, the suddenly everywhere comic from whom no group is safe

Notes on an Academic Scandal: Why did TMU demote a leading advocate of DEI?

Notes on an Academic Scandal: Why did TMU demote a leading advocate of DEI?

Pamela Sugiman, a former arts dean at Toronto Metropolitan University, was a key player in the school’s push for diversity, equity and inclusion. When the backlash against DEI arrived, she was demoted. The school says it was a coincidence. She disagrees

City of Renters: The dream of home ownership isn’t dead. Maybe it should be?

City of Renters: The dream of home ownership isn’t dead. Maybe it should be?

Scenes from the rent-for-life revolution

This generation was pummelled by Covid high school. Now the job market wants to replace them with AI

This generation was pummelled by Covid high school. Now the job market wants to replace them with AI

It’s hard out here for a 20-something

The High Price of Hope: Inside Toronto’s white-hot fertility market

The High Price of Hope: Inside Toronto’s white-hot fertility market

Desperate wannabe parents are betting their life savings on unproven treatments and false promises

Man vs. Machine: ChatGPT caused him to spiral into delusion. Now he’s suing OpenAI

Man vs. Machine: ChatGPT caused him to spiral into delusion. Now he’s suing OpenAI

Last spring, a chatbot convinced Allan Brooks that he had discovered a revolutionary mathematical theory. He says it nearly destroyed him

Smart City: 20 mind-blowing Toronto inventions that are changing the world

Smart City: 20 mind-blowing Toronto inventions that are changing the world

Homegrown innovations that will transform lives for the better

293 Days Without My Son: I gave up everything to rescue my kidnapped child from my abusive husband

293 Days Without My Son: I gave up everything to rescue my kidnapped child from my abusive husband

When Valentino was abducted, I knew three things: he’d been taken by his father, he was somewhere in India and I would not rest until I found him

The Violent Life of a Tow Truck Driver: How an unremarkable profession turned Toronto into a war zone

The Violent Life of a Tow Truck Driver: How an unremarkable profession turned Toronto into a war zone

The towing industry has been hijacked by criminals and kingpins who fleece customers, beat up dissenters and shoot their enemies. Inside the brutal turf war for the city’s wrecks

Street Fight: Inside the battle raging over Toronto multiplexes

Street Fight: Inside the battle raging over Toronto multiplexes

If this city stands any chance of solving the housing crisis, it will need buildings with multiple units in residential neighbourhoods—a move that has many residents saying, “Anywhere but here!”

Young and Retired: Meet the super-savers quitting work decades before the average Canadian

Young and Retired: Meet the super-savers quitting work decades before the average Canadian

In the age of doomspending, these ultra-driven Torontonians give up their weekends, work multiple jobs and never, ever eat out. The upside: they’ll retire long before the rest of us

Just Listed

For Sale: 171 Durant Ave

For Sale: 171 Durant Ave

This rare property features 2 houses on 1 lot

For Sale: 50 First Avenue

For Sale: 50 First Avenue

A testament to time presiding over one of Uxbridge's most storied streetscapes, this magnificently preserved circa 1880 residence commands its prominent corner lot with the quiet confidence of a true architectural landmark

For Sale: 7 Bentley Drive

For Sale: 7 Bentley Drive

A commanding architectural statement in prestigious Stonegate–Queensway, this newly completed custom residence by Bali Homes Group presents a refined interpretation of contemporary luxury living

For Sale: 75 Queen Street

For Sale: 75 Queen Street

Guelph is having a moment

For Sale: 112 Mildenhall Rd

For Sale: 112 Mildenhall Rd

A rare opportunity to own a custom-built masterpiece in the heart of Lawrence Park beautifully designed by Gray Smith and Arca Design for the most discerning buyer