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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 a union representative lives in 400 square feet

Real Estate News

How a union representative lives in 400 square feet

She downsized from a 900-square-foot condo in Scarborough

Green Design: This Leslieville infill is 1,800 square feet of energy-efficient perfection

Real Estate News

Green Design: This Leslieville infill is 1,800 square feet of energy-efficient perfection

It’s toasty in winter, cool in summer, and looks pretty good, too

Green Design: This net-zero Stoney Lake cottage blends into the landscape

Real Estate News

Green Design: This net-zero Stoney Lake cottage blends into the landscape

The upper section is for living, the lower for sleeping

Green Design: This midtown house was totally rebuilt from the top down

Real Estate News

Green Design: This midtown house was totally rebuilt from the top down

The owners are empty-nesters who downsized from a six-bedroom house to this

A local grandmother just opened this cannabis store—despite having no industry experience

A local grandmother just opened this cannabis store—despite having no industry experience

It’s part of the second wave of cannabis shops that are popping up around the city

A look at the giant, interactive art installations taking over Woodbine Beach

A look at the giant, interactive art installations taking over Woodbine Beach

Including a giant essential oil diffuser

Real Weddings: Inside a beautifully thoughtful celebration that went back to where it all began

Real Weddings: Inside a beautifully thoughtful celebration that went back to where it all began

It was elementary, dear readers

Real Weddings: Inside an ex-Raptor's lavish party at Casa Loma

Real Weddings: Inside an ex-Raptor’s lavish party at Casa Loma

Including a surprise fireworks show and a few Raptor guests

A look at the colourful outdoor Ice Box festival in Prince Edward County

A look at the colourful outdoor Ice Box festival in Prince Edward County

Five vibrant huts have been turned into immersive works of art

Inside the palatial new Hammam Spa in Bayview Village, with Moroccan-inspired interiors and all-marble treatment rooms

Inside the palatial new Hammam Spa in Bayview Village, with Moroccan-inspired interiors and all-marble treatment rooms

It’s even more lavish than its downtown location

Real Weddings: Inside a laid-back bash at Drake One Fifty

Real Weddings: Inside a laid-back bash at Drake One Fifty

With weed cookie favours and a Jim Cuddy appearance

Real Weddings: A contemporary King West party with traditional Chinese flair

Real Weddings: A contemporary King West party with traditional Chinese flair

With a tea ceremony and lion dancers

A dramatic reinvention of a classic Victorian semi

Real Estate News

A dramatic reinvention of a classic Victorian semi

This couple maintains a never-ending cycle of redecoration

A look at the most dazzling displays at the Toronto Light Festival in the Distillery District

A look at the most dazzling displays at the Toronto Light Festival in the Distillery District

They're worth breaking your mid-winter hibernation for

Real Weddings: Inside a sparkly queer art party with multiple drag performances

Real Weddings: Inside a sparkly queer art party with multiple drag performances

With vintage jewellery as favours and a menu by Montgomery’s

Life Aquatic: How a family of three lives on a 47-foot sailboat in Toronto Harbour

Real Estate News

Life Aquatic: How a family of three lives on a 47-foot sailboat in Toronto Harbour

They wanted their 10-year-old son, Strummer, to experience the nautical lifestyle

Inside Spin Master's tricked-out office, with a giant Etch A Sketch, a Jenga-inspired staircase and toy library

Inside Spin Master’s tricked-out office, with a giant Etch A Sketch, a Jenga-inspired staircase and toy library

It’s got a makers’ lab, a theatre, a video studio and all the toys you could imagine

Real Weddings: Inside a sophisticated celebration at the Toronto Reference Library

Real Weddings: Inside a sophisticated celebration at the Toronto Reference Library

The bride is a floral designer, and designed all the whimsical arrangements herself

A tech executive's fanciful home with killer ravine views

Real Estate News

A tech executive’s fanciful home with killer ravine views

Before her extensive renovations, the place felt like a dark, moody bordello

Inside Narces' new Yorkville store, filled with feathers, sequins and glitzy gowns

Inside Narces’ new Yorkville store, filled with feathers, sequins and glitzy gowns

Where to go for bespoke organza gowns and bold cocktail attire

How a family of five lives in 850 square feet

Real Estate News

How a family of five lives in 850 square feet

They use a yoga mat to make the living room an ad hoc play area

Real Weddings: Inside an elaborate jungle-themed bash at MOCA

Real Weddings: Inside an elaborate jungle-themed bash at MOCA

There was a smoke machine, fairy performers and a 14-foot birdcage

Inside House of Cool, an animation studio with graffiti pillars and Pie Thursdays

Inside House of Cool, an animation studio with graffiti pillars and Pie Thursdays

The company has worked on Despicable Me, Angry Birds and Ice Age

Seven stellar ways to celebrate New Year's Eve 2020

Seven stellar ways to celebrate New Year’s Eve 2020

Including a canapé crawl at Assembly Chef's Hall and a karaoke bash at Dasha

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