Richard Crouse

‘If you look at me with my slicked-back hair and glasses, everyone identifies me with that (vintage) look’

Richard Crouse is the host of Rogers Television’s Reel to Real and The 100 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen.

He’s also the film critic for CTV’s Canada AM and Newsnet and a pop culture/entertainment author, who is writing his seventh book. Three years ago, Crouse purchased his first home, an 800 square-foot, two-bedroom condo. When it came to decorating the place, which is located on the eighth floor of a 12-storey building near the Eaton Centre, the Liverpool, N.S. native’s fascination with pop culture is evident throughout.

“My living room style looks like a 1950s’ hotel lobby,” says Crouse. “I didn’t plan on it because I don’t really have that much decorating sense, but that’s how it turned out and I love it. This look suits me and suits the place.

“Once you walk in, it is not hard to imagine that I live here because of the ’50s look. If you look at me with my slicked-back hair and my glasses, everyone identifies me with that ’50s kind of look and it is certainly an era, in terms of music and film, that I’m a fan of. Although I think I’m very forward-looking in my image, I tend to be drawn to the 1950s-inspired design and the condo reflects that, I think.”

When Crouse began his search for a condo, another unit in the building was the first place he saw. But he was encouraged to keep looking by his agent. He saw about 100 other offerings before being drawn back to the first building to check out another unit.

“It felt right and it was exactly the area I wanted to be in. I wanted to live downtown; I think it is important that people live downtown to keep a city vital and to stop it from turning into one of those big American cities that are ghost towns at night,” he states.

Directly in front of the foyer is the kitchen that opens up into the living room that boasts floor-to-ceiling windows. To the left of the kitchen is the dining room. To the left of the foyer are two bedrooms with a shared ensuite in between.

The far room Crouse uses as a home office.

He plans to hire someone to repaint the place, but in the meantime, the walls are the colours chosen by the previous owners. All the rooms are dark beige, except the master bedroom and bathroom, which are painted a bright yellow. He hopes to have his bedroom painted a slate blue and will rely on a professional decorator to suggest other colours for the other rooms.

There is light-stained hardwood flooring throughout, except for the bathroom, where you will find grey ceramic tiles. The kitchen appliances are black, with light-stained cabinetry and black granite countertops.

Since he is a big fan of the late pop culture artist Andy Warhol, Crouse has a print called “Double Elvis” hanging in his bedroom – Crouse’s pose on his sixth book – The 100 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen – the same title as his TV show, was inspired by Warhol’s print.

Another Warhol of Marilyn Monroe is in the dining room, along with two large silver wood cabinets, featuring roll-top desk fronts that house thousands of DVDs Crouse has reviewed over the years. In fact, he says almost every drawer in his condo is filled with DVDs.

Crouse is a collector of clocks; he has more than 20, many displayed in his home office.

“I’m a bit weirdly excessive about clocks, as it turns out,” admits the television personality. “I never thought I was, but my girlfriend points out that whenever we go shopping, I always end up looking at the clocks first.”

The living room is Crouse’s favourite room. He works from home, so it was important for him when he shuts his office door at the end of the day, to have a room to relax in, he says. He spent a lot of time and money to create a space he could comfortably lounge around in.

The living room furniture includes one nine-foot black, art deco-style, leather couch with rounded arms, a small loveseat with high arms and white stitching, a black leather Barcelona-style chair and a black leather stool with a white diamond shapes and brown wood legs.

Also in the room is a clear glass-top, kidney-shaped coffee table with chrome legs and a smaller frosted, mobile kidney-shaped table underneath on wheels. There is a small waist-high, black wood and chrome table with a clock face top, a dark brown-stained Asian influenced cabinet between the kitchen and living room. Artwork includes a poster of Crouse as a character from the television show Monster Warrior; it is framed in black wood.