Toronto couple turns 400 Post-it notes into a giant heart, launches love-note app

A Toronto couple has turned their five years of handwritten Post-it notes into a giant heart-shaped art installation and, from that gesture, launched a platform for sharing love notes across Canada.

Andrei Bondarenco and Maria Gruppuso's relationship began with a chance meeting at a Toronto post office. After a five-year pursuit, Bondarenco eventually won her over with roses, and Gruppuso responded by leaving him daily Post-it notes around their home — small messages of encouragement, affection, and reminders of her love. Over time, Bondarenco kept every single note.

"With every single day, the more I got to know her, the more I saw how beautiful her soul was," Bondarenco said. "Every day, I just fell in love with her more and more."

Instead of discarding the accumulating notes, Bondarenco decided to turn them into art. One Tuesday while Gruppuso was visiting family, he arranged all 400 Post-its into a giant heart on one of the larger walls in their living room. "She just dropped her bags and started crying," he said. When Gruppuso came home and saw the piece, the moment crystallized their shared language of affection.

Inspired by this tangible expression of love, Bondarenco and Gruppuso co-founded House of Love, a public platform where people can leave digital love notes and be inspired by the kindness, romance, and connection surrounding them. Describing themselves as hopeless romantics, they wanted to combat what they see as a fractured digital landscape where romance has been "bottled down to just swiping left and right."

To spread the message beyond their living room, the couple printed 2,000 vinyl stickers designed to look like Post-it notes, each featuring real messages from House of Love users. They affixed them to their vehicle and embarked on a cross-country road trip from Quebec City to Vancouver and back to Toronto.

"One love note can literally spark a wave of love," Bondarenco said.