Brey coffee table. Queensland Maple. Glass.

Brey coffee table. Queensland Maple. Glass.

Brey on display in the UAlberta booth at IDS 2012

If you just go to one design show all year, this should be it! Located at the Toronto Convention Centre, which is close by to Union Station, it’s conveniently located to either drive or come by public transit. Beyond sourcing specific products, the show really gives you a feel of the trends, products and services that are the new ‘it’ items. You can tell just by how much of a certain thing is out there. I’ve included some pictures here of items I encountered repeatedly at the show.

Reclaimed Wood furniture: I love this piece… truly stunning mix of the old refinished wood, and the new chunky chrome legs. I didn’t even bother to ask the price on this one
Wood-look slate or other stone materials: This is an example of slate that looks like espresso-stained wide oak planks.

Modular, space-saving furniture: Everything folds up and voila, you are left with shelves or other display areas. Check out the funky patterns on these space saving pieces.

And modular pieces in carpets too… a functional item. You make it as big or little as you need.

Vertical Gardens and Water Features: Great for privacy. If you don’t have the room for traditional gardens, try looking up!

Au Natural- Even book cases are going ‘au natural’. By removing their cover sleeves, you are left with a clean, linen look.

And just some really interesting and pretty things…

Gorgeous tangerine rug

Cool transit posters made into art

Stunning kitchen

Art that catches your eye

I’m already looking forward to next year’s show!  Check it out if you can- worth the price of admission

I attended Blogpodium on Friday as part of the Interior Design Show. There were close to 100 design bloggers in attendance to start a series of conversations on blogging.  This series is the brain-child of the amazing Jennifer Flores (and my roomie from Alt) and Lindsay Stephenson.  They saw a lack of organized conversation and learning for bloggers in Canada and decided to do something about it.  We are such a supportive community, always willing to help each other and prop each other up, but other than social media we have very few opportunities to learn.  I think this is an amazing initiative and they really pulled out all the stops for thier first event, Blogs and Media.

The founders!  Photo by Jason Hudson

The panel of experts consisted of Kimberley Seldon, design editor for Chatelaine and Editor-in-Chief of Dabble Magazine, Kate Moore, Producer at Cityline, Margot Austin, Senior Design Editor at House & Home magazine, and Jenn herself (a superstar blogger in her own right). The panel was moderated by Leigh-Ann Allaire Perrault, Colour and Design Specialist at Benjamin Moore and regular guest expert on Cityline.

Photo by Jason Hudson

  There have already been many recaps about this amazing event (you can read some of them here) so I’m not going to go into to much detail on all the fabulous information that was shared, but I’d like to touch on a few pieces of advice that struck a cord with me.

1. HAVE AN ORIGINAL VOICE

I have just returned from Alt Summit and this exact thing came up over and over again. If you want to get your blog noticed (by both readers and media) you need to write in a way that is unique to you, in a way that people will connect to who you are.  Find exactly what your voice is and always provide your perspective. Just saying “I love this picture, it’s so cute”, isn’t enough.  It takes time to write a good post that is really “you”, but it is essential to success.

photo by Jason Hudson

2. EDIT, EDIT, EDIT

A well edited blog is important if you want to be noticed by media.  These are EDITORS looking at your blogs….they want to know that you are taking time to write properly and present your ideas in an organized way.

3. MAKE CONNECTION AND COLLABORATE

Every time you do guest post for another blog and every time you reach out to a new blogger there is a possibility for new oppourtunities.  In particular, aligning yourself with and collaborating with large well-respected blogs can really open up doors.  You never know who is reading your blog or where the next big thing will come from.

This event was such a crazy success and I’m so looking forward to attending in the future.  I dare say this is the beginning of a beautiful thing.

Thanks to Jenn, Lindsay and all the experts and sponsors.

XO,

The Cortical Chair is a collaboration between Fishtnk and the Studio for Progressive Modelling at Yolles.

 On Thursday the Show was kicked off with the opening night party.

There was the Cherish event, where 20 different designers re-imagined the iconic Magis Julian children’s chair and they were auctioned off. The auction benefits the ONEXONE non-profit children’s foundation. I had 2 favourite submissions:

1. This one completed by the Bay was a fave because it looks like rose gold, and boy oh boy do I love me some rose gold.

2. And this one completed by Lucid Interior Design is upholstered, so no need to explain why I like this one.

There was good food, music and libations.  It was a great party, and of course, what would IDS be without some lovely design bloggers??? And after a couple of cocktails a few of us were ready for our close-up….on the counter at the IKEA kitchen booth.

Ana, Misty, Amy, Sarah, Moi, Christine, Heather and Christine. Photo credit to Amy’s camera and the random guy who “styled” and took our photo.

Now for the important part, the exhibitors.  What caught my eye?  Well, a couple of things….

I am always attracted to colour and pattern, and there were a number of bright and interesting rugs at the show.1. Graffiti style rug by W Studio 2. Bright abstract landscape by rug Reznick Carpets 3. Super-fun typewriter rug by Reznick Carpets 4. Neon bright rugs at Modern Weave 5. Bright and floral rugs by Modern Weave 6. Colourful photo print rug by Reznick Carpets

1. pretty sparkly gold lighting at Elte booth 2. really interesting brass lighting at Snob booth 3. chandelier that looked like thousands of silver necklaces strung over it at the Living Lighting booth 4. gorgeous chandy with bronze metal orb around it at Upcountry.

A few more things I enjoyed that don’t really fit in a particular category…

The dresses at Benjamin Moore, can you believe these are made out of paint chips?

Ever since I started building the gallery wall in my bedroom, my eye tends to be drawn to these, especially those with an eclectic style. I loved this on gallery wall of plates at the Elte booth.

I loved the contrasting purple tones in the upholstery of this pair of chairs found in the By Lissoni Lounge.Loved the paint display at Beauti-Tone by Home Hardware, interactive and pretty!

I’m loving deer heads and antlers these days. I find they give a feeling of rustic and modern all at the same time – I found this one at the Elte booth.

This booth won a silver award for best booth.  Orling & Wu is a store in Vancouver that sell beautiful decorative fabrics, wallpaper and objects. As we all know I’m addicted to fabrics, and I loved the bold patterns and gorgeous colours in the fabrics (as well as the wallpapers) by Sandberg a Swedish company specializing in textile and wallpaper art. Orling & Wu are the only Canadian store that carries Sandberg. I think I’ll be looking into a more in-depth profile on this store for another post. But what a great IDS discovery!

That’s my overview of IDS 2012! Some great exhibitors and interesting finds!

Have a great day!

XO,

]]> http://2greatgals.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/2012-interior-design-show-trends-and-ideas/ Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:20:16 +0000 2 great gals http://2greatgals.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/2012-interior-design-show-trends-and-ideas/ This year’s show is fabulous! The last day is today, so all design addicts, head down to the Metro Convention Centre for some eye candy.  Visit IDS 2012 for details.

Trends include:
handmade wood furniture – rustic mixed with modern – still going strong

industrial – mix an element or two into your space to add just a touch of edge

Canadiana – hitting it’s stride

I loved the creative use of metal shipping crates as the base for an innovative ‘treehouse’. each room very different from the last.

Can’t make it down today? Next year’s show will be held Jan 24 – 27, 2013

With an agenda to inspire and innovate, this year’s theme: Trailblazers and Trendspotters features a medley of 12 internationally acclaimed interior designers, architects, manufacturers, retailers, critics, curators, and industry leaders who will speak on what they look for when they design, create, manufacture, collect or commission contemporary design.

More information about this year’s speaker roster which includes visionaries Amy Lau, Karim Rashid, Chee Perlman, John Edelman & Stephen Burks among others, please visit: http://conversationsindesign.com/