Interior Design Show a feast for the eyes
February 6, 2009
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Jennifer Wilson-Speedy
EDITOR, YOURHOME.CA
Talk about eye-candy. Every inch of the Interior Design Show was a stylish, and often glittery, homage to great design. Even the media lounge was dressed to the nines, with one cushy seating area boasting a Kelly green sofa and slipper chairs with hot pink pillows atop a black and white zebra print rug.
The Crystal Clear exhibit was a sparkly showstopper, with six Canadian firms employing Swarovski crystal elements in dramatically different ways.
Toronto’s Brothers Dressler, known for their repurposing and "upcycling" of salvaged objects and woods, created an almost rustic branching – and branch-inspired – lighting and furniture system, which included a sprawling chandelier.
Full scale + partners created a glossy white crystal-encrusted interactive kaleidoscope which featured mind-blowing optical illusions and had more than one visitor reaching out to what appeared to be a giant crystal to touch only air.
Another high point of Crystal Clear was Munge Leung’s beautiful crystal swing, aimed to celebrate “fantastical forests, winter dreams and ethereal beauty,” though it was highly unlikely that any visitor would attempt to hop on it.
Toronto-based Powell and Bonnell created a gorgeous dangling display of water, light and crystal while Giannone Petricone Associated Architects created Cyclorama, a lighting system that projects a series of moving crystal patterns. A stunning stainless steel, black aluminum and crystal totem by Montreal-based Jacques Bilodeau rounded out the installation.
The 5x5 exhibit, which features five designers and five spaces, was another of the evening’s big draws. Toronto-based 64th and Queen’s “Rec-room Redux” space was the ultimate suite for entertaining, featuring glossy blacks and whites, light fixtures created out of cables and a full wall turned into a projection screen. A DJ and a sleek black foosball table completed the look.
Tomas Pearce Interior Design Consulting Inc.’s suite featured a sleek and sexy loft bedroom, with the bed (and matching wine bucket!) sunk into the glossy white floor, ready for a more personal form of entertaining, and a stunning all black bathroom.
And Earth, Inc. created a gorgeous outdoor space, walled in with crates and pallets, with bright pillows and a grouping of adorable miniature hanging camping lanterns with candles lit above.
Castor created a delightfully kitschy trailer scene, bringing in a Winnebago complete with furry interior benches and a retro astronaut helmet-shaped television. Parked on an Astroturf lot, the scene was rounded out with a mishmash of musical instruments and lawn furniture ready for a party.
Dee Dee Taylor Hannah’s space, called “The Runway,” was a luxe fashionista’s dream dressing room, with fabulous closet spaces, VIP bench seating and curved-back chairs customized by fashion designers, including Wayne Clark and Pink Tartan’s Kimberly Newport Mimran. Clark designed an “Evening Wear” chair studded with precious stones and upholstered in black and white stripes created using grosgrain ribbon while Mimran’s “Day Wear” chair was decked out in houndstooth upholstery.
The ever-popular prototype exhibit, which is a juried contest for products not yet in production, showcased several fascinating new products, including the playful worm chair for children by bObles and gorgeous works by Brad Turner Glassworks, including bowls inspired by the iconic Ball Chair.
Moving to the individual displays, the furniture was out of this world. Casalife’s brightly-coloured chair exhibit shone above all the black-clad revelers at the opening night gala as a Casalife rep showed off a table that extended on a corkscrew mechanism. “I could do this all night,” he joked as he wheeled the extensions in and out of the glossy black table.
Princess Perfect’s fawn grey fainting sofa made fainting seem not only fashionable, but a necessity, and Stylegarage took a moment to show that having antlers, or the whole head, on the wall is back – as long as it’s fake.
Wood was a big hit of the night, with many manufacturers showcasing gorgeous, heavy pieces, including Scarborough-based Urban Tree Salvage, which creates custom pieces out of salvaged wood. Also of note was boohou’s fabulous wood goods, including adorable felted children’s chairs.
In addition to great spaces and furniture, technology stepped up to the plate in the new "Innovative Design + Technology" exhibit, featuring everything from iPod dock from Brack Electronics to incredibly intelligent espresso makers from Krups.
The show runs Feb. 5–8 at the Direct Energy Centre.
Stay tuned to the yourhome.ca editor’s blog for more details from the show. Follow Jennifer on Twitter.
Read more about the show:
- IDS excitement
- IDS offers inspiration
- Great design, eh?