IDS11 = Amazing! And My Must Sees!

As I mentioned, I was invited to the media preview of the Interior Design Show in Toronto yesterday.  It was a very well done preview with great company and and I felt like “real media” the whole time!  Let me starting from the beginning….

Since the show doesn’t officially open until the Opening Night Party tonight, there was lots of construction going on, hence the hard hats.

 
You might recognize a few faces – Lindsay from Aubrey and Lindsay’s Blog, Vanessa from Decor Happy, Staci from Staci Edwards Design, Christine from Bijoux and Boheme, Michelle from Holley and Gill, Christine (Glama Mama) from Decor by Christine, Jennifer from Rambling Renovators, Emilija from Home Slice, Jen from the Toronto Star and the Arren Williams!!

  The Audi Lounge – John Tong, one of the designers of this exhibit spoke to us about his vision.  He took the sleek design of the Audi and wanted to create a space for people to think about beauty.  This 800 sq. foot vinyl structure spins and changes shape depending on where you are in the show.  LED lights will eventually be placed on the floor that will reflect in the structure.  Pretty cool!

 
An interesting swing design by Earth Inc., a landscape design company in Toronto

 
 
I couldn’t make it to the unveiling event on Tuesday, but Alfred Sung has come up with a beautiful, limited quantity patio set, inspired by his love for plaid.  The pieces are all handwoven, durable and can be left out all year round.  The most expensive piece is the loveseat at $750, which I think is pretty reasonable for Canadian, quality made furniture that looks like a million bucks!

 
This booth was still being set up, but I couldn’t help taking a picture of these beautiful, handwoven baskets.  We were told by Patty Johnson, from TFO Canada, that a new addition to the show this year is the New Caribbean Design Project where they import products, like these baskets made by a tribe in Guyana, in order to promote Caribbean goods.  They will eventually have products by large scale producers, as well as small communities.

 
A neat piece of art I snapped when I was walking by.  I love that blue wall!

 
I’m not sure the name of this vendor, but I loved the way they displayed their chair frames on the wall – Custom, Canadian, Luxury, Sustainable and Quality

I know there’s a ,fat ladder in the way, but I loved Montauk’s booth with the chalkboard sketches on the wall.  My goal is to have a Montauk sofa one day!

 
Ikea was in full installation mode here, so you can only get a small glimpse into the kitchen they designed.  What really stands out, obviously, are the lights above – pretty sci-fi looking! I don’t know about you guys, but I was more a fan of their booth last year, seen here on Kelly’s blog.

 
A really cool concept of the show this year is the Casey House fundraiser, where IDS11 asked numerous big name designers to design a concept with the iconic Vitra Panton chair and each chair will be auctioned off.  I totally forget this guy’s name (I know he used to be on a show on HGTV with two other designers), but he has designed a beautiful chair using wood – Shauna Levy, IDS11’s co-founder has already sworn she is going to be the highest bidder! Sarah Richardson’s chair is below:

 


For her chair, she wanted to share the love, so she got a bunch of well-known interior designers to sign it.

Now, my absolute favourite part of the show is definitely going to be Sibling Revelry.  Four designer siblings were paired up to create a space.  Not all of the siblings are interior designers, but they are designers in some regard – fashion designers, industrial designers, furniture designers, etc.  There is a teeny tiny reason why Sibling Revelry is going to be my fav feature – Sarah Richardson and her brother, Theo, are participating! Stay tuned for more photos of their design!

 
Here are the Thien Ta and My Trung, the first sibling pair up.  They are the dynamic duo behind Montreal’s design studio, Periphere.  They have a very modern and natural aesthetic.  And will opening up a store in Toronto very soon!

 
Here is Glenn Dixon, one half of the Dixon brothers duo.  Glenn is a very well-known Canadian interior designer, while his brother, David, is an accomplished fashion designer.  They were very inspired by the book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, a true story about a girl named Sadako Sasaki who lived in Hiroshima at the time of the atomic bombing and developed leukemia from from the radiation.  She spent her time making paper cranes and when she passed away, her friends continued on making them to get her to 1000 and she was buried with them.  Glenn and David’s designed bedroom will have a ceiling covered in paper cranes, made by the fashion students at Ryerson.  The cranes weren’t installed yesterday, but here’s a sneak peek.

Next up are the Brothers Dressler.  Jason and Lars are woodworkers and are extremely passionate about sustainability.

Here is Lars (an incredibly tall man with huge hands!) explaining their concept.  They wanted to create a structure made out of repurposed materials.  The room is entirely surrounded by old windows that they found near their studio.  Inside, the space will be filled with wood-based pieces and found objects.  I’m really looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

And now, probably one of the highlights on my year, I met Sarah Richardson!

This is her and her brother, Theo, in front of their space explaining their vision.  Theo is a super cool furniture designer in NYC with an edgy and cool aesthetic.  They wanted to work backwards with their inspiration for the 3 rooms they created.  They took one of Theo’s designs for each room and built the rooms around that – a desk lamp in the office, a steel table in the living room and a red chair in the dining room.   I love how they found a way to marry Theo’s hard-edged style with Sarah’s soft furnishings.  Take a look for yourself (but keep in mind they were still hard at work putting it all together!):

 
This rattan bike was outside of their space – can I have one please?

 
 
 
Sorry, bad picture, but I loved this metal dresser!

 

I also managed to get a picture with Tommy – I was so nervous!

I had heard that Sarah and Tommy were so amazing in real life, but I finally got to see it for myself and it is so true!! They are so friendly and honest and comfortable being in front of a large crowd with camera flashes flashing.  It was just a great experience overall!!

Thank you so much to IDS11 and the PR crew at Faulhaber for giving me a sneak peak of the show. 

I will be heading back on Saturday to check out the show all set up and pretty.  I really can’t wait now!

Who else is going??