Design & Decor Blog

I’m horning in on Mr. Sleuth’s territory one more time to give you my final wrap up on IDS10, held in Toronto last weekend. First up are my top three picks of the show.

No. 3 The Giant Steel Pinecone. I’m a bit of a nut for a great chunk of yard art and when you combine that with my belief in the pinecone as nature’s perfect accessory, well, this thing has can’t lose written all over it.

No. 2 Well, it was love at first sight when I met her Thurs. night at the gala as you know, and she’s one of the main reasons this booth — Lightform/Metalarte — was an award winner (more on that later in the post). Still love her, miss her…

No. 1 Oh my, it’s as if this was custom designed for me. Thanks Tristan Zimmermann of Science + Sons. So, here’s the deal: it’s called Radio Canada and it allows CBC Radio-addicted householders (that’s me) to switch from Radio 1 to Radio 2 without moving an old school dial through static (if you’re thinking digital tuning and presets already solved this, well, you just aren’t one of us, so skip along now). As a bonus it has MP3 player capacity for when Jonathan Goldstein is on. Anyhoo, this baby is a prototype so click on over to Science + Sons and sign up for the news on when production will begin.

I caught lots of inspiring speakers, including the PechaKucha — loved that! Met the super talented Ingrid Abramovitch and got a behind the covers tour of what it’s like to be the author of a stunning new book, Restoring a House in the City. V. JEALOUS!  Another highlight was being on the judging panel to distribute the design awards for booths at the show. I breezed in there thinking it would take 30 minutes, but more than 3 hours later I was still debating and assessing with fellow judges. I selected in the 400 sq ft booth category but didn’t hesitate to pressure fellow judges into going with my faves in their categories, too, ’cause that’s just the kind of girl I am.

Here come da judges (we even had official IDS clipboards). From left, John Tong of 3rd UNCLE Design, moi, Clayton Budd of 64th and Queen Design Agency.

For me, the challenge came down to which is most important: the product, the installation, the signage or the layout?? Well, I decided to go with product first, ’cause without that, the rest is gravy. So, I chose Lightform/Metalarte (see  lamp above) and Lema as my winners. Lema had just the most beautiful closet fittings I have ever seen. And the stylist in me loved the black paper suit jackets hanging in their closets. One simple idea to elevate the whole presentation.

Boo, this pic isn’t doing Lema justice, but it’s the best I can find.

See you at IDS11, Jan 27-30, 2011. Thanks Mr. Sleuth. – Guest blogger and STYLE AT HOME senior design editor Margot Austin signing out.