IDS16 Highlights

Thursday night was the opening party of IDS, otherwise known as the Interior Design Show, here in Toronto. I will always have a soft spot for the event after having coordinated a feature space way back when at my first design gig, but I haven’t been to the show in a couple of years while in new mom mode.

Now that I’m back in the swing of things with work, I was pleased to be invited to attend a demonstration on opening night of the show from DXV, the luxury division of American Standard. The invite came with a fluffy embroidered robe, and let me tell you there is nothing like a touch of the spa to set the mood to see some luxury bathroom design!

The demonstration was of DXV’s new 3D custom printed faucets live in action. They certainly did not disappoint with intricate designs that appear as if the water is invisibly flowing through the neck of the faucet. I loved the patina of the “butler” finish they applied, which is meant to look like well-loved silver. While the faucets are not priced at a mass-market level, it was certainly interesting to see this feat of engineering with my own two eyes.

After the demonstration I walked the rest of the floor and while I found the show’s overall oomph factor to be a little lacking this year, there were definitely some highlights that caught my eye:

My favourite booth belongs to Caviar20, an eclectic Toronto gallery that showcases highlights of its offerings of fine art and vintage or antique furniture. What stands out is not only its curated selection of price points and styles, but the actual booth design itself, featuring rose quartz walls and a felt checkboard floor that makes everything look even more current.

These updated versions of classic Scandinavian chairs by small batch furniture maker Coolican & Company are so clean and elegant. They’re not cheap so they weren’t an option for my last cottage project, but it was great to see their understated form in person.

Bloomsbury Fine Cabinetry always puts together a beautiful booth with tons of drool-worthy kitchen features, but what caught my eye the most was this parquet butcherblock counter! So European and so chic!

Everyone who knows me is well aware of my soft spot for china and dishware, so it’s no surprise that I always feel at home in William Ashley’s booth. They are displaying tons of gold and white this year but I loved a little vignette of some more edgy pieces tucked to the side, including the Royal Doulton Street Art series and the gold Alessi bowl.

I had a very positive experience working on a custom version of a fixture from Toronto-based Lightmaker Studio and was excited to see these sleek pendants in their booth. How gorgeous would a trio of these be over a long modern kitchen island?

I haven’t used barn doors in a project yet, but there is something so fresh about the sweet pink hue of these doors from 1925Workbench. Sliding doors are a great way to deal with tight spaces, and this would certainly be a chic option. Alanna Cavanagh’s whimsical prints were a nice addition to the booth as well.

The show is open until 6pm Sunday, so there’s still time to check it out to see these picks and more.  Check out a list of other vendors and talks here.