IDS - Toronto

Well, another year of IDS has drawn to its glamorous conclusion.  And what an event it was.  Every year the quality of the exhibition gets better and better but this year was, well, astounding. 

Based from The Metro Convention Centre, Toronto the event was alive and kicking from the moment the doors were flung open on Thursday.  Expectant style devotees hovered and then fled into the cavernous halls to find inspiration and it has to be said no one seemed dissapointed.

The opening night gala was loads of fun and we ran into a host of design types.  It's always a joy to see Brian Gluckstein; he's a total gentleman and was as lovely to all the people that were flocking round him as he always is with his public.  He was generous enough to invite us to his home for dinner a long time ago and we were reminded (not by him, by us!) that we still haven't paid him back for his lovely hospitality.  We'll put that right soon with a wee dinner at ours.

We stayed at the event till around 10pm at which point we went to Harbour 60 for dinner with a crowd of people from Blanco, our favourite tap and sink manufacturer.  We've used their products on loads of our shows and in our newspaper editorials so it was good to hang out with the energetic team.  Flavio the boss, and his lovely wife Marge, are amongst the loveliest people we've worked with so we had a great evening, even though the food didn't arrive at our table till midnight!  Oh yes... and there was drinking too!

At the weekend we went to London Ontario for their homeshow and you can read all about that in our previous blog.  When we got back to Toronto we went to Cheryl Torrenueva's to celebrate her birthday; she's 21 again.  It was a fab wee evening with a great bunch of Cheryl's friends, many of whom we've got to know over the last few years.

After working from home most of yesterday we escaped our laptops for a couple of hours and headed back to the IDS to catch up on a load of the stuff we didn't take in during the opening evening.   Yup, along with our buddy Gale it was time to go wild in the aisles...

Highlights for us included the furniture by www.cherrywoodstudio.ca - their unique living edge tables use rescued and reclaimed wood.  Set on iron cubist  frames they are to die for.  Really cool stuff - tables that achieve the balance of form and function without creating imbalance in the environment.  Frickin' gorgeous!

We also liked www.snobstuff.com - a collection of African inspired wares that reallly captured our attention.   Go check out the website.  The girls on the stand were crazy biznotches and we bonded instantly!   We love a sassy naughty girl!

Of particular interest too was Resource Furniture Ontario - www.resourcefurniture.com  Their collection of 'intellligent' adaptable furniture is beyond belief.  When you see their take on Murphy bed storage and media systems you'll WEEP.  And probably wee a little...

We also loved Sun Project - www.sunproject.com for their inspiring collection of roller shading sytems.  Another website worth surfing.  Jeez there was so much to absorb that our eyes began to goggle...

As far as flooring is concerned we were particularly drawn to wstudio.ca  They're based at Designers walk and offer a fabulous range of some of the most beautiful rugs we have seen in a long time.  Damn it our toes could get lost in their piles.  Carpet piles, that is...

And the list goes on.  Here's another; www.northonsixty.com  Merchandise includes a range of table and chairs in reclaimed materials as well as reclaimed floors and stunning shelving systems, again constructed using reclaimed barns and other similar sources.  Some of the best stuff of its kind.

For striking modern furniture we reckon one of the best features was by Limitless - www.limitless-amercicas.com Their stand staff were remarkably well informed and we fell in love with several of their collection pieces, especially an putsized coffee table and the grey wrap around sofa, both on display at the event.  We shall start saving now and collecting coins from the back of our current sofa.

Of course there are too many manufacturers/retailers and designers to list here but we just wanted to highlight some of the stars that attracted our attention. 

Hell mend us it really was f'hot event.   Towards the end of our visit we ran into Massimo, our favourite TV chef, and his gorgeous wife Rosa.  Blimey - both of them have been on a major diet and have lost SO much weight it's almost staggering.  But they look great on it!  Massimo is working on a new TV cookery show at the moment so we were thrilled to catch up on his news.  We also ran into our buddy Marilyn Dennis.  Can't tell you how lovely she always is.  We've guested on her show on several occasions and it's a joy to see her out of the studio and completely enjoying some free time.

Anyway pop pickers; gotta dash for the moment.  We're working on our newspaper columns this evening and we also have a plan to sueeze in a couple of episodes of Dexter too!  Joy, joy joy!

More soon,

Colin and Justin xx