Interior Design Show 2009

IDS 08 Opening Night: It begins with a shimmer of setting sun reflecting of the lake, the air is bitter cold with a mixture of rush hour smog, ash and the breath crystallizes as it leaves the body. the day before I woke up to news of the Queen and Bathurst neighbourhood in Toronto in flames. TTC stoppages, street closures and traffic jams. My first thought was of MADE's Radiant Dark exhibition at the Burroughs Building 639 Queen Street West (at Bathurst) which was supposed to open that evening and run for the next week. At that point the fire was half a block east and was still burning

It is one Year latter and the Toronto, Interior Design Show 2009, along with MADE’s second Radiant Dark exhibition “ Elegant Corruptions” and the Gladstone Hotel’s “Come Up to My Room” are putting together finishing touches and preparing for what is basically a five day orgy of interior design concepts, products, lectures and panel discussions. There is more then enough “stuff” to satisfy the ever increasing “Design Life Style” groupie’s appetite and provide a much needed distraction.

To quote the 1921 song by Richard A. Whiting, lyrics by Raymond B. Egan and Gus Kahn which is often thought to be from the depression era rather the post WW1.

“Times are bad and getting badder Still we have fun There's nothing surer The rich get rich and the poor get laid off In the meantime In between time Ain't we got fun”

Julie Laschuk , home decor objects,

Chair seat and pillows, revese appilque wool with embroidery floss

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Here is a story with two beginnings. At last years IDS I saw work in the DESIGNgenNEXT section by a Sheridan College student named Julie Laschuk. The work was flocked paper scrolls. a few months later I went to the Sheridan Graduate show at Lennox Gallery on Ossington Avenue and saw an set of interior objects by Laschuk, wooden chair with upholstered seat of reverse appliquéd wool with embroidery and beading, pillows of wool and leather, printed lampshade an again flocked paper scrolls. At this year’s IDS Julie Laschuk is presenting her line of interior design home products in Studio North the IDS annual New Canadian Designer Showcase. This is the beginning of the her second story as a design professional and I am looking forward to see if textiles have come to the fore of her production work or if printing on a variety of materials has taken precedence

pillows By Judith Gueth; 100% silk fronts, 100% polyester backs

Judith Gueth speaking of the production methods used to produce her wallpapers in an interview in OM (Organic Mechanic) Live Blog last July

Q. What sets your wallcovering components apart from others on the market? How are they Earth friendly?

A. Bold, illustrative or abstract patterns, clean lines and interesting colour combinations characterize my wallpaper designs. The paper is printed on a smooth substrate, that has a lot of the qualities of conventional non-wovens, but contains 50% less synthetic fibre, therefore decomposes twice as fast. The wallpaper contains no vinyl, therefore it's breathable, and doesn't contribute to VOCs and to the build up of mold. The water soluble top coat further contributes to its breathable quality."

I have seen her line of products increase as time goes by, at the IDS and other public shows over the years. Rugs, wallpapers, and pillows all sharing a bold use of colour and line. Working out of an Op Art traditions borrowing on Marimekko scale and reaching back into Art Deco designs yet creating fresh subtle meandering patterns reproducing the ‘natural” world her work is current without being “Trendy”.

I hope to present a more detailed story of her working methods in the spring issue of fQ which will focus on Entrepreneurial Textile production

Arounna Khounnoraj and John Booth of Bookhou Designs will be back in Studio North this year, after a busy year in which this award winning design team has opened a Studio and Shop at798 Dundas Street West in the strip between Bathurst and Ossington that has been developing along with Ossington south of Dundas into a hot bed of restaurants, galleries, clothing and design shops. Bring together the hard and the soft in furniture along with the flowing yet simplistic printed graphic design on cloth accessories this pair always shows well.

This is just a quick look at what is coming your way at this year’s Interior Design Show. Schools presenting in the DESIGNgenNEXT are: University of Alberta, Ryerson University, Humber College, George Brown College – Institute Without Boundaries, Ontario College of Art and Design and Sheridan College.

One of the “Concepts” presenters is working with PaperStone. and all I can say is “ What?” I am intrigued to see what this is all about


ARCHITECT: Founded in 1995, PLANT Architect is an interdisciplinary firm that branches into the domains of architecture, landscape, ecology, furniture, art, and graphic design. Synthesizing the insights and expertise of related disciplines, the practice responds to and embraces the increasing complexity of the world and the ambiguity of where landscape, built form, and design intersect. PLANT’s integrated approach fosters a collaborative spirit, a multi-layered design solution and enriches each project with a fine grain of detail.

MATERIAL: PaperStone is a versatile material made from compressed layers of recycled paper and eco-resins. Like paper, it’s smooth, unusually strong and monolithic, is easily patterned and can be cut precisely. Unlike paper it's water and fireresistant and has a variety of uses, from countertops to exterior wall cladding.

SPACE: PLANT is creating Paperstone Scissors, an environment of cut screens, inspired both by thin, precise Japanese shoji screens and paper dolls.


This bench by an unnamed OCAD student from last years IDS08 is something I am still wondering about. I attended the year end exhibition hoping to find it or its designer and didn't. A chair from the year before ended up on display at the Umbra showcase store, again it was by an OCAD store and again I don't know who made it. There seems to be some sort of disconnect between the schools appearing at the IDS or between the schools their students and perhaps the media. In both instances I could not find a school representative with the display to identify the objects and the makers. This sort of defeats the reason behind the schools being there. I hope it has improved. Thou I must say the students from the University of Alberta come in numbers sufficient to promote their work, and are aggressively friendly and proud of their department.

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carpet by Bev Hisey featured in Radiant Dark at Riverside Gallery in Cambribge Ontario

MADE is a store, presents

Radiant Dark 2009, ELEGANT CORRUPTIONS

exhibition of new Canadian design,

Opening February 4th, 7-10,

show runs February 5- 8th’

306 Dufferine St (south of Queen) Rear Building

Come Up To My Room, February 5-8, 2009at the Gladstone Hotel1214 Queen Street West,Toronto, Onatirio, This year the show was curate by Katherine Morley, Caroline Shaheed, Jeremy Vandermeij and Deborah Wang

There is more info about these shows and DIWHY at the Ontarion Craft Council below

I will be out and about at all these events with my camera so join me in this design run around ......