HOME + GARDEN SHOW IS BACK
Four-day event blends big-time celebrities with some decidedly small living quarters
And they’re back!
Returning for an incredible 49th year, the Edmonton Home + Garden Show rolls into the Edmonton Expo Centre next week with a bathroom crasher, hunky contractors, and tiny treasures that will have you saying it might indeed be a small world after all.
“We always try to bring in some really interesting headliners for our stages, as they’re always a big draw,” said Alison Farrell, assistant show manager for the Edmonton Home + Garden Show. “And what we did this year was, instead of bringing in one specific headliner we split it so we would have a main celebrity guest for each stage.”
Actually, the show’s Mainstage gets two celebrities — Matt Muenster of BATHtastic! and Bath Crashers, and the popular Mike Holmes Jr. — while landscape designer and Home to Win star Carson Arthur heads up the Garden Stage, and celebrity chef Massimo Capra of Restaurant Makeover and Chopped Canada fame whips up some fun on the Cooking Stage.
Muenster is a licensed contractor who is about to crash the Canadian home show scene — this will be his first home show circuit appearance north of the border — after he unwittingly became a bathroom expert. Initially he got his feet wet designing restaurants and casinos, but when a bathroom show called BATHtastic! went looking for a host Muenster, a rural farm kid who was pretty shy and never loved the idea of public speaking, got the call.
“The show happened to me, I didn’t seek out being on television at all,” said Muenster. “My degree is in interior design and I was working in architecture and design firms in Minneapolis and the Twin Cities area for about a decade, and someone saw a picture of me on a work website and asked if I ever wanted to do anything on TV. That turned into a 10-year career on television doing, for the most part, bathrooms. So I became a bathroom expert because of the show.
“I dove in and tried to become the driving force between anything new, creative, and outside the box that could be done in a bathroom. I went for it.”
At the Home + Garden Show, Muenster is slated to talk about his 2017 take on bathroom design.
“I’d rather people think outside the box when they think about what they’re going to put into their bathroom,” Muenster said.
“Stylistically, that’s up to you. I’ll lead you to the best version of that, but it’s the amenities that have changed — beyond the sink, tub, toilet and shower. I’m incorporating things like music, TVs behind the mirrors and in the shower walls. Technology, any way you can bring it in, is great. Steam showers, espresso machines, fireplaces, all of these things where you’re changing the esthetic from the utility shed inside your house — where you go to get the job done and get out — to a spa inside the walls of your own home, so that you don’t want to leave.”
While Muenster has the bathrooms covered, Mike Holmes Jr. will give you the goods on renovations done right.
“What I’ll be talking about is renovating it right,” said Holmes Jr. “Because I just went through a renovation (on Holmes + Holmes on HGTV, where Mike Holmes and his son, Mike Jr., transformed the younger Holmes’ bachelor bungalow into a two-storey home) I learned the dos and don’ts of a renovation. A big thing for me was creating a wish list in the beginning and being able to cross things off and let that go, and then focusing on the important things and really prioritizing your renovation; starting in the right areas and focusing on your exterior envelope and your wall assembly, rather than your dream kitchen or your dream bathroom.”
It’s not about where you want to renovate, but where you need to renovate, added Holmes Jr., who will be seen next on Home to Win 2, when it debuts on April 30.
Back at the home show, he’ll also put an emphasis on products that will make homes last longer, and different things people need to know from a homeowner’s perspective.
“I love coming to Edmonton,” said Holmes Jr., who will be taking questions from the audience as well. “We’ve got some (Holmes) approved builders out there, I’ve got some friends there. So it’s always a fun time. I love going out west. It’s very different from where I live now, so I always look forward to those trips.”
TINY HOMES
If you’re all about getting smaller on the home front, this year’s show might have it covered. In a not-sotiny space, at 5,500 square feet, the Home + Garden’s Show Tiny Homes Village awaits.
“We are showcasing five pintsized digs that are sure to inspire you to scale down your living quarters — two of the names are Honomobo and KZ Permaculture,” said Farrell.
“Tiny home living is a trend that is now global and seems to be spreading in Canada, and we wanted to be able to showcase this.”
On an even smaller scale, new this year is Dollywood Dream Homes, with miniature diva digs — picture that old childhood dollhouse but on steroids — built by local builders and designers.
Check them out before they’re auctioned off, with the proceeds going to support the Edmonton Public Library.
“This house is nothing like the traditional dollhouse,” said Susan Jomha, owner of Distinct Interior Design, and one of the Dollywood participants.
“It is a modern two-storey home that features an open concept. It opens in the centre for easy access for kids to play with and to use their imaginations. The sparkly exterior walls are really what will draw the kids’ attention.”
At three feet by three feet, the main floor focuses on the open concept living room and kitchen. Upstairs, there is a bedroom, ensuite, and a large balcony space for fun with the dolls.
On the exterior, in addition to the sparkles, the front door has a pop of colour.
“I love helping the community and this is a perfect project to do this with. I also wanted to create something that you don’t see on store shelves as opposed to the traditional dollhouse. This house is designed for today’s modern girl,” said Jomha, noting that she worked with local wood worker Bart Gellhaus of Gellhaus Woodwork, who took on the challenge of building, painting and adding the finishing touches to the house including furniture pieces.
MORE FEATURES
If you still want more, the 2017 Home + Garden Show has a total of 23 features, the largest amount yet. New this time around is Spring Clean, which is all about your laundry room and whether it is stuck in the spin cycle.
Designed by Wicket Blue Interiors, it showcases new designs for your laundry room, with the latest in renovation and decor inspirations.
A number of popular features are returning, including landscaping challenge Backyard Wars, Food
I also wanted to create something that you don’t see on store shelves as opposed to the traditional dollhouse.
Truck Alley, and Ask an Expert.
Jomha is designing the booths and will be the expert on-hand all day Friday, and on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
The show’s design home — a modern home measuring 1,000 square feet — is presented by Revolve Furnishings, which will be opening a new store in Edmonton later this month.