ENJOY THE RIDE
Designers agree, decorating’s gone into fast forward
TORONTO
Perhaps it’s a reflection of our fastpaced, always evolving, technology influenced age, but if there was one common thread popping up at the Interior Design Show last weekend, it was how decorating and design have also picked up the pace. “We’re all changing our spaces constantly,” says Ottawa native and designer Christiane Lemieux of New York’s Dwell Studio. “It used to be to me the idea of decorating was … you do it, it’s done, you live with that place — static — for 20 years.”
But today, she says, it’s more “letting go of that concept that you have to finish it and then really becoming a vehicle for self-expression.” Her observation was echoed by Bonnie Brooks, president of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
“Design is changing so fast. You can look at someone’s home and say, ‘ Oh yeah, that was two years ago’ … and that’s quite frightening because that’s new. Because home used to be something that didn’t change as fast, people didn’t change the way their furniture looked that often,” says Brooks, who has a passion for design. “We’re really talking about (how) a different style of living and how we function in our homes (is) changing our home rapidly … and probably people have never spent so much time thinking about their homes.”
Designer Brian Gluckstein adds that today “it is not about one look, it’s about mixing things.”
Mixing and matching was one of the big trends at this year’s premier design fair, which saw more than 300 exhibitors — from big companies such as GE and IKEA to independent designers just starting out — unveiling their latest over four days.
From concept spaces to exhibits meant to spark design conversations, more than 50,000 flocked to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre to check out just about everything you could want to put in your living space.
And whether the mixing and matching is done by blending colour and pattern and texture or by integrating different periods and genres, experimentation is a constant.
“Because structurally a lot of things are very architectural and modern and clean, people are having fun with actual furnishings and accessories,” says show spokeswoman Karen Kang. But it’s also more than that, including texture and patterns on unexpected hard surfaces, like what Cambria did with its tile, or even showcasing iconic designer patterns recreated on a quartet of Kia cars that greeted showgoers as they entered.
“Pattern is definitely a conversation piece for people right now. It’s something that the designers are talking about or the industry (is) playing with,” says Kang.
Lemieux takes the idea of pattern and texture a bit further, identifying a trend she calls ‘fabuluxe,’ which is, in effect, a return to the golden age of the decorator from the 1940s to the mid-1960s.
“It’s all about layers and layers of texture and shine and print and pattern, but really building up a space so that it feels very luxurious,” she says.
In a similar vein, she sees the mixing and matching — modern nostalgia, she calls it — as “all about the local, the nostalgic, the artisanal” and something she feels is not going to go away.
“People are mixing in (the) more rugged (and) antiques into environments,” says Lemieux, who practises what she preaches in her home. “(It’s) a little bit industrial, so it’s the age of the artisan, the local design and sustainable … I think what’s really nice about vintage pieces, is not only are they often well designed and beautifully made, but they’re also the ultimate sustainability because we’re just recycling.”
Sustainability and recycling are also gaining in popularity.
“If you can find a beautiful chair on the side of the road and reupholster it, it’s very much on trend,” says Lemieux.
Gluckstein offers up a current project of his, based on the idea of an “unfitted kitchen” in which elements of the room are pieces of furniture within the space, like an island that’s an old table raised to counter height or apothecary cabinets repurposed as cupboards for dishes.
There were also countless examples of artisans creating fun pieces from recycled elements, such as the wineglass chandeliers and candle holders by Montreal designer Tat Chao or the funky stylings of southern Ontario artist Gilbert VandenHeuvel, who bills himself as The Recycler and creates furniture and other pieces out of bicycle parts.
Wood and other natural materials had a big showing, both among smaller designers and big companies.
“I think (designers) are really looking within their geographical surroundings and really working within what they see and what they’re familiar with,” says Kang.
And since there was such a strong Canadian presence at the show, that meant a lot of references to nature. Examples included multimedia artwork of former Ottawa artist Randall Orr, who’s now based out of British Columbia, and a delightful 2.4-metretall wine rack made from big leaf maple by Toronto artist Tomás Berinstein.
Then there were the exquisite stone pedestal sinks and tubs by Stone Forest — “You can see almost the grittiness of the pattern,” says Kang — and the creative use of recycled metal objects and wood by Metropolis Living (its floor lamp sculpture made from old cobra streetlight standards was particularly fun).
Both exhibitors and speakers gave a nod to the challenge of decorating small spaces.
In a talk offering smart solutions to decorating issues, Canadian House & Home editor Suzanne Dimma and designer Tommy Smythe of HGTV’s Sarah’s House and Sarah 101 gave example after example of ways to make the most of a small space, starting with employing discipline when it comes to using different colours and styles to avoid creating visual clutter.
And exhibitors both big and small presented their spacesaving solutions. One of the most innovative was an integrated modular living system that featured a prototype kitchen island with a swingout dining table that tucks under the counter and a sliding stainless-steel cover over the cooktop that expands for more counter space. A collaboration between Johnson Chou and Toronto’s Aya Kitchens, it’s dubbed the Swiss army island by Aya vice-president of sales Hugh Wahab, who says the system is attracting enough interest among Toronto condo developers that they hope to have it in production by the end of the year.
Other trends? Continuing to blur the lines between inside and out. Plus Lemieux is seeing a return of florals, referencing fauna in decor and a return to the 1970s, reinterpreted in an updated nod to the decade’s Art Deco influences. And both Lemieux and Dimma also note the popularity of gold tones.
“We’re seeing everything from objets in the interior to cutlery … everyone’s going back to these gold tones,” says Lemieux.