When every piece of the room comes together
King East Design District marks third annual festival with goods, services, creativity
One of the hardest parts of a home renovation or redesign is knowing where to stop. The process becomes long and drawn-out by repeated shopping missions, and travelling from one end of the city to the other to see and choose items. It puts the final result at risk of becoming a jumble.
Toronto’s King East Design District (KEDD) has become a great alternative to that process, and the area recently celebrated with its annual Lifestyle Fair.
The daylong event marked its third year late last month in the design district that’s focused on contemporary home decor products. On display was an assortment of countertops, appliances, art, furniture, lighting, carpets and tiles — all in a variety of styles, tastes and price points.
It’s an event we at Peloso & Alexander Interiors haven’t missed — our office and showrooms are right in the midst of KEDD. Throughout the day, every showroom displayed a unique and artistic offering of their goods and specialties. Some of those offerings: BoConcept, a European staple since its 1950s start in Denmark, the brand’s contemporary furniture highlights the combination of walnut and metals in very clean, simple lines. The BoConcept store joined the Toronto design scene about six years ago when the franchised location opened at the corner of Adelaide and Jarvis Sts. It’s become a go-to place for the general public as well as the city’s design community. Century Furniture’s showroom, on King St. E., is at the other end of the design spectrum. The exceptional quality of this North American product has made repeated customers of us. The company, familyowned and in its third generation, has a selection of both upholstery and case goods such as dining tables, side tables and dressers in a vast number of collections because they introduce a new one each year and add to the existing lines. As well, they can create anything you can imagine. For instance, we’ve done 12-foot dining tables and custom chairs with a range of sourced fabrics. Few manufacturers will allow you to customize to that degree because the economics are not in their favour. But Century Furniture does; couple that with top-of-theline quality and they’re a natural to work with. Mangia & Bevi helped take the edge off a hunger built up from shopping. Also on King St. E., the Italian resto with a little patio is not the easiest place to find — but once you do, you’ve found a little bit of Italy. They are famous for their 12-inch fresh-to-order pizzas and plates of pasta that taste as though Nona is in charge of the kitchen. The decor is decidedly simple and it’s usually filled with people and conversation, especially at lunch time (make a reservation.) Once you find the place, you’ll be back. Andrew Richards Designs, on Adelaide St. E., proves that good interior design isn’t confined by a home’s exterior walls. They make and sell very good quality outdoor furniture that we have used many times in the past. The truly lovely showroom can make you feel like you’re on the back patio any day of the year. They have a complete line of exterior sofas, loungers, dining tables and umbrellas to make the outside as beautiful as the inside of your home. A visit on a snow day helps to reinforce that summer will return. If your kitchen is your design focus, countertops can be found at Cambria, on Parliament St., tiles at Savoia Canada, on King St. E., and appliance brands can be sampled at “experience centres” in the KEDD shops. Much less daunting than a row of stoves staring at you in an appliance store, these centres provide the opportunity to see how the things work — both in function and in style. The Jenn-Air Experience Centre is one that we use often, not only because we created it but also because it really helps clients understand exactly what is possible in their home, how it will look and, most importantly, how it will work. You want to match your cooking expertise to the appliances available and if you haven’t done a kitchen in a while, you’ll be shocked at how far they have come.
Creating beautiful furniture and home interiors is an art, and artwork helped elevate that ideal at the KEDD Lifestyle Fair. The Beauchamp Gallery, a new addition to the district, commissioned Toronto artist Mike Hammer to create live pieces. Seeing the techniques used by painter/performance artist Jessica Gorlicky or to tour auction house Waddington’s are opportunities normally reserved for people in the design trade.
Proceeds from the day went in support of Habitat for Humanity and the home-building charity staged its pop-up stud house encouraging people to sign and donate to help a family in need.
Book the KEDD Lifestyle Fair into your calendar for next year. And when you’re in the neighbourhood, stop in and say, “Hi.” Glen Peloso appears every two weeks in New in Homes & Condos. He is principal designer of Peloso Alexander Interiors, national design editor of Canadian Home Trends magazine and a design expert on the Marilyn Denis Show on CTV. Contact him at pelosoalexander.com, follow on Twitter at @peloso1 or @glenandjamie, and on Facebook.