IDS 2011

Light Installation by Commute Home

In case you were one of the few design enthusiasts who didn't make it to the Interior Design Show in Toronto last weekend here's a limited mini tour of what caught my 'eye-phone' while I walked the floor of the show over the course of two brief visits.  To my eye most of what I see at the show isn't new to me because I frequent showrooms regularly and am pretty familiar with all the newest and latest.  What I enjoy seeing at the show are the ways the products and items are interpretted into creative exhibits, and inevitably,,,, I also do see a couple of 'new to me' sources from out of town.

Without a doubt I'd have to say one of the most common trends on display was the colour black. Black walls particularly, in fact probably more than half the exhibitors incorporated black walls in their booths.

My favorite exhibit space of the show was the Ikea booth where they had designed and built a 900 s.f. kitchen.  The entire kitchen was black. 

 The kitchen had black cabinets, black hardware, black counters, black tile backsplash, black appliances.  It was stunning and dramatic and all the different textures and sheen levels made the single colour work.  If you want to use an 'accent colour' to create impact, black is a favorite for me that I think works better than blue or green or red which in this case for an entire kitchen, wouldn't have the classic look, sophistication or longevity that black has.  Personally I get bored of strong colour very quickly and I think it gets tired and dated very quickly.  So I think the popularity of black is that you get that graphic impact that you'd get with a bold colour but its neutral.  Its moody and dramatic, it can be nostalgic or edgy, its always chic - so that has to be the feel you're after,  and don't ever attempt to use a lot of black in a space unless you pay extra attention to lighting!  Floating above and continuing the length of the kitchen was a sea of paper laterns.

Natural woods and various jars of food items make a striking display against the black metalic tile backsplash.  I loved that everyone else loved this kitchen as much as I did - it received the Gold award for best booth.  A perfect example of how you really can be creative and make a design statement with product regardless how much it costs!

Commute Home always has some of the most innovative lighting and furniture I've ever seen.  Their booth at IDS simply consisted of this striking metal rod light sculpture inspired by hydro towers.  Althoug this lighting is displayed in an abstract way, it can be installed in a variety of settings as the L15 Spike Chandelier- I've seen this fixture suspended over a dining table, its STUNNING - for sure, my favorite 'product' at the show.

Another favorite of mine were the products at the 18 Karat booth.  Natural, organic and hand crafted elements seemed to be the theme, I was crazy for these wood bowls.  

This row of chairs used as display shelves were cleverely hung on......... a black wall.

The accessories were all displayed like pieces of art atop the sculptural like chairs.

You know how much I love Style Garage and Gus Furniture,,,their modern industrial Canadiana styled booth was definitely one of the most popular with the crowd.  I've been a fan for years, and this booth made me fall in love with their product and philosophy all over again!  Note,,,, the black wall.

This sculptural bookcase was an eye catcher.  It was made of corian, and was the feature wall of the Selene furniture booth.

Personally I was surprised to see UpCountry at IDS.  After virtually being non-existent on the design scene since they were taken over by new Management a few years ago, they resurfaced at IDS featuring a new collection designed by Brit, Timothy Oultan.  You might recognize the look,,,Oultan designs a collection for Restoration hardware so its no surprise these pieces bare a strong resemblance to the new RH 'hand crafted' artisan look.  It certainly made for a theatrical looking display at the show but for everyday residential use I think pieces like these (union jack sofas) come across as very "staged" or unauthentic.  Everyone seemed to be raving about this collection, but quite honestly, it just doesn't appeal to me.... 

The Style At Home booth was a standout amongst all the dramatic black,,,the innovative use of colour was a clever way to show off their new Beautitone line of paints.  The entire exhibit was refreshing and utterly creative.  You can read all about the inspiration behind the design of the booth by Margot Austin here. 

Snob, always a favorite.  

The colourful display of dishware at John Paul & Co. was irresistable.  This collection is by Missoni.

There were several other exhibitors I was fascinated with which I didn't get booth photos but I can tell you natural wood slabs or planks were the common denominator I was atttracted to - mostly featuring hand crafted joinery techniques in clean contemporary silhouettes. 

The consultation tables at the IDC booth where I was participating in Design Dilemma consultations with the public.  The entire back wall of the IDC space was also.....black.

 If you weren't able to make it to the show and you'd like to see more, just google IDS11 or IDS2011 and you'll find links to many feature articles and blog posts by journalists and other bloggers.

All Photos:  Carol Reed

70's Bungalow: Bathroom Designs

Room design and renderring by Carol Reed Interior Design

The new floor plan for The 70's Bungalow redesign has 2 bathroom ensuites and 1 powder room on the main floor (check out the before and after floor plans here, and the kitchen redesign plans here).  The master ensuite and the guest room ensuite were designed with similar concepts but slightly different material selections.  Each of the bathrooms would have custom wood vanities, solid stone tile flooring and solid slab counter tops.   

I allocated the majority of the bathroom budgets into the floors, vanity and countertops.  Everything else in the rooms would be non-custom, have simple contemporary lines and be basic white or polished chrome.  I'm not a fan of mixing a lot of different tiles in one space, or using trendy tiles,  these looks get dated pretty fast - I prefer to stick with classic natural stones and simple white ceramics, playing up the different shapes, sizes and finishes (honed, polished etc) for interest.

Master Ensuite room design and renderring by Carol Reed Interior Design.

For the master ensuite I designed a floating zebrano wood double vanity that would have 7 drawers, a solid calacatta marble countertop with a tall backsplash and shower jambs to match.  The wood grain of the vanity would run horizontally to play up the contemporary lines of house.  The floor would be clad with one tile, a 12 x 24 honed calacatta, no borders, no inlays.  The beauty of this natural stone's colouration and veining is a feature on its own. The large walk-in shower will be clad in a long narrow white ceramic tile installed in a stacked pattern (not as shown in the renderring), evoking a very modern feel.  The white ceramic walls and white marble floors will showcase the gorgeous zebrano wood.  The bit of non-tiled wall space there is will be painted a deep warm grey for rich dramatic contrast, this was added to the concept sketch later on as the paint colours were selected.

Site sample board for Master Ensuite bathroom.

In addition to a full set of construction drawings, site samples boards are prepared for the contractor - they don't need to be pretty,,,just factual.  Above is the site board for the Master Ensuite material finishes.  Sometimes I'll include photos of the faucets and light fixtures too but this time it wasn't necessary. Final wall paint colour will be selected on site after sampling 2 or 3 draw downs on the primed walls.

Guest Bathroom design and rendering by Carol Reed Interior Design.

The guest bathroom is small but accommodates a standard size tub and a 30" vanity.  The vanity had to be designed to go all the way to the floor, concealing the plumbing (that would come up thru the floor). The custom cabinet would be made from riff cut white oak stained a golden caramel colour.  The countertop will be solid quartz material in white, the same white as the slim narrow rectangular ceramic tiles that will surround the tub, including the tub front and continue across the entire vanity wall.  The floor will be finished with Blue Ocean vein cut travertine in an offset stack pattern which will really play up the horizontal lines in the tile.  The walls will be painted a warm taupey grey. The guest bathroom will have a custom made shower curtain instead of the glass screen illustrated above, and only 1 pendant fixture instead of two.

Site sample Board for guest bathroom.

Using only one tile on the floor and one tile on the walls is a great way to stretch your budget dollars,,,and I think it maintains a clean modern look.  Using a ceramic on the walls, and tiling only the shower or tub walls, instead of all the walls is also another big cost saver.  To maximize a bathroom budget, keep the walls simple and get that luxe high end look by investing in stone flooring and solid countertops.

The renderings above were drawn in the early stages of the design development and it was thru these sketches that the client was able to decide on the room layout and all of the design details.  Subsequently some very minor changes and modifications have been made to the bathroom design since these sketches were prepared but the overall design concept remains the same.

Last week I was out at the supplier's warehouse looking thru their current stock and tagging the orders for both of these rooms and some other areas in the house (talk about being a kid in a candy store!!).  The tiler is scheduled to start in approximately 2 weeks and the vanities are in production,,,I'm so excited to see these designs evolve to the next stage.

 

IDS 2011

If you're in Toronto this weekend you don't want to miss the Interior Design Show at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.   I'll be at the IDC Canada booth on Saturday between 1 and 4pm participating in their Design Dilemma Consultions providing free 15 minute consultations to show attendees.   If you do go and happen to see me, please stop and say hi!

70's Bungalow: Kitchen Design

One of the projects I'm currently working on is a complete redesign of a 70's bungalow which includes a kitchen, laundry room and 3 bathrooms.  The design drawings were completed back in October and since then the construction crew has been busy demo'ing and reworking the framing and rough-ins for the new layout.  You can check out the the before and after layouts here.  The new kitchen will be completely custom and has been designed to suit the needs of my empty-nester clients who, with the move to this house, are downsizing and simplifying their lives.   The top photo shows my design concept sketches for the kitchen.    

The architecture of the bungalow has strong horizontal lines influenced by classic mid-century modern design.  The new interior will be clean lined and contemporary featuring lots of crisp white walls, warm wood and handsome stone.   The use of natural walnut, calacutta marble, carrara marble, silver cross cut travertine and stainless steel materials will set the tone for the colour pallette throughout the house. I think its classic and timeless.

The kitchen will feature a balanced mix of materials; zebrano wood, etched glass, steel, and white lacquer cabinetry paired with carrara marble, grey backpainted glass, white quartz counters and natural walnut floors, all pictured above.

  

The cookwall will be free of upper cabinets and have a full height cararra tile backsplash with open shelves for dishware and deep full extension drawers/pull-outs below. The cooktop and built-in oven will create a continuous countertop edge from one side to the other.  The open shelves provide enough space to hold 8-12 settings of dishes, bowls, cups, and glasses,,,or they could be left more minimal displaying a few select pieces. There's also space for dishware in one of the deep drawers.

  The opposite wall will serve as a pantry/servery and bar area, convenient for servicing the family room to the left and the dining room to the right.  The upper cabinets in this area will have steel framed etched glass doors and a luminous backpainted glass backsplash. (the sink has now been deleted)

In between the two opposite walls of cabinetry, is an island which along with a single oversize sink will house the dishwasher and recycling bins.  The island cabinetry will be white lacquer set within 4 wood post legs under a solid surface countertop in white quartz.  The knee space created by the post legs provides room for 3 stools.  The entire effect will resemble a freestanding table placed over a cabinet.  This island won't have the typical pendants suspended over top, instead the raised ceiling area in the centre of the kitchen will feature one large dramatic pendant.  I'm still looking for that perfect light fixture, I've found two possible options so far....but the search continues...

If everything stays on schedule the cabinetry will be installed in about 6 weeks.  I can't wait to share more photos as this contemporary kitchen comes to completion.

All drawings &  Photos:   Carol Reed