Author Archives | stylenorthchris
stylenorthchris - who has written 729 posts on styleNorth.
StyleNorth founder Christopher Jones is a graphic designer and journalist who has written about homes for Toronto Life, the Globe and Mail, Canadian Living and the Toronto Star, among other publications. Chris has an unquenchable thirst for interior design and his stack of hard-cover, shelter porn books is taller than he is. A wannabe decorator, his home is his laboratory.
More, More, More From IDS 12
Visitors to this year's Interior Design Show ascend to fair level through a vast curtain of felt dubbed "Strip Tease" by Toronto's RAW Design. Composed of approximately 1,300 long strips of felt that collectively tip the scale at 3,700 lbs, the purpose of the installation is not at all apparent until you enter the show and see it from the convention floor where it transforms into a giant screen for video and still image projections. (Photo above by William Suarez). There were lots of great booths and exhibits on the IDS floor and today's post features a few of my favorites.
Continue reading...IDS 12: A Few of My Favorite Things
Saturday, January 28, 2012 by Chris
This is NOT a comprehensive look at this year's Interior Design Show in Toronto. By 11 pm, after an entire day of talks and exhibitions — including a guided tour of the Gladstone Hotel's annual Come Up to My Room — I was knocked down and dragged out. Lineups dissuaded me from touring the always popular IDS demonstration spaces (How Do You Live?) and I completely missed the DesignGenNext, the show of promising student work from Ryerson, Sheridan, OCAD, Humber and George Brown. Even without those pieces of the puzzle my IDS experience was exhilarating. This year, I started with the Studio North exhibition of new work by Canadian designers and Prototype, a launching pad for innovative new products.
Continue reading...Starstruck at IDS
Friday, January 27, 2012 by Chris
I was lucky enough to start my Interior Design Show whirlwind yesterday morning with talks by top New York designer Amy Lau and 1stdibs.com founder Michael Bruno. Between the two speakers, Lau kindly signed copies of her lavish new book, Expressive Modern, and Bruno was one of the fans in line, along with yours truly, to get his copy autographed. Lau was utterly magnanimous: we chatted as she signed my copy and asked for recommendations of things to see and do while she was in Toronto. I steered her to the Gardiner Museum of Ceramics, which I was pretty sure she'd love. Bruno was also friendly, not to mention impossibly handsome, as he posed for a picture and we shared a few words. Yes, I was starstruck at IDS.
Continue reading...IDS 12: Let the Fun Begin
Thursday, January 26, 2012 by Chris
Toronto's Interior Design Show (IDS 12) kicks off this morning with a slate of design heavy hitters and a media preview in advance of this evening's big opening night party ($60 and worth every penny!). Tomorrow is trade day, then the doors open to the public on Saturday and Sunday ($22). This truly is my favorite event of the year and I'm palpably excited to see what's new and what's next in interiors, something IDS is incredibly good at presenting. As always, I'll be paying special attention to the Studio North and Prototype exhibits where Canadian talent and cutting edge designers face the industry and the public in search of customers and critique. Above are pieces from Studio North participants Nomo Creations, Tahir Mahood and Tyler Mackenzie Craft & Design.
Continue reading...Tribute Decor Uniquely Positioned
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 by Chris
Online vintage furniture sellers are popping up like dandelions in spring. The explosion of hunter/collector TV shows like American Pickers has spawned a thousand cyber cottage industries populated by Goodwill junkies who think they can make a go of it online. I wish them all good luck but I suspect many of them will wind up with basements full of junk and a server bill to boot. I predict a happier ending for Susan Elliott of Tribute Decor, however. Susan is based in Kingston, Ontario, almost equidistant from three of Canada's biggest markets — Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. She'll deliver for a nominal fee ($95 to Toronto) and unlike Craigslist, she'll take the goods back if you're not completely satisfied.
Continue reading...
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- More, More, More From IDS 12
- IDS 12: A Few of My Favorite Things
- Starstruck at IDS
- IDS 12: Let the Fun Begin
- Tribute Decor Uniquely Positioned
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Sunday, January 29, 2012 by Chris
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