IDS Highlights: Design Talks

As planned, I attended the IDS today at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Since I didn't get out of bed until 11:10 am, it was no small feat to get myself ready and over to Front Street before noon to see House & Home editor Suzanne Dimma speak about Design Trends for 2010.

Photo courtesy of HouseandHome

Suzanne's presentation highlighted the popular trends we can look forward to seeing in home decor this year:

• Renegade Regency
• Tailored Gypsy
• New British Colonial
• Belgian Farmhouse
• Black Magic
• Organic Modern (Suzanne's Favourite Trend)
• Luxe Loft
• New Country
• Traditional Remix (My Personal Fave - I love a good mix!!)

Fabric of 2010: VELVET
Colour of 2010: Dark GREY

At 2pm, host Mark Challen was joined onstage by guests Suzanne Dimma and designer Brian Gluckstein for a presentation about Enduring Design. The discussion was quite lively, and I was surprised to discover that Brian Gluckstein is quite the funny man. Very interesting and entertaining!!


There were a lot of ideas, and these are the key points to Enduring Design raised by the panel:

• A well designed space should be COMFORTABLE.
• For effective lighting, DIMMER SWITCHES should always be used.
• The key to adding personality to a space is with ART & BOOKS.
• Creating TENSION in a room stimulates interest.
• The less colour a room has, the more TEXTURE is required.
• Add a touch of BLACK to every room.
• Build a NEUTRAL base and add colour with accessories & art.

For the final Design Talk, Mark Challen took to the stage at 4 pm for a presentation entitled Screen Style. For those unfamiliar with Mark's work, he is a style commentator with House & Home media.

Image courtesy of IDSWest

In this discussion, Mark encourages us to look at movies from a different perspective, by looking beyond the actors to the set design. When we notice the set design, we realize how it contributes to the mood in each scene almost as much as the actors do themselves.

Miranda Priestly's Office
The Devil Wears Prada

Image courtesy of AllMoviePhoto

I spent a fabulous afternoon at the IDS, and these Design Talks were definitely a highlight of my visit. Of course there was a lot more to see, so expect more coverage of the show on the blog this week.