January 22 was the VIP party for this year’s Interior Design Show. It was, as usual, an amazing event, where guests were able to see all of the booths before “public” viewing on Saturday, such as modern creations at Studio North, up close with Stone Forest’s tubs and sinks, and, of course, enjoy delicious food from various restaurants in the city such as Tabülè (falafels, hummus and tiny pita with an eensy weensy bit of tabülè), Magic Oven (no pizza, but a vegetarian cassoulet) and Amaya Express (full sized samosas and kale pakoras). Catering companies like P&L (Parts & Labour) Catering (spicy meatballs) and Arepa Café’s catering division, serving bite sized vegetarian and chicken arepas.
Bite-sized black bean and cheese arepa from Arepa Café
Smeg’s trunk wine fridge gives a new meaning to the tailgate party
Stove (with a wok cooktop in the middle) with a vintage-looking fridge, also from Smeg
One of my personal favourites at this year’s event was Smeg. Their booth, featuring not only a vintage-looking kitchen, but also a wine fridge that looked like the trunk of a (vintage) car! Another favourite was the extra long bar sink from Native Trail. Made from hand-hammered copper, the representative told me that some people have installed it outdoors, using it for parties. Because of its length, hosts can place ice in the basin, using the sink as a cooler. Native Trail’s booth also featured a farmhouse style sink made of the same material.
Bar sink from Native Village
Falafels from Tabülè
Caesarstone’s swings
Two other stand-out displays came from Caesarstone, which had a set of swings made out of their products (as well as gelato stand, serving up extra frozen gelato and sorbetto on sticks – so cold that my tongue got stuck!!) and Cubitat, a compact living concept. This compact-sized cube opens into a kitchen, closet, laundry, pull-out bed and even a bathroom inside the cube. It’s perfect for extremely small live/work studio spaces. In fact, it reminds me a bit of a Hong Kong apartment I saw a video of a few years ago. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you don’t have much square footage, but still want your home to look somewhat spacious, then something like Cubitat would be a way to go. In fact, it’s definitely something to check out if you go!
A sign about Cubitat
Gelato on a stick. Available were chocolate hazenut, panna cotta (not seen), lemon blueberry (far bottom left) and strawberry rubharb (pink – I guess they weren’t that popular?)
Pullout bed from Cubitat
The Interior Design Show’s public events (Metro Toronto Convention Centre, North Building) are Saturday, January 24 and Sunday, January 25 from 10 AM to 6 PM. Tickets are available online for $19 (individual) or $17 per person if you are buying for a group of 20. There are also seminars where tickets are $40 per person and includes admission to the main show.
