At this year’s Interior Design Show, orange and blue have a love affair in every room of the house
Samantha Osaduke
Staff Writer
@excalweb
Toronto’s annual Interior Design Show (IDS), Canada’s largest design fair, took place from January 26 through 29 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The crowds were greeted with recognizable classics that influenced modern design like the Eero Saarinen Womb Chair, the Panton S Chair, and the Le Corbusier LC2 Chair. The plastic flux chairs in white, gray, and black in the presentation room set the expectation for the show.
This year was marked with some key design trends. Orange was a major colour trend in almost every exhibit, and the designers were meticulous down to the orange soda in the fridge.
I spoke with Benjamin Moore’s associate who told me that blue is making a comeback, particularly Wythe Blue, their colour of the year. Coral hues are becoming increasingly popular and persimmon is a favorite paint colour.
Rhed Corporation’s most unique idea was a chair-bed hybrid. Although it wasn’t colourful, it was very comfortable.
Xtreme Gas Fireplace breaks from the traditional fireplace design. My favourite was a $16,200 chain fireplace encrusted with white jewels. The chain was large and instantly made a statement.
Digital Print Specialties features custom-printed fabric, and I particularly liked their sofa. The sofa was originally designed in Photoshop, then printed and upholstered.
An honourable mention goes to the ONEXONE Hope Belongs To Everyone charity auction featuring dog chairs designed by Debbie Travis, Alfred Sung, Joe Fresh, Yabu Pushelberg, BlackBerry, Bruce Mau Design, and others with bids starting at $350.
My only disappointment this year was with DesignGenNext which features the work of top university and college students. They decided to move them to a different area this year and they were not visible enough. Although the students were provided with a larger room, most of them weren’t around to talk and the exhibits relied on brochures.
Overall, IDS 2012 brought creativity to the forefront. Innovation, with a splash of orange, made for an exciting and dynamic show.
