Pecha Kucha @ IDS11

If you are Canadian and a fan of design, then no doubt you will be headed to the Interior Design Show next week. IDS is Canada's largest and best contemporary design fair. It gets better every year and I always leave the show feeling inspired. The exhibits are fantastic but I especially look forward to the gala opening night party. Not only is it your best chance to actually rub elbows with some of the design celebrities (I'm hoping to spy Darryl Carter!) but there's fewer crowds and more breathing room to check out the special spaces like "Sibling Revelry" (featuring Sarah Richardson & her brother Theo, among others).

And if you attend on next Friday, Trade Day, then you must check out the Pecha Kucha at 5:30pm. Ok - I'm biased because HandyMan and I actually organize and run these events at IDS :) We're pretty lucky to be involved with IDS for the last three years running. What's a Pecha Kucha, you ask? Its a series of high-energy, unpredictable, and inspiring 7-minute presentations. We've got a great roster this year all speaking on the theme of "All You Need Is Love". Hope you'll join me and see what they have to say!

Good Ideas

Sorry for the lack of posts around here. It was a busy week. HandyMan and I were preparing for our PechaKucha at the Interior Design Show. I'm happy to report it was a great success (though one presenter had a bit of a 'colourful' vocabulary so we may have to institute a 3 second time delay with next year's event!).

The theme was "Good Ideas" and we had a fantastic and diverse group of presenters including, him, him, and her. He was our Master of Ceremonies. What they had to say was truly inspiring and I love hearing folks talk passionately about what they do! I can't wait until the next event.

Work continues on the bedroom. Drywall is up (yay!) but nothing much else post-worthy, so I'll leave you with pics of good ideas I like. Click the text to see image source.

Sliding barn doors


Patterned Kitchen Floors


Banquette seats and bistro tables


A collection of vintage prints


Daybeds in the living room


Beadboard ceilings


What are some good ideas that you love?

Pecha Kucha

It's that time of year again when HandyMan and I put together a Pecha Kucha Night. What's a Pecha Kucha you ask? It's a high-energy presentation format. Think of it like the Twitter of presentations - each presenter shows a slideshow of 20 images, each slide shown for 20 seconds. Oh, and its tons of fun for the audience to watch (especially when a presenter looks over their shoulder and realizes they're talking way too long and are 6 slides behind!).

As we did last year, we are organizing the Pecha Kucha for Trade Day at the Interior Design Show, Canada's largest contemporary design event. IDS is the must-attend show for design fanatics and we are thrilled to be involved.

We've managed to line up a diverse and interesting roster of speakers from the fields of fashion, design, media and the arts:

• Allan Guinan - Partner of figure3
  
• Arriz Hassam - Principal of 3rd Uncle Design
• Cobi Ladner - Former Editor of Canadian House & Home magazine and creator of cobistyle.com
  
• David Dixon - Leading Canadian women's fashion designer
• Gord Peteran - Canadian contemporary furniture designer and artist
  
• Nigel Smith - CEO and Creative Director of graphic design firm Hahn Smith Design Inc.
  
• Shinan Govani - National Post columnist, resident snoop, town-crier and people-watcher
• Sara Diamond - President of Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD)

and Arren Williams, stylist, editor, and regular guest expert on CityLine, will once again be our moderator. Come check us out in Toronto on January 22nd!

And bonus: Trade Day registration to IDS is free until Dec.15th! Sign up now.

Pecha Kucha @ Interior Design Show 2009!

No reno work today.... because HandyMan and I are off today to host a Pecha Kucha at Toronto's premier design event, the Interior Design Show! What's a Pecha Kucha? Its a fast-paced presentation featuring 8 of Toronto's hottest designers, artists, and architects. Each presents 20 slides, each slide for 20 seconds. Its quick, dynamic, and unpredictable :) Our emcee is Arren Williams, stylist/editor/reporter whose work you may have seen on TV on CityLine or in print in Canadian House & Home and Style At Home.

We're lucky to be working with IDS and bringing the Pecha Kucha concept to their event for the first time. If you're in Toronto and a fan of design, most definitely make a trip out to IDS this weekend!

P.S. We return to our regular reno schedule tomorrow. Can't wait to get some paint up on the nursery walls :)

P.P.S. I was so so so close to getting my design idol Sarah Richardson as a presenter for this Pecha Kucha. I won't stop doing these things until I finally get her to appear at one, lol.

Three Strikes

Three strikes today and I’m out. First, I had a press pass to see the unveiling of the renovated Art Gallery of Ontario today. It would have been my one and only chance to see Frank Gehry in person – but fiddlesticks, here I am stuck at work, working. (Don’t you hate it when work gets in the way of all the fun stuff??)

AGO photo by flickr user wvs

Then, I approached my fave designer Sarah to present at the next Pecha Kucha I’m organizing. Yes, I’m organizing another one as part of this show. It’ll be on Trade Day of the show. The theme of the Pecha Kucha is “Inspired By…” and since it will be designers/decorators/architects presenting to their peers, I’m sure they’re going to try and one up each other and show brilliant and unique presentations. That’s the hope anyway :) Alas, Sarah wasn’t available and her sidekick Tommy wasn’t either. Strike Two and Strike Three. Argh. But I’ve got a few more big names to approach and an interesting roster already lined up from all walks of the design industry… graphic designers, art gallery owners, architects, advertising, fashion designers. If you’re interested in attending, and will be in Toronto in cold, blustery February 2009 you can sign up for free admission here (I know it says Professional trade registration, but I've never seen that enforced or verified ;o) ).

Now to find something to wear that will de-emphasize the watermelon sized belly I will have by then!