This past week, the Tridel design team and I checked out the Interior Design Show at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. It’s a great showcase of the latest and greatest in design.
“You will always find the next hot colour, the coolest products and furniture and hear from great designers and architects,” says Joy Huynh, Tridel Interior Designer. “It’s always inspiring to see the new trends and what is going on in the interior design world.”
Here are the trends of the show which you may see popping up in designs all over.
Orange
Tangerine Tango was declared the colour of the year by the Pantone Colour Institute and it showed up everywhere at IDS12. Joy says it’s a great accent colour and pairs extremely well with grey. It was on fabrics, furniture and even whole kitchens:
Rustic and reclaimed
Reclaimed wood is hot, as are recycled materials. Old is new.
“It’s bringing back Canadiana,” says Joy. “With wooden and reclaimed furniture and stag heads. The cottage look but with a touch of cool for the urban dwellers.”
This one booth had all sorts of pieces made from reclaimed wood. Especially interesting is the coffee table with wood coming out through the glass while supporting the pane:
Condo living
“What I enjoyed the most about this year is that instead of only displaying the newest technology, products and luxurious materials, most exhibitors had also used “condo life” as part of the theme this year,” says Phoebe Sham, Tridel Junior Designer. “A lot of booth designs were designed with creative space saving solutions such as lots of shelving and combined living spaces.”
Joy mentioned that there were not only space saving solutions, but also multipurpose products and very innovative designs that allow maneuvering with little effort.
One excellent example of this was the Resource Furniture booth with tons of new Murphy bed options, including these bunk beds which would be perfect in a condo. Check out this video for demonstration of how they work:
Interesting tiles
There were many instances of tiles that are colourful and out of the ordinary. They can add visual interest to a space in a way that may not be typically expected, since tiles are generally in neutral colours and shapes.
Outdoor living
Many booths proved you can create a second living room in your backyard or on your patio. Comfy sofas, side tables, even fireplaces are all the rage for the outdoors.
This set is even multifunctional with a coffee table that holds ice:
Tubs in all shapes and sizes
Bathtubs are back in and they’re available in such a range of styles, finishes and sizes. Want yours matte and square? How about curvy, metallic and glossy?
Vintage & antique
This trend has been very popular for a few years now, but it still was used a lot in this year’s show especially when mixed with more modern pieces.
They were also many interesting exhibits focusing more on the art of design and not exactly the functional aspects. This included the “How do you live?” exhibit — a two story, cutaway building that looks at the condo trend in Toronto with multi-dwelling living. Each room was designed by a different design firm. You can see photos of this and more parts of IDS12 below.
And there was also this on the ceiling in the lobby — metallic bags that were constantly puffing up with air and then shriveling up. Futuristic or never going to go mainstream?
