National Home Show 2010

This past weekend I attended the National Home Show at the Direct Energy Centre.  I like to go to as many design shows & events as I can in order to keep up with what's new and exciting in the world of design.  I always look forward to viewing the Dream Home. This year the Dream Home presented by CityLine and the Toronto Star. The 2010 home will be built by Brendan Charters and Jim Cunningham of Eurodale Developments with Architect Richard Librach and project manager Kendall Christie. The interiors of this year’s home are designed by CityLine’s Janette Ewen, Ramsin Khachi, Karen Sealy, Sharon Grech and and exteriors Barry McCague Landscaping, landscaping design by Landscape Planning Ltd.  It really was quite the house - very interesting with a little of everything including a nod to the eco concerns.  Here are a few photos I took in case  you didn't make it to the show....

How about this room - very creative and different...

and this room...

It was difficult to get a good picture of this kitchen with so many people milling around constantly, but it was fantastic!  Extremely well designed and with some "glam" feaatures like the counter of crushed glass and just a little crystal thrown in under a layer of clear glass...

   

And my personal favourite for today's great kitchens - a post with your electrical outlets lined up but... it goes down when not in use and has a contemporary stainless cover built into your counter - now that's good design, functional and good looking!    

 When it is closed it looks just like this...

 

The picture above is a wonderful item for today's living -

- a built in composte container which can be lifted out and

 emptied when necessary, making prep and clean-up quick

and easy, and when not is use, it just looks like a circle of

 stainless on your counter - like the picture above

If you watch Cityline you would have seen  these items mentioned last week and here is another wonderful design for living - a decorative wall sculpture, BUT... it is actually a new take on the hot water radiators found in most older homes - WOW!  this takes on two purposes by replacing those difficult to decorate around large radiators and the bonus is that you also get wall art.  Makes me want to buy an older house just to install these.

This tiny sink could be used where there is a space issue in a small washroom

 

And of course we can't forget our four legged family members. The Dream Home even had a "doggy" shower in the mud room area. I would love one of those. 

 

Throughout the show there were many great exhibitors and here is some of what I saw...

This is a quartz countertop that looks like it is full of crystal - so beautiful and the design was interesting in that the edge was very thick and cut back towards the cabinets for a little interest.

 

This product is a medium density fibreboard about 1/4" thick and not too heavy.  It comes in many designs which replicate all types of wood like beadboard, wainscotting, this 24" square pattern below and many more.  It can be applied easily with adhesive to walls and ceilings.  Best of all it covers imperfections like a ceiling full of cracks, or possibly those "stipple" ceilings.  It also can be used as a backsplash.  The possibilities are limitless.  It can be painted or stained and looks just like wood panels.

Here is a ceiling covered in this product

I saw this at the IDS a few weeks ago and there was a display of 5 sheds designed as alternative use space.  Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of them, but when I saw this one at the Home Show I had to snap it so you could see what an innovative idea it is.  The designer used a basic shed and created a place to "get away from it all"  How splendid.

Last but not least I visited the beautiful gardens and dreamed of summer coming. There is so much more available to enhance today's outdoor living spaces which have become just as important as our indoor areas. Have a look at some fantastic garden designs......

And of course the waterfalls and ponds...

 

And there were outdoor fireplaces as well

 

A very relaxing and zen like garden spot

I liked this idea of a stone wall with a door in it but it doesn't have to go anywhere, it just gives the impression that you can go through to another space.  Great way to camoflage anything unsightly in your garden.

Lovely in the garden filled with tiny tea lights of mini lights