Friday, February 4, 2011

Bathrooms..... so much more than in the past

One of the most asked for renovations is Bathrooms.  We now have so much available to create whatever look you are after. I am going to let these photos say it all.....














IDS 2011 - The New CDECA Show Booth is rolled out.....

It took almost a year but we finally have our fantastic new show booth for CDECA  http://www.cdeca.com/  which we unveiled at IDS 2011and received many great reviews  from everyone who visited us.  I am so proud of this booth and with the hard work of my great team on the National Show Events Committee.  We have a booth that is professional and classy and really represents our wonderful association.

This year we  presented a floor plan and created 4 design boards representing the rooms from that plan.  We then selected materials and finishes that had a central colour theme of gray and partnered each room with additional colours that would all work together for a cohesive look and help transition the flow from room to room.  We felt that this would help consumers who visited our booth see how we as decorators did much more than just pick nice colours.  Our intention was to show that we can start with a plan - create that plan on auto cad to exact and precise measurements; follow through with furniture selection and placement and then on the selection of finishes and colours appropriate to each space.  As decorators we are responsible for many aspects of a project.  Have a look at some of the photos of our wonderful booth and design boards. 
Move In Day and oh what fun that was - building our booth from the ground up but thanks to a team member, my wonderful husband and Tom Goldberg of Legacy Home Solutions  http://www.legacyhomesolutions.ca/ we went from this ....

to this.........WOW!!

Now this is a great booth!
 Toasting the new booth at the Gala
 Volunteers

 Many visitors

 Our original concept floor plan
 All of the finishes we selected for our Design Boards


 Our New Banner which tells the real story of why everyone should hire a CDECA Professional!

I would like to thank the following:

Our wonderful affiliates who donated many of the products for our booth & design boards -
ProSource Wholesale Floorcoverings - http://www.pswholesale.com/
Sun Glow Window Coverings -   http://www.mysunglow.com/
The Decorating Centre - http://www.thedecoratingcentre.ca/

The wonderful companies we hired to provide the following:
Reveal Marketing for the great booth & banner - http://www.revealgroup.ca/ 
Tyme-Step Promotions Ltd. for the great printing of our folders and notepads - http://www.tymestep.ca/
Legacy Home Solutions for the installation & dismantle of this booth - http://www.legacyhomesolutions.ca/

I would also like to thank my team and all the great volunteers from CDECA who helped make this such a success, most especially my husband Allan, who was so supportive during this entire project.



Thursday, February 3, 2011

IDS 2011 - Opening Night Gala...

Once again IDS is upon us and I was fortunate enough to attend the opening night Cocktail Party Gala. This is quite the evening and the food and beverages were plentiful. The nice thing about attending this party, is that you can view all of the booths without having to stand in line. I attended with a couple of colleagues and we had a really great time. We met some of the more famous designers and had a chance to chat. Here are some of the photos I took.....

First Stop -  Audrey and I toasting the new CDECA Show Booth
 Yours truly with Steven and Chris
 Audrey with Steven and Chris
 Throngs of people lined up to enter the Gala....
 Alfred Sung with his new outdoor furniture display - he was kind enough to let me sit for a while and have a little rest.  Thanks Alfred
 Bloomsbury Fine Cabinetry - I love this kitchen
 Love this light - Wow
 Jane Lockhart has joined up with Gresham House to create a new line of custom furniture
 Great Displays

 Tile with actual shells inbedded - very interesting
 Great glass tiles

Suzanne Dimma at the Canadian House & Home Booth took a few minutes to chat

Whilttingtons Custom Furniture in Mississauga

If you are looking for handcrafted, "green" furniture, then a trip to Whittingtons is in order.  I attended a showroom event a couple of weeks ago in their new showroom and found many wonderful pieces.  The staff are so helpful and knowledgeable and will work with you to create a one of a kind piece.  You can mix and match seats, backs and just about anything you can think of.  Unfortunately I forgot my camera that evening and have no photos, however I will be returning  to see Gil and staff very soon and will update this page with photos.

Touch De L'Afrique Boutique in Oakville, Part 2

Last fall I blogged about the opening of this very unique showroom located on Lakeshore Road East in Oakville http://www.touchdelafrique.com/ , which specializes in rare finds that they import from South Africa. Once again they welcomed designers and decorators from CDECA, GTA West Chapter to their lovely "cafe" on the second floor of the showroom, so we could have our chapter meeting and they graciously offered some of their wonderful refreshments and generously had 3 door prizes.

This is a must see showroom especially when looking for unique and rare decor and gift ware.  If you missed my first entry last fall, please go back to see the photos - it is worth the time.  Here are more photos showing the cate and showroom.

Thank you Petrus and staff for your generosity.


The upstairs Cafe