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!

All PK'd Out

I must be getting old. HandyMan and I hosted Pecha Kucha Toronto Vol.2 on Friday night and we were so tired from the event that we spent the rest of the weekend recuperating. Who knew that organizing 10 speakers and editing some presentations would have such an effect? It was all worth it though. The event went off with only a few minor hitches to the enjoyment of a packed, standing room only crowd. HandyMan and I got to talk to the Mayor again and finally give him the Pecha “20x20” book put together by the worldwide Pecha Kucha organizers in Japan. His presentation from last year was featured, though it took an embarrassingly long few minutes to actually find the article (why, oh why, didn’t I just sticky-tab it :P) All in all, a great event. The presenters were interesting and diverse, the timings were spot on, and the videos ran as expected (whew). And the audio-visual technicians provided a nice surprise by projecting the presentations on the slanted massive walls of the Royal Ontario Museum's entry lobby. The ROM never looked so good ;)

A few images of the night:


Ok – we didn’t entirely put off the housework. Come back later and see pics of the fancy new modern house numbers!

You're Invited!

visit www.pecha-kucha.org/cities/toronto for the full scoop

ThisClose

I tried my hardest, but in the end it wasn’t enough. I didn’t get “the Sarah” to agree to be a speaker at my Pecha Kucha. You know Sarah Richardson right? She is arguably the most famous Canadian interior designer out there. With two hit shows (Sarah’s House and Design Inc.) to her name, an 18 episode season, a line of furnishings, private design consultations, and a toddler, I knew there was slim to no chance she’d be available for my event. And I was right – she’ll be out of town that weekend – bummmmmer.

But I am not one to let a conversation just die on the vine so I emailed Sarah back, thanked her for considering our invitation, and told her I’d send a copy of my book as my thank you for the years of design inspiration she’s given me and thousands of other homeowners. I also said I hope she designs a line of fabrics one day – a la Kelly Wearstler – because if you know Sarah, you know she is awesome at choosing and using fabrics! Every time I visit Designer Fabrics, her favourite fabric hangout, I look around to see if she’s shopping the silks or browsing the brocades. She cheerily replied “I would love to do fabrics - as well as plenty of other things”. Ambitious girl.

So that’s my brush with the famous Sarah. If you’re not familiar with her work, here’s a sample of her stunning interiors.

(All images from DesignInc.ca)

Super Duper Excitement

Last year, HandyMan and I organized Toronto’s first Pecha Kucha. “Pecha Kucha” is a Japanese term which means “the sound of conversation”. A Pecha Kucha is also a global phenomenon… it’s a forum where architects and designers can get together and network and discuss their newest works and most original ideas. The event itself has a distinct format: presenters show 20 slides, each slide for 20 seconds. This creates a fast-paced, high-energy event – each presenter has only 6 minutes 40 seconds to dazzle you with their creativity.

Well, we’re doing it again! Pecha Kucha Toronto vol.2 will be held on Friday, May 23rd as part of the opening of the Doors Open weekend. The finer details are still being worked out but we are extremely excited because THIS is where we’re having the event:

(image courtesy of digitaljournal)

Yeah, baby. That's the Royal Ontario Museum, with its spectacular new Daniel Libeskind-designed Crystal. More details to follow… but if you’ve got a suggestion on a great presenter, let me know!

Designer Stalkings

Next weekend, HandyMan and I will be attending Toronto's Interior Design Show (IDS08) with our dear friend Willow. This show is "the" show to find out about hot trends, products, and design ideas. Designer and architect-types will abound; no cheesy hottubs or Swiffer sweepers at this home show!

We'll be attending the gala night opening too. We're hoping to see some of our design idols up close and personal -- Willow made a very brief appearance on Designer Guys two weeks ago and I have a huge design crush on Sarah Richardson. I may have to stalk her a bit... HandyMan and I are starting to plan for Pecha Kucha Toronto vol.2 and I would love love love to have Sarah as one of my speakers! Hey, if I can get the Mayor to speak at vol.1, surely I can get Sarah! Anyhoo, in between the stalking, I'll be checking out some of the fab work on display by some of the local and international talent.


From L to R: Splinter bench by Matthew Kroeker; Minotti Cucine; Heatwave radiator by Joris Laarman; Serralunga Flow; BOCCI Lighting; Molo Design Felt Rocks

Home Is Where The Heart Is

It's Christmas Day and as I sit here, with my tummy full of good food, opened presents strewn about, lounging around in my warm home, I can't help but be thankful for all that I have. It has been a stupendous year for HandyMan and I - our first book Design City Toronto was published, we sold two condos and bought a house, we hosted Toronto's first Pecha Kucha, spent two weeks in France and Spain, and we got married. There will probably never be a year in our lives quite like this one. But even though the thrills and chills of 2007 are fading, I am just as excited about what lies ahead. I am happy knowing that I have a partner in life who will help me make all my dreams, renovating or otherwise, come true.

Wishing you all joy and happiness in your hearts and homes. Merry Christmas.

Renovating the City...one conversation at a time

I know I started this blog as a way of documenting my and HandyMan's foray into the land of home renovation, but I've come to realize that sometimes you need to renovate your life, just like you renovate your home.

HandyMan and I had a stellar weekend. We hosted a huge event...for 500 strangers. We hosted "Pecha Kucha Toronto vol.1", an event which celebrated the launch of our new book Design City Toronto and the launch of the Toronto Doors Open 2007 weekend. "Pecha Kucha" is a Japanese term which translates into 'the sound of conversation'. And that's what we intended to do -- start a conversation. We wanted Torontonians from all walks of life to explore their city, to be curious about it, to explore its Open Doors, to form an opinion about the buildings they work and play in. I think we accomplished that.

I've always found that architecture is an elitest subject... many in the industry feel you are only qualified to discuss architecture if you have studied it or are a practicing architect or designer. I think this is bunk :) You don't need to be a graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Architecture to "know a good building when you see one". So like a mason tearing down a brick wall, we tried in some small way to tear down the barriers and democratize the subject of architecture. Call it a renovation of thinking.

Will our little event have long-lasting impacts? Only time will tell. I do know though that many people left our Pecha Kucha prouder of Toronto than when they walked in. And for my mom, who probably has never discussed architecture or design in her life, to say "I really enjoyed the presentations. I wasn't bored at all" - heck, maybe we really can make a difference. We just have to start, one brick at a time.