IDS10: The work has begun

Well, the work started months ago really, first with the out-of-the-blue phone call inviting me to design one of the Ultimate spaces for the Interior Design Show. That led to meetings galore. Next, as soon as I'd decided on the inspiration for the 700 sq. ft. space - which I'm totally excited to say is Calvin Klein Euphoria - I set to wrangling every little detail and hashing out the concept and drawings with Boychuk + Fuller, ordering swanky fixtures from Kohler and absolutely fantabulous Italian tiles from Savoia. I guess you figured out it's a possibly a bathroom (lol) and, talking of tiles, they just arrived (phew) off of the boat from Italy.

Right now Cera Stone is pre-building the space in a warehouse, it'll then be disassembled and put back together - a bit like a jigsaw puzzle - on site at the MTCC, where we'll have 4 1/2 days to completely finish it. Okay... I'm trying not to hyperventilate. Take a look below and you'll see we're at the plywood-y bare bones stage, all I can say is thank heavens there's a Home Depot right around the corner!

It's pronounced chair-sigh

Yesterday morning we hit Bologna, as part of our mini tour of the world of tiles with Savoia. The destination was Cersaie (pronounced chair-sigh), possibly the world's most ginormous bath and tile trade show. Apart from feeling kinda under dressed in my usual comfy trade show garb of jeans and sneakers (everyone there was rocking sharply tailored suits) I just didn't know where to begin.

Highlights were checking out all the tile trends (colour, texture and lotsa gold), as well as working my way through some seriously stunning bathroom fixtures and cabinetry. My two new fave firms on that front are Moab 80 (industrial and edgy with unexpected colour) and Falper (white, witty and sophisticated). On the smarty-pants side of things Fiandre, who own Savoia, launched Active, a major breakthrough in tile technology that is both anti-bacterial and able to purify the air. V. cool... On the, ahem, so-bad-it's-bad front Versace Home presented a line that managed to be gaudy, dull and old fashioned all at the same time. Moving swiftly along, check out Marcel Wander's latest, Aqua Jewels faucets for Bonomi, which appears to be going for a Flava Flav kinda vibe.

  

Monday in Milan

It's a funny old world. On Friday I was doing the very un-glam side of my job; returning props from a shoot, which basically involves me schlepping all over hither and yon with bags and bags (and bags) of stuff and a fistfull of receipts. Blech! And today I climbed to the top of Il Duomo in Milan. Seriously, how are those two things connected??? Well, I'm in Milan on a press trip with Savoia Canada learning all about tiles. And I hafta tell you, what these guys don't know about tiles just 'aint worth printing!

In the meantime, have you seen the latest water bottle design from Evian? '08 saw Christian Lacroix launch the series, then in '09 Jean Paul Gaultier had a go, and for '10 - available on shelves in November - you'll be able to find Paul Smith's trademark happy stripes wrapping the bottle. It's a fun look, and I'm glad to report the ink used is organic. Nice for a glug when you're thirsty, and even nicer used as a sweet vase afterwards too!