IDS finds

Well, it's one week later and I'm finally editing down my faves from the IDS. There was so much to see except, errr, I was kind of busy, so I literally begged off an hour on the last day of the show to run around and catch what I could. So, here's a few designs that really caught my eye, and yes, before anyone says anything, I totally realize I have a bit of a thing for lamps...

From the top: Mahabali welcome mats in natural coir by Cristina Covello. Intensely coloured turned wood lamps and mortar and pestles by Tahir Mahmood. Handmade silver on brass Egyptian pendant lights available at Snob. The Clown light, part of Jaime Hayon's hook up with Lladro (lawdy it's a stunner).

Dark and disconnected

Our hi-speed internet was down for a couple of days this week, and let me tell you dial-up just wasn't doing it for me. So yep, I was feeling a little disconnected, though no less crazy busy - Over the last couple of days I returned all the last bits of pieces from the IDS (had to drive a truck, blergh), worked on a couple of Trendwatches for House & Home, and shot a webinar for a fun upcoming project with Erica Ehm of YummyMummyClub and author Kathy Buckworth. I am so in need of a bit of rest and relaxation...

On the dark side of things, as in colour, I wanted to share a few snaps of my 700 sq ft IDS space - the Ultimate his and her's bathroom - shot by Stefano Barbera. I was asked "Why black?" a fair bit about my colour choices and well, don't you think we've seen enough white bathrooms? The first two shots show the more feminine side of things (yep, that's one of the vintage dressers I'd scored at the Sally Ann and had re-finished), then there's the black wood panelled men's side, and finally that standout polished steel chest from Kravet in the chillout space that connected the two bathrooms.

Having a flutter

Okay, I've been slightly awol due to the IDS 10 and the mega workload involved, let alone spending every day in the space too. One of the massive hits of my Ultimate space was definitely Bev Hisey's wool felt Butterfly Chairs. In fact, if I was giving out awards, her ultra-comfortable two-seaters (plus that cute wee ottoman) would definitely win 'Most Sat Upon' at the show. They were irresistible and quite a few people refused to move, lol. Check out the lovely shots below by Donna Griffith and imagine yourself sinking into them... And, because Bev is a creative genius/workaholic, she also contributed a carpet to Radiant Dark, the fab show organized by the cool folks at Made. Since I was kind of stuck at the IDS I didn't make it down, so to get more info - and to check out pics - head over and read what Kitka Design had to say about it.

5 quick questions: Jason MacIsaac

Stepping into Jason MacIsaac’s store Ministry of the Interior honestly gives me the urge to start shoplifting, mainly because I want just about everything. Though really, how do you hide a dining table under your coat? Apart from filling his shop with brilliant stuff, his design of Soft Citizen’s workspace recently popped up in v. cool Frame magazine. Oh, and did I mention, he’s also in on the IDS with possibly the most unusual of all of the Ultimate spaces (which involves lots of wood and some very precise calculations).

Here are Jason’s 5 quick questions, along with a few snaps that show the interior of MOTI, papier-mâché pieces by Debbie Wijskamp, the Oscar sofa by Matthew Hilton at SCP and one of the Raphael Garnier wallpaper’s from Tres Tintas (available at MOTI).

Arren Williams: What's inspiring you right now?

Jason MacIsaac: I'm always on the lookout for new stuff for MInistry of the Interior, so I constantly see new stuff I'm inspired by.... Nos Das blankets from SCP, Vivenne Westwood wallpaper from Cole & Son, Michael Johansson's artwork, Debbie Wijskamp's paper mache series of furniture.

AW: Is there anything that can drive you crazy when you walk into a space?

JM: Dated wood tones and obvious knock-off furniture.

AW: What's the next thing you have your eyes on for your own house?

JM: We desperately need a new sofa so I've placed an order for the Oscar sofa from SCP.  We also need a new stereo so I'm getting the walnut stereo system from Geneva, and I've promised my wife to wallpaper our bedroom for a while now, so I'm planning on using a new wallpaper from the collection by Raphael Garnier for Tres Tintas.

AW: How would you describe your style, and has it changed over the years?

JM: Freshness, colour, conceptual - I think my look is constantly changing and hopefully evolving.

AW: What's next on the horizon?

JM: I'm repurposing parts of my IDS Ultimate space for a film production company's offices in New York and have a few great residential projects.

IDS10: The storm before the storm

Nope, that title isn't a typo. While that single snap below doesn't give too much away (and makes it all look rather calm), things have been a little on the crazy side as the clock ticks down to the IDS10 Gala opening. Today all the Graham & Brown wallpaper made it up (after a slight meltdown on my part since we were trying to avoid mudding the seams between the plywood wall panels - and yes, of course we couldn't avoid it), all the Kohler fixtures were set in place and all the furniture and accessories were loaded in (thanks for the hand Meg!) and everything was covered in drop cloths to avoid a mammoth dust job early tomorrow. Ah yes, and talking of tomorrow there is still a ton of spit and polish before the space is done. Maybe cloning actually works? I'll have to look into it...

IDS 10: Big trucks and letterpress

Yesterday morning I was on a truck at 5am driving down to the Interior Design Show to offload and start setup. Okay, I'm taking a moment to whinge here: There is almost nothing I hate more than driving a truck, seriously, well perhaps raw celery, but that's another story. By 7am I was in and offloaded, along with my contractors two trucks and a van, and work started. The floor was screwed together pretty sharpish, then the walls went up, and by now, 24 hours later, the floor tiles will have been completed, along with the grout. Next up is this wallpaper from Graham & Brown!

In my bleary I-haven't-had-coffee brain of yesterday morning I forgot to bring my camera to document the progress. Sheesh. So instead, since I think this is really rather cool and I love a peek behind the scenes, here's a great video by Quarter Productions that shows Repeat Press making letterpress coasters for Highsnobiety and Selectism. Oh, and the bluesy soundtrack is brilliant.

IDS10: Butterflies and blurry dressers

Things are reaching boiling point in getting everything confirmed for the Ultimate space I'm working on for the IDS and, so far at least, things have been going in the right direction. Bev Hisey has come up with a brilliant prototype for something called a Butterfly Chair (there's a snap below of her playing around with the materials). All I can say right now is they're huge, cool and incredibly comfortable. Beyond that snap you'll see a couple of blurry cellphone shots of vintage furniture that is currently going from icky to spectacular at Beresford's, getting a lovely new coat of colour. McMaster by Para to be exact. Well, lol, that was the plan, until I went to actually buy them both and found that one had already sold. Blurgh. And it was that weirdly gorgeous vanity with the mirror. Double blurgh. These things are sent to try us, as someone so wisely said, so I found a pretty fair replacement. Honestly, that piece was so mine, and it was only $40 (I will now be kicking myself for the next while, and should really listen to my own rule of buy it when you see it).

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!

Inedibly gorgeous

I was explaining this morning how the Holidays are making me feel - Christmas is the iceberg and I am the Titanic. I guess I'm feeling a bit of seasonal stress, lol. It's been a busy week taping a CityLine - you can catch the show this coming Monday - shooting book covers in studio and one outdoors on location (in a very balmy -10C), plus gearing up even more for the Interior Design Show. Oh, and not to mention I have a pile of cards that have to be written, addressed, stamped and posted. Oy.

In the meantime this e-card popped into my in-box this morning and was too delicious not to share. Cupcakes, yes, but look closer and you'll realise they're all made of fabric (though I think I still got a sugar high looking at the shot). Maybe Lelievre, the swish French fabric house behind the shot, should get into the buttercream icing and baking business?

Shoot me now

I wore a suit three times last week, a change for me since I'm usually in jeans as well as being fairly grubby from lugging and schlepping. The snaps below, where you can see me on one of those rare occasions, are a behind the scenes peek at a shoot for the upcoming Interior Design Show. And that crew that I'm pictured with, other than being devilishly handsome, are all the folks that have been invited to create the design spaces at the IDS 10. Our theme is The Ultimate, so you can expect to see fabulously interesting/sexy/cool spaces created by myself, architect Drew Mandel, Jason MacIsaac of Ministry of the Interior, and Alessandro Munge and Sai Leung of the design firm Munge Leung who are working with nightclub and restaurant impresario Charles Khabouth of Ink Entertainment. It was a huge honour to be invited to take part and I'm still sketching, researching and refining the concept for my project, but as soon as I know more you'll be the first to hear! [Images: James Kachan]