Showroom Makeover

Earlier this year I taught a decorating class for graduating students at La Cité Collégiale. Since the objective of the course was to decorate commercial spaces, I thought it would be fun if I could find them real clients with real projects to work on. And I did! Andrew from Custom Home Interiors and Christine from Tripp Photography volunteered their spaces.

On a recent trip to CHI's showroom, I noticed that the space my students worked on for their project was under construction. CHI's owners were really happy with the design suggestions, so on top of rewarding the winning design, they decided to go ahead and implement a good portion of the changes proposed by the winning student.



The photo above shows how the showroom looked at the time my students were assigned their project. The client wanted to use that room to showcase flooring, window treatments and paint.

The winning concept makes use of the floor in the showroom to showcase some of the flooring available in the showroom.



It will be interesting to see the final result... more to come soon.

Style intern winner

And the winner is Ryan Louis from Scarborough, ON. (Congratulations Ryan!). Ryan has won the opportunity to experience the downtown Toronto lifestyle, living in a cool loft as well as the opportunity to work along side of House and Home staff, learning about magazine publishing, lifestyle branding, marketing and advertising. Ryan also has an interesting blog updated weekly, where he shares his experience at the office and in his temporary home.

There's some interesting things to learn from his blog on how things are done in a publishing company. I didn't know they had a merchandising room for magazine. Then again, it makes sense when you think about all the little setups they have to put together. I'm looking forward to learn more about how things are done there.

House and Home merchandising room
Photo: Ryan Louis

Another interesting part (at least for me) is anything related to his current loft and the various design problems that need a solution. The latest one is the lack of light in the sleeping area and the inconvenient art/headboard. He was looking for something simple that would be relatively easy to install.

Loft sleeping area
Photo:Ryan Louis

A possible solution would be to use wall lights such as the Kryssbo (one on each side of the bed) or a series of Orgel lamps from IKEA above the bed.

Orgel wall lamp

Kryssbo wall lamp

That wall seems like it could use some tall art as well...

2009 Ottawa Urban Design Awards

I am happy to have recently discovered the Ottawa Urban Design Award in which the city encourages design excellence and innovation by honoring the people who made a difference in the capital.

The winners from the previous competition were:

Urban Infill Category

• 700 Sussex (Award of Excellence)
• 100 Murray (Award of Merit)
• 131 Queen Street (Award of Merit)

700 Sussex (photo : Alan Fleming Real Estate)

Public Spaces and Civic Spaces Category

• Corktown Footbridge (Award of Excellence)
• Lakeridge Square (Award of Merit)

Corktown Footbridge (photo : Ullysse)

Urban Element Category

• Confederation Boulevard Urban Furnishing (Award of Merit)

Confederation Boulevard Urban Furnishing (photo : City of Ottawa)

Special Jury Award Category

• Preston Square

Preston Square (photo : City of Ottawa)

Student Project Category

• Bikevine (Award of Excellence)
• International Congress Center (Award of Merit)
• Re-imaging the Rockcliffe Airbase
• Schlinoffitel

Bikevine (photo : unleashedlive)

In order to participate, your project must have been built between September 1, 2007 and September 1, 2009. The winning projects must :

• Demonstrate design and architectural excellence
• Demonstrate clear urban design intent
• Contribute to the wider appreciation of urban design
• Demonstrate a positive contribution to the public realm / quality of place
• Contribute to the city’s environmental and ecological health (e.g. LEED designation)
• Connect to their locality
• Be important to pedestrian and liveability issues
• Be innovative and trend setting
• Be open to transformation

The competition is open to urban designers, planners, landscape architects, architects, engineers, developers, contractors, consultants, owners, students and the general public who have contributed to Ottawa’s urban landscape.

All types of publicly visible/accessible urban development projects are eligible :

• Parks and Open Spaces
• Buildings (Residential, Mixed-use, Recreational, Commercial, Institutional and Industrial)
• Civic Structures
• Building Additions and Exterior Renovations
• Public Utilities
• Street Improvements
• Adaptive Reuse

Submissions must be delivered by 4 p.m. on August 20, 2009

I'm looking forward to see what Ottawa has to offer this year!

Style intern search… Time to vote!

Remember the paid internship opportunity of a lifetime? Three semi-finalists have now been selected and it's now time for you to vote for your favorite intern.



Will it be Ryan Louis from Scarborough, ON? Marti Bogue from Ottawa, ON? Or Reiko Caron from Montreal, QC?

Check out their profile online. You have until May 22 to cast your vote.

-----------------------
Calling all Canadians! Vote for your favourite Summer Style Intern candidate

WHAT: Samsung Electronics Canada and House & Home Media — two of Canada’s most innovative companies — have selected three semi-finalists in their search for a Summer Style Intern. After receiving hundreds of applications, a judging panel consisting of House & Home Media and Samsung employees narrowed down the applications to three semi-finalists who exhibit a flare for media, design and technology.

Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite applicant; one of the three people listed below will be offered a summer internship position with both companies. The intern will learn all facets of magazine publishing, lifestyle branding, marketing and advertising.

The successful applicant will also be put up in a fully-furnished, all expenses paid suite in a trendy Toronto neighbourhood, including an incredible line-up of Samsung products. The intern will be featured in a Canadian House & Home Magazine advertorial, which will highlight their intern experience, and share weekly blog posts at Houseandhome.com.

WHO: The three semi-finalists are:
Marti Bogue, a student at Mount Royal College in Calgary in the Applied Communications program in Public Relations.
Reiko Caron, a student at Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto in the Industrial Design program.
Ryan Louis, a student at The University of Western Ontario in the Media, Information and Technoculture program.

WHEN: Voting is open to the public until May 22, 2009.

WHERE: View finalists’ submissions and vote online at www.houseandhome.com/innovate.