by Christine Donnelly

I don’t know much about interior design. I am the proud owner of a portrait of Rodney Dangerfield; a dignified line drawing in pink. It hangs in my bedroom. Big wall. Small portrait. It prompted a friend to ask with love/concern, if the art I own ‘came with the house’. So maybe I was the wrong person to score tickets to the Interior Design Show’s launch party.
Regardless I was there last night in heels. Confused by the centerpieces in the Ikea booth (yellow onions and garlic bulbs… what happened to lemons?). Surprised by the sheer volume of interior fire accents – which for me, would make it very hard to relax in the living room.
Featuring 300 exhibitors, including design talks and seminars, the IDS is open to the public this weekend. If you’ve got three-alarm design problems, The Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (ARIDO) offers visitors free 15 minute talks with a qualified designer – so come prepared with pictures, samples and floor plans.
I have already signed up for the Contemporary Design Trends workshop on Sunday which will be lead by Jason MacIsaac, owner of Ministry of the Interior. He’s the man who stands between me and the most incredible Jielde desk lamps imported from France. I have visited those lamps in his store for more than a year now: petting them, coveting them, putting them back on the shelf. And even after seeing hundreds of lamp options at the IDS, from an illuminated head of David to industrial lamps reinvented by Diesel, I still want the Jielde.
So in the end, the sea of options at IDS taught me my first great lesson of interior design: editing.

Buy tickets online $17 or $20 at the door
Workshops on Saturday and Sunday are $35 and include admission to the show

Photos: Ikea’s Onions and Garlic, an interior fire, one of the OCAD student submissions, silver elephant.