10 Things We Like About IDS 2026

 by Allan Tong 

       January in Toronto means the annual Interior Design Show and freezing temperatures. One of these is fun. The former takes place January 22-25 at the north end of the MTCC (Metro Toronto Convention Centre) downtown in a vast space that houses more than 250 exhibitors of anything to do with home furnishing. 

    We're talking sofa, sinks, beds, wall units, flooring, lights, bathtubs, chairs and more, with an eye to the future. The Next Great Design. Exhibitors include Miele, Roche Bobois, Teknion, Cosentino, Anatolia and House of Rohl. If you want to redesign your living room, this is the place. A futuristic bathroom? Voila. If you want to hear the latest trends, catch the panels that jam the schedule from January 23-25. Meanwhile, professionals have 25 sessions about the design industry to choose in the conference program.

     So, what did we like this year? 

 

 

1) The Opening Night Party: Let's stat with the opening bash. About 6,000 souls jammed the convention floor to check out the exhibits as dance music pulsating and bartenders poured. The $67-72 ticket included wine, some beer and, if you're lucky, champagne that were offered by various exhibitors. The show itself tabled some snacks. Recent opening parties were light on food and drink, but there was a noticeable uptick this year with even pizza offered, and vast tables of red, white and rose spread out. Neither were seen in past years. This is good. However, partygoers had to arrive before 9:00 pm (the party ran from 7:00 to 11:00 pm) to enjoy of these freebies.

 

 

2 & 3) Jade Sofa & Brutalist End Table: Potocco gives us Hanne Willmann's sofa (above), part of the Jade collection of sofas and tables. I like the eye-catching organic shape. This sofa is part of a modular collection of nine units. You could add to it this Brutalist End Table, designed by Alain van Havre, made by Ethnicraft. The contrast is striking, but works.

4) Peaks Sofa: Speaking of contrast, Moooi presents the Peaks Sofa by Yves Béhar (below). Its angular, modular design stands above the rest. Some may be put off, while others will be enchanted by this gathering of dual-foam triangles that fold up or down. I like the versality: shift and shape these triangles as you like. The sofa is crafted in weatherproof Vetta fabric, so it can be used inside or out.

 

5) Orly Lights: Something unusual, and playing on the organic shape of the jade Sofa are these custom lights by this Toronto designer. Call them glowing teardrops or giant earrings, these look cool. Are they suitable for every home? No, but if you want something funky and different, these will literally lighten your space.

 

 

6) Disk: Designed by Sacha Lakic and made by Roche Bobois, Disk is a graphic shelving unit, inspired by the colour palette of Pedro Almodóvar's films, Volver and The Room Next Door and modeled after stained glass. Beautiful.

 

7) Molo: Presented by Alumcomplete, Molo is an example of the custom units that this Montreal company designs. As a bibliophile, I like the sleek look of this piece, the smooth, sliding doors and the near-invisible glass doors that can show off a book collection or sculptures or house audio components or all the above.

8) Creations Oasis: What can I say? I'm drawn to organic forms this year at IDS like these benches that evoke ocean waves.

 

 

9) Mooi: File under WTF? This room, including sofas, wallpaper and flooring evoked memories of a bad acid trip and I recoiled in horror. So, why the hell did I go back to this exhibit? There is something perversely attractive here. Oddly enough, the makers of this room also gave us the Peaks Sofa (described above).

 

 

10) Keynote speakers: A highlight every year is the vast schedule of keynote speeches and panels, mostly eying the future of design, and many offering tips for various parts of the home. This year, there's an accent on AI and its impact on the design industry. It's easy to catch these speakers at the centre of the MTCC floor. Enjoy! 

 

IDS 2025: brass, salmon and wood

 

Toronto's hip and beautiful braved the polar vortex last night to party at IDS, the annual Interior Design Show, which showcases the world of furnishings and anything pretty that belongs in a home. IDS takes place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre's north building, next to the CN Tower, and runs January 23-26.

 As usual, the first two days, January 23-24, are devoted to the design industry, then the weekend, January 25-26, is open to the public.If you're looking for a new way to design your bathroom, this is the place. If you want to see the latest in tables, chairs and entire kitchens, this will inspire you. Vendors, mostly Canadian and some from abroad, such as Buzzispace, abound. Heavy hitters Cosentino, Ateliers Jacob and House of Rohl return. 

Meanwhile, IDS continues to showcase new talent though the LIV Design Studio. This year's challenge is for students to design a lobby that encourages social interaction, yet allows comfort, adaptability and inclusivity. The top three designs will be experienced through AR augmented reality). For the latest in home design, explore The District for the industry's latest products.

Running through the end of Feb. 24 are a total of 22 accredited seminars that touch on the latest trends, case studies and issues in interior design.The key themes this year are AI and decarbonization.

The splashy opening night party, open to all, catered to professionals for networking, amid nibbles of pizza and glasses of pinot grigio. Toronto painter Tatjana Hutinec found IDS "a great way to meet professionals in design to help promote my work." Others not directly in the business, however, chose to stay home. A realtor cited the limited free food and drink as not enough to justify the $67-and up ticket price. And the -12C chill didn't help.

Those who braved the cold were rewarded a showcase of more than 220 vendors spanning the size of three football fields. It was a great idea to have Big Smoke Brass, serenading partygoers as they marched up and down the aisles until they took to the centre stage to warm up the crowd before the dance party. guests dressed in their finery, with black leather pants common as they are every year.

Toronto's Anatolia sponsored the opening night. To be fair, their array of Turkish-influenced mosaic tiles caught the eye, as explained by lead designer Basak Duman:

Vendors competed for eyeballs, and what better way than to invite a celeb chef Mark McEwen who prepared some delish salmon poke for Signature Design Suite:

The unusual and innovative also capture attention, such as wood-inspired weightlifting room by SDI Design:

 

Then there are Inspira's showers and tubs (top picture). The Montreal company can print high-res images onto shower walls and doors and bathtubs. Choose an image from their extensive catalogue or supply them one. You could be bathing with Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie.

IDS kicks off design weekend in Toronto

 

ARD Outdoor

Story and photos by Allan Tong

The Interior Design Show opened last night with a party to interrupt the cold snap gripping Toronto. Occupying the northern end of the massive Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the IDS (as it's commonly known) kicked off with flutes of champagne and canopes amid booths and booths of the latest in home furnishings, bathtubs, lighting, wooden floors, ceramic tiles, and even cabins. 

The annual design show runs through Sunday, January 21 with Friday being Professional Development Day aimed at industry folk. Highlights include a keynote by Marva Griffin at 2:00-3:00pm. Griffin is the founded Salone Satellite, the renowned showcase of young designers. She will discuss her unusual career path and how the industry has evolved over the last quarter century. Following her will be Oskar Zieta at 4:00pm speaking about his innovative, inflated metal furniture and Poland’s role in the European design industry.

Saturday and Sunday are open to the public. The line-up:

Saturday 11am-12 noon: Safoura Zahedi (Architect, Interdisciplinary Artist, Educator and Geometry Expert), Beverley Horii (Managing Director and Principal, IA Interior Architects), and Tatiana Soldatova (Principal, Syllable) will be imagining the impact of technology, wellness and culture on the interiors of the (near) future.

Saturday 1-2pm: Tura Cousins Wilson (Studio of Contemporary Architecture), Chad Burton (Fashion Editor and Product Stylist), and Krisette Santamaria (Industrial Designer, Krisette Santamaria Designs) answer the question: Multifunctional, multigenerational, multiuse and multiunit spaces pack in all the needs of modern life, but how do you create a multifaceted living space that still feels cohesive and represents your sense of style? 

Saturday 3-4pm Michael Murphy (Vice President, Fogo Island Workshop & Design), Janet Langdon (Textile Designer), and Ernst Hupel (Partner, 2H Interior Design) will reflect on the design legacy of the innovative Fogo Island Inn off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Sunday 11am-12pm will see Brian Gluckstein dispensing his best design advice and predictions for 2024. Following him will be Christiane Lemieux discussing her collections at retail, books and online store as both an entrepreneur and designer. Also, she will offer tips on how she creates a minimalist, nurturing retreat. At 3pm, Aly Velji will reflect on his collaborations with Urban Barn and Rollout. Questions are welcome from the public.

 Of course, there are the exhibitors. Here's what caught our eye:

Kissing Chair by Alison Postma

Ruums repurposes this 160-square-foot cargo container into a painting or musical studio or as  a dwelling that's situated in your backyard. They'll walk through all the city permits and installing plumbing, if needed.

Lighting by Feelux

Wine flowed at Vicostone

Paint isn't just for walls, says Sherwin-Williams

Montauk Sofa

Roche Bobois

ARD Outdoor

Non-alcohol cocktails by Seedlip were popular

WOODca Design offered an example of cool wooden dwellings at this year's IDS, like this sauna

Of course, there are sinks at IDS, this sleek one by Facileklean

OCH Works

McKae Imaging's backlit canvases

Stylish sinks and faucets, indeed

Coffee's other use by Krisette Sanatamaria

For more coverage including videos, find us on Instagram at chinokino_to

IDS returns to Toronto with a bash

Christina Sideris

Toronto's Interior Design Show returns to January's cultural calendars after a hiatus (for obvious reasons) and following last year's IDS taking place in April right after lockdown. It felt great for IDS to be back, launching last night with their traditional opening party and running through Sunday, January 22 in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre's south building. Yesterday, saw the start of trade days full of speakers waxing about all things beautiful yet functional in the home. Though home sales are slumping, Canadians will continue to renovate their houses, condos and apartments, so the industry outlook is positive for 2023.

Thursday's opening soiree saw some booth, such as Miele's, pouring wine and champagne to invite visitors to inspect kitchen spaces, living rooms sets and luxury showers. There were at least three food stations scattered throughout the hockey-arena-sized space. The most popular offered vegetarian Chinese noodles (it's the Year of the Rabbit on Sunday), though another supplied just chips. There was more food in previous years, some noted, though the crowds of the chicly dressed and fashionably groomed adored the atmosphere, particularly around the Caesarstone stage where a DJ spun beats.

Trade Days continue today (Friday) at 4:30 pm with a keynote at the Caesarstone stage about designing the new Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, featuring Jordan Bennett, Shirley Blumberg of KPMB, Omar Gandhi of Omar Gandhi Architect in a conversation moderated by Elizabeth Pagliacolo of AZURE Magazine.

Saturday from 11:00 am to noon sees Mexican designer Fernando Laposse focus on global warming and the loss of biodiversity. He will explain how to use materials like corn leaves and loofah to build more sustainable spaces. Other panels took place throughoput the weekend, including speakers Kelly Reynolds and Chad Falkenberg from Falken Reynolds of Vancouver), Daej Hamilton of Toronto's Daej Designs, Toronto) and Treana Peake Founder of OBAKKI who will also speak about sustainability.

Tickets are available from $19-25 here. A reminder that IDS takes place in the *south* building of MTCC.

 

 

 

EQ3

Guild Design Gallery

Miele

 

 

Puppy Stools (yes, dogs) by Hojeong Ji

Rubi

 

Seedlip: not everything poured last night was alcohol

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