Feature Forecast: What's Happening at the Vancouver Home + Design Show!

It should come as no surprise that we can’t wait for fall - even with the gorgeous weather outside. Why, you ask? The Vancouver Home + Design Show, that’s why! We’re thrilled to announce exciting new features that are sure to capture your attention this October. To pump up the pre-show anticipation, we present you with the top 5 features at this year’s Vancouver Home + Design Show, happening October 16-19 at BC Place Stadium.

1. Urban Barn’s Next Top Designer: Reloaded

Back after a hugely successful inaugural year, three of Vancouver’s up-and-coming interior designers will go head-to-head in Urban Barn’s Next Top Designer: Reloaded. It’s the ultimate micro-management exercise: designing a 150 ft² space with $5,000 worth of Urban Barn furniture and accessories for display. Cast your vote at the Urban Barn booth and you could walk away with a $5,000 Urban Barn shopping spree! 

2. Ultimate Upcycling Challenge 3: ChairLIFT

Local media personalities, designers and tastemakers will each upcycle a pre-loved chair for silent auction, with 100% of proceeds benefitting Habitat for HumanityGreater Vancouver and its affiliated ReStores. Be sure to stop by and bid on your favourite stylish seat – but best keep close tabs on the action, or it could be lost to a higher bidder!

3. Vancouver Magazine Cooking Stage

Home cooks, take note. Catch well-known chefs, like Food Network’s Corbin Tomaszeski and local favourites, as they demonstrate top recipes and expert techniques live on stage! Plus, don’t miss the Samsung Cooking Challenge: Tag Team Kitchen, where three home cooks will partner with a top chef in a battle for culinary supremacy (not to mention $5,000 worth of Samsung home appliances for their kitchen).

4. BC Hydro Power Smart Home

Eco-lovers, rejoice! BC Hydro’s Power Smart Home is back by popular demand. Design darling Jennifer Scott from A Good Chick To Know will marry cool style and electricity conservation in this green-loving space. Learn how to stay chic and shrink your home’s carbon footprint at the same time – now that’s called sustainable style.

5. Floform Lounge presented by Western Living  

After a day of digging up design inspiration, you’ll need to recharge and study up on fall’s must-have home trends, courtesy of Western Living magazine. Enter the Floform Lounge, designed by Megan Baker from A Good Chick to Know. Located just steps away from the Metrie Main Stage, you can lay back and relax without missing any of the celebrity action – vino in hand, of course.

Join us this October for these exciting features (and much more!) at the Vancouver Home + Design Show. Remember to buy your tickets online now, for the best deals. 

Read More

Edmonton Home Show: Designer Jennifer Scott, A Good Chick to Know

We are so excited to have style expert and A Good Chick to Know’s Jennifer Scott present us with the hottest design trends of 2014 at Edmonton Home + Garden Show (March 20-23)!

A fabulous designer herself, Jennifer knows exactly how to make the most out of bringing a designer to your next home improvement project!

When it comes to hiring a designer, some clients might need help from the very beginning, but others might just need help achieving that extra wow factor in the decorating process.

“It really depends on the client and the project,” Jennifer writes. “Some people have every detail worked out to a tee during the reno phase and simply need consulting on ideas when it’s time to pull the whole look together.”

We all know hiring a designer isn't free, but did you know that bringing in a professional might actually save you money?

“Firstly, having a designer on your side can avoid potentially costly mistakes,” Jennifer writes. “Secondly, many shops will be more generous in their pricing with designers that they frequently work with, which could mean reduced pricing on some items for the client.”

A good designer/client relationship is key to a successful project. We all know that anyone can make a showroom look nice, but it takes a good designer to form connections and create spaces that fit each client’s individual tastes.

“Designing should be fun,” Jennifer writes. “Make sure those involved in your design process make you feel good!

Bringing her design expertise to Edmonton all the way from Vancouver, Jennifer is thrilled to get a glimpse of YEG’s design community!

___________________________________________________________

For more expert advice on having a successful relationship with your designer and to learn about the latest in design trends, you can see Jennifer Scott's presentations during the Edmonton Home + Garden Show, March 20 - 23 at the Edmonton Expo Centre.

MARCH 20 - 23

EDMONTON EXPO CENTRE

Read More

FEATURE FRIDAY: Preloved Living + Learning Lounge

Everything old is new again at the Preloved Living + Learning Lounge presented by BC Living at the Vancouver Home + Design Show. In less than a week you can learn how to tell a story with your space, thanks to this immersive interior design experience curated by A Good Chick to Know.

Catch design duo Jennifer Scott and Megan Baker of A Good Chick to Know at the show, and get the inside scoop on sourcing antique treasures and incorporating pre-loved pieces into any modern space. Find inspiration for your next interior design project by viewing pieces from the city’s most popular vintage shops and browsing replicas of some of design history’s most iconic chairs..

The Barcelona Chair, designed in 1929 by Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe, is one of the stylish seats to be featured. Originally created for the Barcelona Industrial Exposition as part of Van Der Rohe’s Weimar Republic’s Pavilion, these chairs were meant for the King and Queen of Spain. Today, these now-iconic chairs reproduced by Knoll, a furniture manufacturing retailer, still to Van Der Rohe’s exact specifications.

The Panton Chair, first designed by Vernner Panton in 1967, is as groundbreaking today as it was back then. At the time, plastic was a new, innovative material never before seen in furniture form. Verner’s goal was to use it to design a single-piece chair that would be at home anywhere. Today, one of the original Panton Chairs is displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York as an example of classic modern furniture design. Luckily for us, Vitra has been producing the chair continuously since its introduction in 1967.

For mid-century furniture lovers, the Ant Chair, designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1951, might be your favourite seat in The Preloved Living + Learning Lounge. Initially, the Ant Chair was designed using only three materials: teak wood, chrome legs and rubber feet. The scarcity of materials in Europe after World War Two forced designers to get creative with the materials they had available. Jacobsen pioneered the technique of bending a single piece of teak to create a seat, creating several similar designs that we still use today.

Learn more about design history, sustainability and how to incorporate pre-loved pieces into your modern home when the ladies of A Good Chick To Know take the HGTV Main Stage on Friday, Oct 18. at 2PM, Saturday, Oct 19. at 6PM and Sunday, Oct. 20 at 1PM. You can also find the ladies on Twitter or check out their website and blog for more interesting decorating tidbits.

Purchase your tickets online today and save $3 off regular adult admission. See you at the show!

Read More

How to turn ho-hum walls into eye-catching accents!

Don’t risk committing an interior design crime by leaving your walls blank forever! From shelving to decals to mirrors, there are countless ways to turn your walls into eye candy. Just follow these three simple tips from the experts appearing at the Vancouver Home + Design Show to turn your walls from snooze-worthy to stunning.

1. Magical Mirrors 

Mirrors automatically make a space appear bigger and brighter. Christine Friend, owner of the Friendly Decorator, believes you don’t always have to shell out big bucks for a great mirror to freshen up your home. She suggests stopping by Homesense to find a mirror that doubles as a piece of art and light reflector. Feel free to splurge on a large, ornate piece or opt for an assortment of smaller ones to group together.

Catch Christine on the HGTV Main Stage at the Vancouver Home + Design Show on Friday Oct. 18 at 3PM, Saturday Oct. 19 at 12PM and Sunday Oct. 20 at 3PM.

2. Paint Perfect

There’s more to an accent wall than decorative accessories. Annie Sloan, painter and author, believes a room can be transformed with a simple can paint. Choose a single surface as your feature wall, then select a colour that is different yet complimentary to the rest of the walls in the room, and go wild! Annie recommends a bold statement hue, such as bright blue.

Learn more from the painting expert when she appears on the HGTV Main Stage at the Vancouver Home + Design Show on Saturday Oct. 19 at 11AM and again at 5PM.

3. Wallpaper Whimsy

Design duo Jennifer Scott and Megan Baker, designers at A Good Chick To Know, tells all their clients to allocate a good portion of their budgets towards sofas, beds and wallpaper. Wallpaper is a great way to create a feature wall and incorporate home décor trends into a space. Plaid is the popular pattern du jour, try it in a muted hue to add interest to the wall behind your bed. If you aren’t ready to commit to wallpaper, try playing with wall decals instead. Most can be easily applied and removed, leaving you stress-free when you are ready for something new!

For more design tips, don’t miss Jennifer at the Vancouver Home + Design Show. She will be on the HGTV Main Stage with Megan on Friday Oct. 18 at 2PM, Saturday Oct. 19 at 6PM and Sunday Oct. 20 at 1PM.

What wall design trick will you be incorporating into your home?

FOR 2-FOR-1 TICKETS TO THE SHOW CLICK HERE & SAVE! 

Read More

ASK THE EXPERT: Design Duo, A Good Chick To Know

Jennifer Scott and her sidekick, Megan Baker, (AKA the interior design duo from A Good Chick to Know, are a mere weeks away from their BC Home + Garden Show debut! We recently sat down with the pair to talk shop and get some answers to our décor dilemmas.

Photo by Tracey Ayton Photography, Design by A Good Chick To Know

What was the first home design/improvement project you ever worked on? How did it turn out?

Megan: I told my mom I needed to stay home sick from school, when actually I was waiting for the chance to paint my room. It turned out bubble gum pink.

What design trends are you happy didn’t last?

Jennifer: Anything peach or dusty-rose – I’m a child of the 80s and am haunted by memories of everything from the wallpaper to the towel bars (holding the “display-not-to-actually-use” matching towels) in those colours.

Name one décor/home appliance item you think it’s ok to splurge on.

Jennifer: The sofa. Whether it’s vintage or brand-new luxury, spending money on the largest (and ideally most comfortable and well-used) item in your main living space is always worth it.

What’s the first step for any home project?

Megan: Check out what you have and love already. A lot of projects start with us editing client pieces to those that are the best examples of their personality.

What’s the one change a person can make to create the biggest design impact in a room?

Jennifer: My go-to for a cheap and cheerful update to any space is whitewashing the walls, and then adding a pop wallpaper as a feature. White is fresh, always chic and creates a gallery feel that allows a homeowner’s treasures to stand out.

Best app for design/renovation projects?

Megan: Spend Free. It’s a budget-tracking app that subtracts from your bottom line while you shop. There can be multiple budgets going at once and everything turns red when you’re getting near the limit.

Inspiration comes from everywhere. What’s the craziest thing that has inspired you?

Jennifer: I totally draw visual reference from all my experiences, but one project that that stands out is a display suite for Larco we designed as part of the BC’s Best Young Designer competition. The overall vision came from this one vintage orange lamp, picked up at a little shop on Main Street. The space was a blend of west coast warmth, graphic play and midcentury styling, complete with a bold orange and gold colour scheme. It’s still one of my favourite projects to date!

___________________________

Watch for Jennifer and Megan as they hit the HGTV Main StageThursday, February 21 at 5PM, Friday, February 22 at 5PM, and Sunday, February 23 at 4PM presented by BC Home & Garden Magazine.

 

Read More