designLIVE @ IDS08

designLive is the concept space at this year's Interior Design Show that was built in 3 days. Brian Gluckstein of CityLine, Allen Chan, Anwar Mukhayesh and Matt Davis otherwise known as The Designer Guys, Lynda Reeves of House & Home with Lynda Reeves, and Sarah Richardson of Design Inc., each converted 800 square feet into Good Living by following their collective 10 must-have elements:

1. Sustainability
2. Entertainment
3. Environment
4. Aspirational
5. Timelessness
6. Technology
7. Flexibility
8. Collaboration
9. Culture
10. Retreat

First up was Brian Gluckstein, whose space was inspired by the 30s and 40s. He used Deco-inspired furnishings and lined the walls of the second floor "library" with photographs of books.

The second space was by the Designer Guys, which I found rather ho-hum. The wow for me though, was the bathroom walls and its textured, readable text.

Lynda Reeves showed us a space that had hits of colour from ethnically inspired fabrics and accessories.

Last was Sarah Richardson's space which she called "My Country." Everything in the space is Canadian - she searched high and low for a tent manufacturer and finally found one made by an Inuit producer near the Arctic Circle; the upholstered furnishings were made in Toronto; the windows in Quebec; the towels made by the only Canadian manufacturer of towels, Cambridge Towels in Cambridge Ontario, etc.

In keeping with her commitment to be sustainable in her design, everything in her space save for the ramp for wheelchair accessibility was built modularly so it can be reused or recycled. (D'you notice her attempt to bring Apricot to the forefront?)