Big name – little effort

Yesterday we took friends of ours and went to “Home and Design show” that took place in CE Centre, here in Ottawa. One word – disappointment.
As first time home owners and self-renovators, we expected something little more inspirational. The whole event seemed like a “get together” of a very few (could have been more) local retailers. And don’t get me wrong, we are very supportive of local businesses, but come on, this is a “design” show: do we really need to look at same old granite samples, windows, roof shingles and massage chairs? Don’t think so.
We could have easily found those retailers in local listings, not at an annual design show (paid admission + parking).
It would have been more fascinating to see craftsmanship of different woodworkers, furniture makers, designer textiles, etc. with more life-like installations, products, rather than printed brochures.

There were few vendors that grabbed our attention. “Handwerk” was one of them. They specialize in custom cabinetry for kitchens, media centres, closets and home offices.
Even though, right now we cannot afford the quality products they offer (that dining table was around $3000), it was inspiring to learn about their business and craftsmanship behind their work.

I was also moved by huge hot tubs right in the middle of the show. I’ve never seen one this close, not to mention sat in one, so it was quite exciting to see how ginormous those babies are!