It’s September and when it comes to those involved in the renovation and refurbishment side of Alberta’s home business, the living is busy as consumers put summer holidays behind them and dust off plans for home upgrades.

All of which makes this the perfect month for high-end ware-fairs such as Edmonton and Calgary’s home and interior design shows.

This year marks the 20th annual Calgary Home & Interior Design Show, set for September 16-19 at the Roundup Centre. Meanwhile, the first Edmonton Home & Interior Design Show throws open its doors today (Thursday, September 2) at the Northland Agricom.

Building on Calgary’s success, the Edmonton show will feature some of the city’s top interior design firms and high-end products from appliances and furnishings, to flooring, windows and doors, says Lisa Mackintosh of dmg world media. Dmg, an international exhibition and publishing company with an office in Calgary, produces both shows as well as similar events in Vancouver and Houston.

Photo courtesy of Home Theatre FX
Personnel work on Home Theatre’s Calgary Star Wars display, designed to impress the most reluctant show-goer.

The fall shows are about half the size of their spring cousins, the Edmonton and Calgary home and garden shows, which are also produced by dmg.

But the fall events target a higher-end product and what Mackintosh describes as a hipper, more urban, clientele. The Calgary show, for example, “is only half as big in the fall, but more money is spent.”

Kimberlee Stewart of Kimberlee’s Decorating Ltd. knows exactly why her company jumped at the chance to design a featured bedroom exhibit for Edmonton’s inaugural show. In a business where most of your clientele finds its way to your door via referrals, it’s who you know – and who knows you – that keeps that door swinging open, says Stewart.

Kimberlee’s Decorating is one of four Edmonton design firms participating in what the show is calling the Mood Swings exhibit. The bedroom she designed for the Edmonton event showcases the mood ‘intoxicating,’ and is designed around an Indian theme. It includes furniture by McElheran Fine Furniture.

Aly Velji, an in-store interior decorator with Calgary’s Buhran Gallery, says Buhran has been at the Calgary Home & Interior Design Show since the company opened its doors three years ago. This year, the gallery, which specializes in Asian antiques, will have an exhibit and be part of Calgary’s Mood Swings showcase with a dining room display designed around the theme ‘intrigue.’

While most of the 25,000 people who visit the Calgary show are consumers, Velji says it’s also a good place to liaise with the city’s interior decorating and design professionals, some of whom are already buying Buhran’s exclusive pieces to use in the homes they decorate for homeowners or stage for showhome builders.

Stewart expects some realtors who use interior decorators to help stage showhomes and resales will also attend the show looking for ideas and contacts. Her company already works with half a dozen Edmonton realtors who recommend her to clients who want help decorating a newly purchased home.

The fall shows are also a good place to launch a new company’s product in the marketplace, says Patti Dorin, who manages the Calgary show for dmg. She says this year’s show features a Star Wars home theatre that’s designed to impress the most reluctant (read: male) show-goer.

Dan Benson of Home Theatre FX of Calgary pegs the cost of his Star Wars display at somewhere around $150,000. The display, which will be moved to the company’s store on Macleod Trail after the show, “is going to be spectacular,” he says.

Benson, who’s been around the home theatre business for many years, says his newest venture takes the enterprise to a whole new level in terms of custom-made home theatres. And as far as he’s concerned, the Calgary Home & Interior Design Show is the ideal place to formally launch the concept. (The company is also designing an Oscar-style theatre for one of Precision Homes’ newest luxury custom showhomes. It’s opening later this month and can be viewed by appointment only).

Mackintosh says the Star Wars theatre is a good fit with the show. “The No. 1 thing that people are looking for is what’s new.”

This year’s Calgary event is expected to host just over 300 exhibitors. Edmonton, for its first Home & Interior Design Show, will feature about 200, “so we’re pretty happy with that,” says Mackintosh.

“And of course we bring in the hottest celebrities we can get our hands on,” adds Dorin.

This year’s lineup, for both cities, includes Vern Yip, of NBC’s Design Intervention; Nik Manojlovich, host of Savoir Faire on HGTV; Sarah Richardson, host of Room Service on HGTV; Karl Lohnes, host of Stylish Solutions on HGTV’s hit series, This Small Space; and Ned Bell, co-host of Cook Like a Chef on the Food Network.

Web watch:
www.edmontonhomeshow.com
www.calgaryhomeshow.com

(Joy Gregory can be reached at joy@businessedge.ca)