Home and décor trends come and go, but how is one to know what’s new, what colours are in vogue or what products are the best to use? Whether you are building, renovating, buying or selling your home, make your way to the 46th Annual BC Home + Garden Show 2017 at BC Place Stadium from February 22 to 26. You are sure to glean all the information you need to create that space that you always wanted.
“The BC Home + Garden Show is the most-trusted resource and longest-running home show in Western Canada,” says Tyson Kidd, manager BC Home + Garden Show. “We have been able to provide the consumers of British Columbia (and beyond) a forum where they can shop, compare and save with over 400 companies who offer every service you can imagine for your home renovation or outdoor project. Plus, we have great names at the show – always a treat to visit with one of these fellas.”
This year features a lot of new firsts for the long-running design show, including the DIY Enthusiast’s Dream Workshop, The Telus Future Home and Spring Clean, showcasing laundry spaces past and present.
Every year, the show draws between 55,000 and 60,000 visitors over its five-day run. Many attend learn about the newest spring trends in home and garden decor, from renovation gurus such as: Bryan Baeumler, host of hit HGTV shows Disaster DIY, Canada’s Handyman Challenge, Leave it to Bryan and House of Bryan; Carson Arthur, landscape designer and host of HGTV’s Critical Listing, Green Force, Room to Grow and Home To Win; and Mike Holmes Jr. of Holmes + Holmes.
Kidd is also excited to welcome “the most unique container home I’ve ever experienced” to the show – designed and built by HONOMOBO, interior-designed by Kendall Ansell Interiors and landscaped by Blue Pine Enterprises. “The ‘H04’ is a 704-square-foot two-bedroom unit that just screams innovation, with full thermal insulation and solar photovoltaic set-up [which if installed would] make the home… completely net positive,” adds Kidd. “These repurposed shipping containers are truly the laneway homes that Vancouver needs, in the quest to be the greenest city on the planet.”
REW asked Carson Arthur and Mike Holmes Jr., as well as HGTV and City TV’s Cityline host and author Tiffany Pratt, to give us the inside scoop on their best decorating, renovation or home-building tips ahead of their upcoming show presentations.
Carson Arthur
- Outdoor vertical walls: When it comes to decorating small outdoor spaces such as patios and balconies, think vertical. Living walls not only maximize space, they are a great way to grow herbs and vegetables.
- The value of curb appeal: A beautifully designed and maintained landscape can increase the value of your home by seven to eight per cent. If you allow your landscaping to get overgrown, it gives prospective buyers the impression that the inside of your home will be the same.
- Don’t overdo plants: Less is more. If you have too many plants it makes your landscaping look intimidating. Besides, how many of us have time to care and maintain large, overflowing garden beds?
- Low-maintenance backyard: Focus on creating livable space. With housing prices over the roof, maximizing living space, i.e. patios and decks, helps increase your home’s value. People want low-maintenance … they are typically too busy to be mowing a big lawn every week.
Mike Holmes Jr.
- What is inside your walls is key: It’s not sexy and frankly no one wants to spend a lot of money on what you can’t see, but building healthier, better constructed homes starts there. Use the best possible products and materials. It’s what you don’t see that can harm you.
- Metal roofs: A metal roof is better for the environment and will last longer than asphalt. Because of its longer shelf-life, it is cheaper in the long run.
- Prioritize your wish list: If you are on a budget, whether it’s a dream kitchen of spa bathroom, buy the best products/materials you can afford because you will then love that space for years to come.
- Recommended new products: SilveRboard foam insulation. I insulated my home with this thermal insulation, which is coated with a layer reflective lamination on both sides. It provides built-in moisture and air barriers which eliminates the need for house wrap.AndDitra-Heat-TB is another fantastic new product. It is an in-floor heating system that allows the heat to go to the tiles rather than heat the concrete.
Tiffany Pratt
- Mix vintage and modern, such as refinishing old wooden floors with a high gloss speckled apoxy. This approach has really informed a lot of my decisions as of recently when it comes to transformation. Spaces do not always need to be stripped to the studs. A great look has traces of history. A great look feels like it has happened over time.
- Décor mistakes: Often people follow trends or accomplish too many trendy moments in one space that do not speak to each other. I always tell my clients that everything in a home, space or a room needs a buddy. As long as there is something that connects to something else, the eye has a place to dance around.
- Add colour: To integrate a splash of colour into a space, always start with something simple like a door colour, a throw or pillows. Then you can migrate to walls and patterns. The most important thing is to use and integrate colours that speak to you and make you feel happy and joyful.
- Stick with what you love: During the show, I will be speaking about the rainbow and how colour and following your heart and sticking to what you love can bring beauty into your life in every way.
REW has 10 pairs of tickets to the BC Home + Garden show available to win in our prize draw. For more details and to enter, click here.
For more information and to buy tickets to the 46th annual BC Home + Garden Show, running February 22 to 26 at BC Place Stadium, visit www.bchomeandgardenshow.com.
