Every year, Vancouver welcomes a variety of design shows, and the BC Home + Garden Show has long been one of the city’s top attractions, offering international celebrity speakers, creative exhibits and useful tips for stylish living on a budget.
This year I feel like the show has set the stage to offer the most unique event for show-goers yet. Looking at the lineup, it’s all about maximizing what you have and creating the most efficient living space possible within your home.
There are a number of highlights in particular that I’ll be queuing up to see, from fellow designers and expert speakers to the various show homes that have been designed to spark our creativity. Perhaps my most anticipated feature of this year’s show, though, is the HONOMOBO Container Laneway Home. As a homeowner, juggling what laneway housing options we have available, I am beyond excited to see that HONOMOBO has changed up the game and brought a whole new playing field to Vancouverites looking to create small space living in their backyards. In complete contrast to traditional design and builds for laneway houses, HONOMOBO uses shipping containers to create efficient, modular and moveable dwellings that are high on style. They also appeal to those with time constraints, shifting the typical construction process from months to weeks.
Revolutionizing the concept of simple living, HONOMOBO has teamed up with Kendall Ansell Interiors to showcase the beauty in simplicity of small space living. “Small space design is something we specialize in and are so familiar with given the current market trends in Greater Vancouver,” explains Kendall, principal and founder of Kendall Ansell Interiors. “We love how beautiful, modern, and seamless the HONOMOBO design is, and we are proud to be interior-designing this container home. This project really allowed us to integrate our design philosophy of considering substance and lifestyle at the forefront of the design process, and showing off that even the smallest spaces can be both stylish and functional”
Other show features that are on my must-see list begin with the celebrity guest speakers hitting the Main Stage (which happens to be furnished by one of my favourite stops for fab finds, The Living Lab). While the show welcomes home regular attractions like Bryan Baeumler, Carson Arthur and Mike Holmes Jr., I feel like there is a fresh energy with the inclusion of international design darling, Tiffany Pratt, who is set to share the importance of colour in design with her Vancouver audience.
I’m also looking forward to the BC Hydro Smart House, where local star Jamie Banfield is designing the ultimate in stylish, energy-efficient living.
The BC Home + Garden Show runs Feb. 22-26 at BC Place Stadium (777 Pacific Blvd.). bchomeandgardenshow.com
