/Get Inspired/Editors' Picks

TO DO Fest, Day 3: Hot Hot Fire Tools, Masterful Makers and Ghostly Lighting

Everything we saw and loved during day three of Toronto’s action-packed week of design events


dl-0117-events-dllovestag2All throughout the Toronto Design Offsite Festival, our editors are on the hunt for spectacular products and installations. From January 16 to 22, we’re awarding 100 Designlines Loves tags to the most beautiful, most innovative, and downright coolest stuff we encounter.

Below is the third batch of designs that caught our eye. Keep track of everything we tagged in our master list.


DL-TODO2017-Day3-Mjolk-5

That Is Best Which Works Best: Shaker-Style Sensations

Timeless designs inspired by the pure, functional forms of the classic design movement.

 DL-TODO2017-Day3-Mjolk-2 DL-TODO2017-Day3-Mjolk-3

Junction boutique Mjölk continues to add to its line of exclusive homewares envisioned in collaboration with top international talent. This year’s collection introduces Shaker-inspired designs that look simultaneously contemporary and quaint, displayed amongst a selection of authentic Shaker objects that chart the aesthetic’s evolution.

Portable, by Hallgeir Homstvedt, is a handsome desktop organizer. The toolbox’s knob-like handle mimics a drawer pull on a Shaker chest of drawers. Easy to grip, its oversized proportions beckon from afar and make it hard to resist picking the crate up. Available in oak and walnut.

Equally handsome is a set of locally manufactured fire tools by EQ3 creative director Thom Fougere (from Winnipeg). Two versions of the manufactured-in-Toronto brass set are available: blackened brass with dark wood and polished brass with blond wood.

Free, Mjölk, 165 John St
Jan 16-22


 DL-TODO2017-Day3-Gerhard-3

The Junction: Showcasing Masterful Makers

Neighbourhood menswear boutiques, apothecaries and more host in-store displays spotlighting the work of skilled artisans.

 DL-TODO2017-Day3-Earnshaw-2 DL-TODO2017-Day3-Gerhard-4

We first featured the work of Heidi Earnshaw in 2010 and even then we were behind the times. Heidi’s craftsmanship is too much to boil down into a blurb. See why by visiting her bureau, coffee table and bench at Gerhard Supply‘s Dessing Room. Also on display is Heidi’s home accessory line and a new menswear collection by 18 Waits.

  DL-TODO2017-Day3-Vases-1 DL-TODO2017-Day3-Quills-1

• Adørn: Objects for Better Living: Harbourfront Centre resident and Umbra alum Jade Dumrath draws upon her Danish heritage to create a serene, Scandi-style collection of vases, serving platters and other home objects meant to be enjoyed during large family gatherings. Each one is an elegant pairing of wood and metal. Perfect for stepping up your hygge game.

• Ojibway Quillwork: An exhibition by First Nations art gallery G’zaagin Art Gallery presents quill boxes made from sweetgrass, birch bark and porcupine quills using traditional techniques passed down through five generations. The display effectively represents the respect paid to the environment while harvesting these materials, the care and skill put into each box, and the beautiful end results.

 DL-TODO2017-Day3-PetFurni-1 DL-TODO2017-Day3-Pekota-3

• Pet Furniture: At Helen + Hildegard, Michael Fohring’s cheeky stools set velvet cushions on animal-like legs, playing with the idea that pieces of furniture have their own personality and often get treated like members of the family.

• Industrial Elegance: Pekota’s window display charts the manufacturer’s evolution through the years. The installation includes the store’s first chair, a range of best-sellers and prototypes, plus a brand new design – a modular upholstered armchair named Vektor made of hand-finished, hot rolled steel, Baltic Birch ply braces and adjustable cow-hide seat.

Free, Dundas West between Keele St and Quebec Ave
Jan 16-22
DL-TODO2017-Day3-Vaporware-3

• Vaporware: A sweet reprise from fake news, tweet rants and trolling, Kaley Flowers’ cheeky ceramic bowls, vases and incense holders at Likely General are a reminder of simpler times.

Free, 389 Roncesvalles Avenue
Jan 16-22


DL-TODO2017-Day3-Lightform-1

Partisans Gweilo Launch: Let There Be Light

The mad scientists behind one of the city’s hottest architecture firms live-form sculptural lights on site.

 DL-TODO2017-Day3-Lightform-3 DL-TODO2017-Day3-Lightform-4

After first introducing the Gweilo light as a prototype almost three years ago, Partisans is now launching a family of the fixtures – available in both desktop and floorlamp-sized models – available exclusively through LightForm. The lighting showroom fêted its new offering with a party that included live on-site demos of how the lights are made.

Partisans co-founder Alex Josephson heated sheets of clear acrylic to nearly 400 degrees, then bent the pliable plastic into lights that cool to look like glowing waterfalls. For an in-depth look into the production process, watch Azure’s recent behind-the-scenes video detailing the production. More live fabrication will be taking place during the studio’s Partisans Factory display during the Interior Design Show.

267 Niagara Street
Jan 18


You may also like