Blog

We’re back! And we’ve been busy…

Hi Everyone!

We have been busy and so remiss in keeping you up to date! The last few months have been a blur… It seems this year we are really changing with the season and have an armful of exciting projects to share. In a nutshell: we have relocated our office to a great new space; I am moving after 20 years in my home and am currently renovating my new place before we settle in; Brooke and I developed an installation for Dinner x Design in Vancouver, then MOVED the entire dining room to the Interior Design Show at the Vancouver Convention Centre; in addition to putting plans in motion for more curated Pop-Up shops and continuing our design work… now exhale!

We promise to cover all the details, but for now we want to share our Dinner x Design project, an exciting dining room display that we hope will serve as inspiration for your next dinner party, perhaps that Canadian Thanksgiving table…

Dinner by Design “…bring(s) together internationally celebrated designers and local talent to create three-dimensional dining installations that awe, inspire, and delight. These extraordinary dining environments – from lavish and romantic to the outrageous and whimsical—set the stage for two days of fun and fascination.”

We devised a proposal based on a theme of “Vancouverism”— thinking about what it would look like if artisans and makers from all over the city got together to throw a dinner party and how they would express what it is to be from Vancouver. We were selected to participate and started to design our Vancouver dining experience!

Details of our tablescape at Dinner x Design

We truly were spoilt for choice with so many rich visual cross currents flowing through our gorgeous waterfront city; we focused on showcasing stunning Coastal art, distinctive Asian influences, and our proud lineage of West Coast Modernism that we tied together with a common thread of sustainability and green design. In Vancouver this is definitely more than a trend and is a source of local pride as we strive to become the world’s Greenest City.

Botany Living succulents are combined with a driftwood find from Heather Ross to create a collaborative centerpiece

Beautiful materials and craftsmanship featuring the work of Gabrielle Burke, Stefanie Dueck, Kate Duncan, and Joue designs

This incredible chandelier was created by Gabrielle Burke of G Ceramics

The idea of ‘Vancouverism’ started as a set of local design principles that arose from our city’s unique approach to human-centered urbanism. These ideas quickly moved from experiment to expertise and have become so successful they are exported globally as examples for other cities to follow.

Building on these principles, Designers Collective is expanding on this idea of a unique Vancouver approach to design by extending our city’s inclusive humanism into the realm of interiors, furniture design, art, and artisanry. For Dinner x Design our Collective was privileged to be able to curate examples of our best local makers, designers, artists, and resources in bringing together this first fully “Vancouverist” design collaboration.

Cheese knives made by Stefanie Dueck

The Raven carved by Todd Wells + Robert Barratt

This gorgeous triptych of Vancouver’s Cherry Blossom Trees is by Artist Lauren Morris

To have all these diverse elements come together in such a complementary form, bound by a shared love of our distinct west coast environment, is a true Vancouver experience. We love to showcase and celebrate the immense talent in our city and all the bespoke items in our installation are available for purchase.

Meet Our Makers:

Sophia De Mello and Corinne Isherwood of Botany Living – Succulent Arrangements
Brett Riekert – Bespoke Dining Table.
Gabrielle Burke of G Ceramics – Ceramic chandelier, ceramic dinner plates, and ceramic chargers.
Heather Ross of The Natural Eclectic – Accessories. Contact Heather directly at her shop, 2170 Fir Street
Alison Chan Kent + Cindy Yu of  JoueDesign – Napkins and Textiles,
Kate Duncan – Wood Chargers/Trays.
Lauren Morris – Cherry Blossom Painting, triptych 3 panels of 3’ x 7’
Stefanie Dueck – Flatware and Serving Pieces by Chopsticks: $40-$50; Salad Servers in pairs for $210-$295, Cheese knives $85, Bowls $60, Olive Fork and spoon $55.
Todd Wells + Robert Barratt – Coastal Carvings: Contact artists directly at 778-835-3327