Great outdoors!

Outdoor living

With warmer weather finally upon us, we find ourselves dreaming of the great outdoors — hosting pool parties, barbecues and family gatherings on hot summer days and long into the warm summer nights. Celebrating the everyday is something we can all focus on while enjoying time outside, and that includes arranging our outdoor spaces, large or small, in an esthetically pleasing and functional way.

We hope all of the tips and suggestions in these pages will get your inner chef and social persona fired up, while our inspiring gardening ideas and aspiring landscaping designs provide food for thought for your own summer reno dreams. We have even included a fabulous contest collaboration with Mark and Ben Cullen, the Canadian gurus of gardening, for three lucky readers to win a signed gardening book.

For summer inspiration, check out our home decor pages to see how easy it can be to add a touch of seasonal warmth into your interior spaces.

With the success of our recent colourful booth at this year’s Interior Design Show Toronto, I want to share with you some of my favourite show highlights from this leading industry event (See page 38). The show’s theme was New Futures, indicative not only of the vision for a strong global show reflective of future design trends, but also as a catalyst to open bright new futures to the design industry in Canada and beyond. It was tough to choose only a few highlights, as Canadian talent is ample and impressive.

I hope our vibrant summer issue filled with expert design tips, advice and gardening assistance from the pros brings you joy as you flip through the pages. To get you started, below I have compiled an array of summer-inspired decor items that are sure to help you make the most of the sunny season and celebrate all that this beautiful time of year has to offer.