2012 Showhome Blogger Event

On September 6th, House & Home hosted an event at the 2012 Princess Margaret Showhome, inviting local design bloggers and members of the design community for an exclusive sneak peek of this year’s Oakville, Ont., home.

The backyard was packed and ready for entertaining with live music, food and drinks.

H&H’s Mark Challen gave welcoming remarks in the showhome’s stunning backyard. We couldn’t have asked for better weather.

To start things off, guests put their business cards in a jar and we drew for a TV donated by LG Canada (Thanks, LG!). There’s Maia Roffey, who worked on this year’s showhome design team, drawing the winner of the giveaway, and Margot Austin watching over. Who won, you ask?

Aleksandra Oleksak a.k.a. Realty Queen TO! She got to take home a 47″ 3-D Smart TV from LG Canada with six pairs of 3-D glasses. Can we come visit you, Aleksandra? So jealous.

The event was a great opportunity for us to meet local bloggers. Here’s Sundeep Sandhu of Designwali and Sharalee Mushore of Escapade — both have special projects coming up on houseandhome.com soon! Can’t wait to share them.

Vanessa Francis of Decor Happy, Tim Lam of Design Maze, his friend Michelle, and decorator Christine Da Costa also came out — all so friendly.

Donna Ragona of Ideas to Inspire and Wendy Hicken of Desire to Decorate were also in attendance. How does Wendy feel about the home? “Offering plenty of swoon worthy elements, this house brings together the best of rustic / modern / sleek / industrial decor and does it in a way that feels comfortable,” she writes in her blog.

And here’s Terri Emo and Maham Malik of Baroque Inc. (Have you noticed how well-dressed everyone was? Stunning!)

Also in the backyard enjoying a glass of sparkling wine, Daintry Popp and Regina Sturrock of Regina Sturrock Design.

Let’s not forget the talented members of our showhome design team — project manager Antonio Bellusci and designers Maia Roffey and Jenna Cadieux.

It was lovely chatting with Emily-Jane Hayes of Not A House, But A Home, and her guest Gary Tsim, discussing the various elements of the home.

Inside the kitchen, I caught up with Pamela Graham of Cherish Toronto and Lisa Mackay of Wicked & Weird. (Lisa wrote quite an entertaining post on the home, too.)

Just outside the living room, I met with Jessica Kelly of Jessica Kelly Design, Jennifer Flores of Rambling Renovators and Meg Cassidy of Milk and Cotton. Loving the vibrant colour choices, ladies.

At the end of the night, we got one more photo with Aleksandra, the lucky TV winner, and Renee Elliot of Re: Creative.

Also at the event, bloggers Jennifer, Meg, Jessica, Sundeep and Sharalee shared their favourite parts of the home with The Help Conquer Cancer Blog, who put together this video.

Thanks to everyone who came out and for spreading the word about the home. Also, a special thanks to Joe Fresh for providing us with goodies for our gift bags!

Did anyone else notice how perfect this home is for entertaining? It could be yours: Order your tickets for the Princess Margaret Welcome Home Sweepstakes before they sell out. (Last year they sold out early!) Get your tickets before midnight, October 4th, and you could win a trip around the world or take home over $31,000 in cash. Find out more at helpconquercancer.ca.

Photo credits:
Seema Persaud