Ottawa Fall Home Show: Weekend full of great advice, inspiration and entertainment

Be a judge. Get inspired. Tour a model home. Find the renovation product or service that’s right for you — there’s a ton on offer at this year’s Ottawa Fall Home Show.

If there’s a renovation in your future, if you’re looking for great advice, or if you simply want to be entertained, you can find it at the EY Centre Sept. 26 to 29.

Headlining the show is HGTV celebrity contractor Bryan Baeumler, who always delights with his down-to-earth, off-the-cuff stories and behind-the-scenes looks at his very public family and enterprises.

This time he’s taking a break from the Bahamian island resort hotel he and wife Sarah have been restoring for the past year and a half and which has been the subject of the HGTV series Island of Bryan. Season 1 followed their ups and many downs in the first year and ended with things very much in the air.

Season 2 is coming in January but in the meantime, Baeumler will bring audiences up to date on how the massive project is going and whether or not they’re likely to make their scheduled Nov. 1 grand opening — a year later than they originally hoped.

Catching up with him at his Toronto-area home earlier this month as Hurricane Dorian was battering the Bahamas, he admits that “it was almost over in the last couple of days.” He was fortunate that the hurricane shifted north and his Caerula Mar resort suffered no damage, but he certainly felt for those caught in the storm’s path. “It’s a terrifying event.”

His talks at the home show — he appears at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27 and at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28 — are also expected to include tips on renovation strategy and getting through one without stressing out too much; green technology and building and where the real value is in our home and what we should be focusing on; questions from the audience; as well as to “get everybody laughing a bit.”

Baeumler is one of several speakers throughout the weekend. Here’s a snapshot of some of the other talks and key features at this year’s show:

Getting organized

Professional organizer Kathy McEwan of Second Set of Hands was hugely popular when she first appeared at the spring home show. She’s back again and will share her top 10 tips to organize your home and simplify your life.

“A lot of people don’t have the skills to be organized and stay organized. My goal is to help them with those skills so that they can learn to do it on their own,” she says. Her aim is to give folks tips they can start using right away, like how to deal with the paperwork that comes into your home. “That’s a struggle for a lot of people.”

Loving your home

Decorator Sue Pitchforth of Decor Therapy Plus returns with a talk on how to learn to love your home again.

“For many people, they don’t understand why they don’t love their home,” she says. It might be the way the furniture is placed or simply having too many things.

“Little changes have a huge impact,” she says, noting that often the fixes don’t need to be expensive. She’ll have plenty of examples to illustrate how easily things can be changed. “If (the audience) can walk away inspired or even just take one idea… It’s really just to let them know they’re not alone.”

Discovering Feng Shui

Feng Shui master and practitioner Maggie Huang of specialty shop East Wind will introduce visitors to the concept of the energy wheel and how to use it in your home.

Under Feng Shui, which is an ancient Chinese belief that the way your house is built or the way that you arrange objects affects your success, health and happiness, every kind of energy belongs to one of five elements — wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

“I’m going to introduce the five elements, the name of it and what they mean to the home,” Huang explains. She will also hold smaller workshops that will be able to give visitors a more personalized summary for their home.

Working with your footprint

Bigger isn’t necessarily better when it comes to renovations, says designer Emma Doucet, who is the owner of renovation firm Grassroots Design+Build.

“A lot of people assume that if they don’t like their space they need to do an addition.” She finds that’s particularly common with inner-city homes she’s often working on. But, much of the time, customizing the interior footprint of your home will often give you interesting space without having to expand — and at far less cost, she says.

“By using innovative solutions around the existing footprint of your house, you’re usually saving money, you’re creating something interesting and you’re downsizing your ecological footprint while not compromising on the design.”

Her talk will combine her love of smaller spaces with how you can be mindful of the environment to create spaces that are beautiful and functional.

Also at the show

You be the judge: Cast your vote for the Ottawa Citizen People’s Choice Award. Choose from among 14 finalists determined through preliminary rounds of voting in renovations, custom and production homes, kitchens, bathrooms and more. The entries are all part of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association Housing Design Awards. You can also see all entries (and get inspired) at the association’s booth.

Tour a model home: Bonneville Homes unveils its latest factory-built home at the show. Called Natur-Evo, the 1,008-square-foot home is designed so that a walkout basement and second floor can be easily added.

Art for Habitat: Bid on local art up for auction at Falling for Ottawa, a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity Greater Ottawa. At least 10 local artists have donated their artwork for the cause, with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to the charity.

Sample some wine: KIN Vineyards makes its first appearance at the home show with a wine garden where you can sample the locally grown wine.

Seniors can take advantage of a two-for-one admittance price on Sept. 26 and public servants get in free on Sept. 27 with a valid government ID.

“This year’s Ottawa Fall Home Show will be the best fall edition in history,” says show manager Robert Johnstone, who adds that there’s a 15 per cent increase in exhibitor participation over last year. “Advice, tips and tricks for a wide variety of home projects, big and small, will be in no short supply.”

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