Dinner by Design / IDS Vancouver 2016

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

My friends of Kalu Interiors were asked to be a part of this amazing event this year and asked if I could help. I quickly answered, "yes!" before they could even finish asking.

Who is Kalu Interiors? Partners, Aleem Kassam and Phyllis Lui met while attending The Art Institute of Vancouver. While they both have very individually unique styles and sensibilities for design, the pair share an undeniable passion for interior design. It is this passion that has led them to understand the importance of personal style and space for their clients’ homes. Inspiring, beautiful, inspirational, unique, individual – all qualities they feel an environment should reflect.

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Our tablescape will take guests on a journey where nothing is as it seems...Inspired by the

forest and eccentricity, thoughtful yet incompatible furnishings are paired with elegance

to set the stage for what will be a Mad Dinner Party. Small nuances throughout the space hint

to a whimsical world beyond where guests will get lost in the magic of our Wonderland.

Kalu and I worked quite closely from early brainstorming, sourcing the perfect chairs to the final execution(s). These 'perfect chairs' were most definitely a labour of love. We were able to find previously loved chairs on Craigslist and in vintage shops which we added our personal touch to. With quite a few spray paint cans later and some feathery fingers, we had our one-of-a-kind eclectic chairs - the disapproving ostrich, shaggy highland cow and my personal favourite, the gold feathery one.

Each of the ten settings were different from each other with a charger and matching saying. For example, the Queen of Hearts shaped charger had 'off with her head' placed as a place setting / napkin holder.

Dinner by Design Dinner Gala

SEPTEMBER 16, 2016 - HARBOUR EVENT CENTRE, VANCOUVER BC