Furnishings picked by experts in design

People who visit a demonstration home like to visualize it as theirs. They can’t do this effectively in empty rooms.

With this in mind, Trend House sponsors have arranged to boost the impact on visitors to their Western Wood demonstration home by equipping them with the best furnishings available in Canada.

To make this possible, the T. Eaton Company Canada Limited who will furnish the 10 Trend Houses has established a basic policy that furnishings will be selected from the Canadian Design Index wherever possible, the sponsors announced.

What is the Canadian Design Index? It is a catalog of Canadian products picked by design experts assigned by the national art gallery. It’s a sort of Academy Award of the manufacturing business. Product selected by these experts are worthy of recognition range widely from tiny horns for bicycles too handsome dining room tables.

Housing experts across Canada agree that the uses of Western Woods in the 1954 Trend House will set people talking about wood in homes as they never have before. By dressing the projects up with what’s new in furnishings, the sponsors hope to give the visittors an additional topic of conversation about the Trend House.

The present selection committee for the design index comprises: L.A.C Panton, principle, Ontario College of Art, Toronto: H.S.M Carver, chairman research committee, Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Ottawa; Jack Luck, designer, Aluminum Laboratories Ltd., Kingston, Ont.; John Ensor, designer, Design-Craft, Toronto: and Dr. J.J. Green, Defence Research Board, Department of National Defence, Ottawa.

Before any product wins their indoor station, they must say yes to the following questions about it:

1. is the form suitable to the functions of the object this implies further that the object be both comfortable and easy to handle?

2. Is there a harmonious relationship of all the parts? This implies that no part or section be over emphasized or dramaticized at the expense of the object as a whole?

3. Is the design as simple as it can be? This also implies the absence of any attempts to add unnecessary material in order to give a false appearance of solidity or streamlining.

4. Is the use of texture and color both honest and logical in relation to the material used in the function of the object?

5. Is it mechanically efficient?

6. Is the material used a suitable one in regard to the function of the object in the manufacturing processes used?

7. Is it firmly constructed and durable and safe?

8. Has ease of maintenance and repair been considered?

Most of the Trend House furnishings will have passed this test with flying colors. Thus BC’s forest industries are leaving no stone unturned in their endeavor to show Canadians every aspect of modern living in the Trend House they’re sponsoring.