Here’s your October Home Show update … Some of my colleagues are attending the Vancouver Home Interior Design show next weekend happening from October 16th to the 19th.  With my current foray into home decor, I would have loved to check it out - hopefully going beyond just mirrors & throw pillows.  Of course the first thing I checked out on their website was who were the celebrities.  Among those making an appearance are Janette Ewan (who I missed unfortunately last time at the Toronto Show) a great candidate to learn some fashionable decor tips from, and HGTV show hosts Kelly Deck of “Take It Outside” and Wendy Russell of “She’s Crafty”.

Another passion of mine, cooking & entertaining, is highlighted at a whole Food Stage area where some top local chefs demonstrate the gamut from Southern barbecue to Japanese fusion.  It’s not surprising since what goes better in hand with showing off your cool and modern home then via a dinner party where one can wow one’s guests with some foodie expertise. (ps. Torontonion foodists can look forward to November’s Food and Wine Show.)

There is of course, also a Green Stage which is great because we could all stand to learn about how we can make some simple switches here and there in our lifestyles, which, fingers crossed will accumulate to create a difference.

Closer to my neck of the woods is the Markham Fall Homeshow which starts this Friday at the Markham Fairgrounds. Readers of the Style at Home magazine may wish to check out their first annual show, also held this weekend at the Toronto Exhibition Place, Direct Energy Center.

For details on other shows this month, including many occurring Stateside such one in: Salt Lake City, West Palm Beach, and Atlanta visit our Home Show section for summaries and links to their websites.

It was almost too beautiful a weekend to spend indoors, however, I was still able to check out the Fall Home Show at the Better Living Center building in Exhibition place this past weekend.  Highlights included the moment a sales rep approached a kitchen brand booth to inquire whether their large advert outside was indeed of Kenny Rogers - answer: No, it was Ronnie Hawkins - and the serial killer jokes that ensued after an audience member during Mag Ruffman’s talk on a particular green cleaner was most concerned about whether it could get blood stains out.

My photos of the home show part one and part two are up on photoshare for those who might be interested.

Mag Ruffman was on air yesterday on 97.3 fm EZ rock radio previewing her upcoming appearance at this weekend’s Toronto Fall Home Show at Exhibition Place.  Download or listen to Mag Ruffman on the EZ rock show segment as she chats about the secret to a good night’s sleep and mentions some of her favorite green product picks.

It’s hard to believe that summer has gone by so quickly and it’s already time to start thinking about ways to warm up our homes.  Well, there’s more than one way of thinking when it comes to that.  Yes, insulation, duct cleaning, leaf raking might be what immediately comes to mind, but Fall is also the perfect opportunity to find other ways to bring warmth into the home.  Where to find some such ideas?  Home Shows of course.

And there are a plethora of them coming this month.  One I’ll be sure to check out in my neck of the woods is the Toronto Fall Home Show from September 18th to 21st at the Better Living Center, Exhibition place (Tickets are $12 for an adult). (Gee, I hope I can get those Tiny Tom donuts).  Other than checking out some cool gadgets, home luxuries, and the like, there are some fun and interesting demonstrations and shows.  As my furniture is all Ikea, one show I’ll be sure to check out is “interior design and lifestyle expert” Janette Ewen’s “Do-It-Yourself High-End Looks for Next to Nothing”.  I’m also excited about some of the cooking demonstrations - mmm, award winning chef, Christopher Ennew’s Spa food - because what’s more homespun than home cookin’?

Some of the other September 2008 Canadian home shows that weekend of the 18th to the 21st are: the Ottawa Capital Fall Home Show from September 18-21 (only $10 for unlimited re-entry), Victoria, B.C.’s 2008 Fall Home Show featuring Colin and Justin of HGTV’s “How Not To Decorate”, and the Calgary Home & Interior Design Show’s own multiple HGTV hosts.

Stateside, there are undoubtabely a bunch, like the Orlando Home Show Sept. 19th -21st boasting Ty Pennington of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (new season starts Sept. 27th) fame as their spokesperson, but who’s not on the actual agenda.  On the 26th - 28th there’s the Remodeling & Home Decor Show in Washington, D. C with a line-up of celebrity shows et al. and also a Dog Docks event.  That’s right, Dog Docks, the sporting event of dock jumping, where doggies compete for greatest distance or height jumper.

Sounds like Home Shows have a little something for everyone.

(Photo of Jannette Ewan from www.fallhomeshow.com)