This weekend, for the first time, the annual Home and Remodeling Decorating Show was held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.
The show’s owner/producer, Sylvia Andersen, told the Mirror, the show decided to come to Santa Monica because they wanted more of a “community feel.” She helps determine the mix of vendors for her shows by considering what would be appropriate for the audience she is trying to reach. When it came to Santa Monica her choices reflected that Santa Monica is known as a sustainable city. She also made an effort to include local vendors as part of the show’s vendor mix so the residents of Santa Monica and other nearby beach cities could “feel this is our show.”
Andersen has been involved with the show for 28 of its 35 years of existence. She mentioned that it hasn’t been that great “for consumer shows in this economy” and she hopes that when the economy improves she will be able to continue to have shows in Santa Monica and have shows again at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
All the vendor space for the Santa Monica show sold out and Andersen is hoping that when the show returns to the city for the weekend of June 26 and 27 it will expand to the auditorium’s parking lot and green spaces.
This year’s show offered something for everybody especially those who are interested in making their homes greener. One of the exhibitors was E-Waste Solutions which was started by Andy and Onya Sussoev after they learned that materials in the environment caused their son’s congenital heart condition. Their mission according to their website is “to provide you with reliable information regarding the latest changes to the law and regulations that will affect your Electronic Waste stream and assist you in a productive recycling program.” Electronic waste consists of computers, laptops, monitors, printers, fax machines, televisions, and other electronic equipment. Andy Sussoev wants to start a program “to go into schools to show off the technology of the past” that he collects. He emphasized that “a little bit of effort (by recycling) will help future generations” have a more habitable planet.
Stephan C. Winterrowd from CeraPro Painters is located in Santa Monica and can help those who want to paint their homes with paints that contain no volatile organic compounds (VOCs). He explained to the Mirror that Los Angeles County requires that all paint sold here in gallon sizes have low levels of VOCs but if one wants to paint without VOCs they must use paints that use colorants without VOCs. He also mentioned that his company will be “donating a portion of their 2011 revenue to the Santa Monica Boys and Girls Club” to help needy families pay for their children’s memberships at the club.
Another vendor of interest, Round The Clock, Incorporated, uses canine dogs to help detect bed bugs. The advantage of using dogs is they are quicker and more accurate than traditional bed bug detection methods and therefore are less costly to use.
Further information about the show can be found at www.thehomeshow.com.
