Get out and enjoy the backyard

COEUR d’ALENE — It’s beginning to look a bit like spring.

Those wishing away the winter blues can get a taste of greenery, patio living and more at the North Idaho Home and Garden Show starting at noon today.

“It’s a great place to come out and see different vendors, especially all the different aspects of construction,” said Joey Hughes, owner of Hybrid Home Builders. “Home and garden stuff, it’s a great place to go for that because you see a lot of different ideas and innovative stuff normally you don’t find anywhere else.”

Hughes said he’s done several home and trade shows in the past, but this is the first time he’s come to the North Idaho show with his new business, which is only a couple years old.

Hybrid Home Builders is based in Post Falls and Spokane Valley. Hughes set up his booth at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds on Thursday, featuring insulated concrete forms, a styrofoam form with rebar that will later be filled with concrete. Hughes said they use them to build everything from houses to commercial buildings, warehouses, retail centers, hotels, apartments, pools and more.

“Pretty much anything you imagine you can build with a Lego, as a smaller scale, you can build with one of these,” Hughes said. “They’re pretty much limitless as far as what you can do with them.”

In a separate building, Cassidy Waters and Sergio Fletes set up window displays for a booth for Renewal by Anderson, a full frame window, door replacement company focusing on existing structures.

Waters said they talk to people who have already bought a home and are looking to replace the windows or patio doors. She said they are able to find potential customers during the shows and find them to be very successful.

“Being a part of the community is really a big part of our culture,” Waters said. “Any way that we can figure out a way to be more customer facing in their communities is a big deal for us, so (shows are) a really great way to do that.”

Other exhibits include Smokey the Bear, kids activities put on by Professional Women in Building, an indoor/outdoor exhibit that features a lot of different fire pits, and a mini house.

Exhibits are in buildings No. 1, 2, 3, 7 and 19. Each building has a different featured area including a New Leaf Nursery display in building No. 3.

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” said Emily Bradley, executive director for the NIBCA. “It gets you really excited to be outside.”

North Idaho Home and Garden Show is presented by the North Idaho Building Contractors Association.

Bradley said the event is an opportunity for NIBCA members to come out and show their work to the community. For community members, the event is a chance to meet professionals in pretty much any area of home, building and remodeling so they can hire professionals, take away ideas and get expert advice.

“If they're planning for the future, it’s great to grab their information and save it for later,” Bradley said.

The event is held at the fairgrounds from noon to 6 p.m. today, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 4. p.m. on Sunday.

Tickets are $6 online or $7 at the door. Kids 10 and younger are free. Tickets are $5 with the donation of a non-perishable food item.