The annual June WOW!house event at the Design Centre Chelsea Harbour is an exhibition with a difference. Aimed at residential and commercial interior designers, together with prime and super-prime residential homeowners seeking inspiration for their next interior refurbishment, the WOW!house is comprised of 22 adjoining room sets, each designed by a different interior design or architectural team. The ticket-only showcase is fast becoming a must-visit part of the London season, and this year, it was a feast for the senses.
As a Winchester-based business specialising in kitchens and fitted furniture for all rooms in the home, we were heartened by a number of key trend inspirations at the WOW!house that we at Searle & Taylor have been championing for some time. However, there was so much to take away, not just in terms of furniture styles, but colours, patterns, textures, shapes and innovative technologies, with an over-arching theme of comfort, sumptuousness and escapism.
Here are some trend takeaways from this year's WOW!house that we loved, some of which we are already designing in kitchen and furniture projects, and some that we will doubtless see in the future when we are working in collaboration with architects and interior designers. Oh, and it's worth noting that the day we visited was the hottest June day ever recorded in London – official!
Darren Taylor, managing director of Searle & Taylor in the Lalique Home Bar by Elicyon
There were curves and arches aplenty at the WOW!house. There were circular rooms, curved pediments, curved follies. There was arched bar shelving in curved recesses and entire curved rooms plus a circular deep circular sofa. There was a circular sauna bath and plenty of curved banquettes, more of which later. The Lalique home bar by Elicyon (a mega-wow room) featured a curved mirrored background, a horseshoe-shaped bar, round counter stools and it was accessed via an archway. Curved furniture is difficult to create, and curved pediments need to be carefully measured to fit into a specific space. At Searle & Taylor we are specialists in designing and making bespoke curved and circular furniture and we have been advocating this trend for many years.
A Classic Bespoke kitchen by Searle & Taylor with curved pediments over tall cabinetry
The Paris Powder Room by Studio Mark Andrew
This home bar designed and made by Searle & Taylor features an on-trend reeded walnut front
An L-shaped banquette seat in the Benjamin Moore Minhwa Salon
Comfortable and space-saving banquette seating has been a mainstay of premium kitchens for the past five years, possibly longer, and the Martin Moore kitchen did not disappoint in this respect. However, its appearance in a number of other rooms at the WOW!house clearly indicates that this trend is here for good. We saw a sumptuous deep cushion banquette in a home bar snug along with an L-shaped corner version in the Benjamin Moore Minhwa Salon by New York-based Korean designer, Young Huh, which was an exceptionally colourful story of Korean folk art within a playful modern design. At Searle & Taylor we design and specify banquette seating for many of our clients, often as part of cabinetry, and we also have a curved banquette on display at our showroom in Winchester.
A neutral curved banquette designed and made by Searle & Taylor as part of a whole home refurbishment
A media wall with Tewke touchscreen inserted behind the shower in the Samuel Heath Primary Bathroom by Rigby & Rigby
Media walls are the future of smart technology for the home and we look forward to designing a kitchen that features one. We even have an eye on one for the lower ground floor of our showroom, so watch this space.
There is no image with this trend, because it was everywhere at the WOW!house, but it was completely concealed. We have to highlight it, because it was the hottest day of the year when we visited, and yet, it was as cool as a cucumber inside the expo. Well done to Calibre Climate air conditioning, which made the day so much more comfortable and whose representatives we met during our visit. Smart integrated climate technology for the home is on the rise, and, at Searle & Taylor we have the ability to incorporate every type of smart technology in our kitchen and home refurbishment projects at the planning and design stages. We also offer full project management and can liaise with all trades during your home improvement journey.
Searle & Taylor has been designing and creating beautiful traditional bespoke and contemporary kitchens for clients since 1991.
