Trends to Steal from the London Design Festival 2019
Which room is ‘the new kitchen’? Is the avocado bathroom really back? What’s new in green walls? Read on to find out
There were some really clear directions coming through at this year’s London Design Festival (LDF), the umbrella for a cluster of events taking place across the capital.
Comfortingly, sustainability* and recycling were big – and very stylish – news. There’s a surprising contender for the room we may most want to show off in 2020, some unexpected use of colour, and a mossy takeover. Wellbeing is also very much still on the radar, with gentle shapes, beautiful biophilia, and some high-tech feel-good lighting.
* Read more about the big theme of sustainability at this year’s design shows.
Comfortingly, sustainability* and recycling were big – and very stylish – news. There’s a surprising contender for the room we may most want to show off in 2020, some unexpected use of colour, and a mossy takeover. Wellbeing is also very much still on the radar, with gentle shapes, beautiful biophilia, and some high-tech feel-good lighting.
* Read more about the big theme of sustainability at this year’s design shows.
Blue bathrooms
Another kitchen trend crossover spied at the shows (in this instance, the London Design Fair) was the dark blue bathroom. Squint at this luxurious example by Drummonds and you could almost be in a Shaker-style cookspace with brass cup handles.
Note the bold walls, too, hinting at an even stronger look for bathing spaces.
Check out splashback ideas to complement a dark blue kitchen.
Another kitchen trend crossover spied at the shows (in this instance, the London Design Fair) was the dark blue bathroom. Squint at this luxurious example by Drummonds and you could almost be in a Shaker-style cookspace with brass cup handles.
Note the bold walls, too, hinting at an even stronger look for bathing spaces.
Check out splashback ideas to complement a dark blue kitchen.
Coloured sanitaryware
A final style development in the bathroom: the return of the avocado suite has been talked about in design circles for many years, but it seemed a long way from making a reappearance in people’s homes. That could be about to change…
This display by West One Bathrooms shows how coloured sanitaryware has had a seriously stylish upgrade.
A final style development in the bathroom: the return of the avocado suite has been talked about in design circles for many years, but it seemed a long way from making a reappearance in people’s homes. That could be about to change…
This display by West One Bathrooms shows how coloured sanitaryware has had a seriously stylish upgrade.
The display was one of several examples at the London Design Fair of muted, matt basins and loos in appealing shades of teal, charcoal and dusky pink.
This basin is a West One Bathrooms design.
Tempted? Find bathroom designers and fitters in your area in the Houzz Professionals Directory.
This basin is a West One Bathrooms design.
Tempted? Find bathroom designers and fitters in your area in the Houzz Professionals Directory.
Preserved green walls
Biophilic design (focusing on a connection to nature) is an overarching trend touching many of the ideas seen across this year’s London Design Festival. Here is just one example of the idea in practice.
Living walls have been popular for a while, but this new off-shoot – pardon the pun – is the preserved moss wall, seen here in an installation at 100% Design by the company Bright Green.
A preserved moss wall is natural, yet it doesn’t require the upkeep a living wall demands. (The moss is typically preserved by the use of a biodegradable preservative, so it won’t need watering.)
In tandem with green walls, there were lots of textured walls in general across the various LDF shows, from concrete to wood to textured handmade tiles.
Biophilic design (focusing on a connection to nature) is an overarching trend touching many of the ideas seen across this year’s London Design Festival. Here is just one example of the idea in practice.
Living walls have been popular for a while, but this new off-shoot – pardon the pun – is the preserved moss wall, seen here in an installation at 100% Design by the company Bright Green.
A preserved moss wall is natural, yet it doesn’t require the upkeep a living wall demands. (The moss is typically preserved by the use of a biodegradable preservative, so it won’t need watering.)
In tandem with green walls, there were lots of textured walls in general across the various LDF shows, from concrete to wood to textured handmade tiles.
Curves and natural materials in furniture design
Designer Tom Raffield was all over this idea back in 2016 and wooden curves have continued to grow as a trend, with soft lines and lots of gorgeous grains in abundance across the shows.
Designer Tom Raffield was all over this idea back in 2016 and wooden curves have continued to grow as a trend, with soft lines and lots of gorgeous grains in abundance across the shows.
The table lamp in the previous photo and this pendant, both at 100% Design, are by Lomas Furniture.
This sofa with a curved wooden back by Benchmark was also on display at 100% Design.
As well as tapping into feel-good biophilic design principles, soft profiles in seating also aim to boost wellbeing with their ergonomic shapes.
As well as tapping into feel-good biophilic design principles, soft profiles in seating also aim to boost wellbeing with their ergonomic shapes.
Brights
Amid the muted shades and natural shapes, there were flashes of bright colours and bold pattern.
LDF-led installations across the capital included vibrant in-your-face geometric designs on benches, bunting and planters in South Molton Street by Camille Walala; there was a new look for Wembley Park’s Spanish Steps, which Maser transformed into Saturation Surge, with neon yellow, pink and red shapes, and a neon Lion appeared in Trafalgar Square, courtesy of artist Es Devlin.
Doing its bit for colourfully clashing interiors was Haru, with amazing fluoro strips and stripes; Sonya Winner’s lively multi-coloured rugs; Morris & Co, who combined historic flora and fauna with neon-lit letters, and Safomasi Textiles (pictured), who clashed bold prints and big colours on cushions and upholstery.
Amid the muted shades and natural shapes, there were flashes of bright colours and bold pattern.
LDF-led installations across the capital included vibrant in-your-face geometric designs on benches, bunting and planters in South Molton Street by Camille Walala; there was a new look for Wembley Park’s Spanish Steps, which Maser transformed into Saturation Surge, with neon yellow, pink and red shapes, and a neon Lion appeared in Trafalgar Square, courtesy of artist Es Devlin.
Doing its bit for colourfully clashing interiors was Haru, with amazing fluoro strips and stripes; Sonya Winner’s lively multi-coloured rugs; Morris & Co, who combined historic flora and fauna with neon-lit letters, and Safomasi Textiles (pictured), who clashed bold prints and big colours on cushions and upholstery.
Lighting for wellbeing
Gone are the days when a ‘daylight lamp’ was a one-size-fits-all purchase. There were multiple examples of impressive developments in the replication of daylight on show across various events at the Festival.
Dyson has been working to create a light that can use GPS to pinpoint your exact location and recreate the light outside your window at any point during the day.
Luminus were showing off a design whose replication of natural light shifted during the day, from the cooler rays of early morning to warmer light later on.
At 100% Design, in a talk on Colour and Wellbeing, Jim Ashley-Down of Waldmann Lighting discussed biodynamic lighting that follows the body’s circadian rhythms.
Gone are the days when a ‘daylight lamp’ was a one-size-fits-all purchase. There were multiple examples of impressive developments in the replication of daylight on show across various events at the Festival.
Dyson has been working to create a light that can use GPS to pinpoint your exact location and recreate the light outside your window at any point during the day.
Luminus were showing off a design whose replication of natural light shifted during the day, from the cooler rays of early morning to warmer light later on.
At 100% Design, in a talk on Colour and Wellbeing, Jim Ashley-Down of Waldmann Lighting discussed biodynamic lighting that follows the body’s circadian rhythms.
Recycled materials
Mixed materials There were lots of mixed recycled materials at the shows, used for various products. Alusid Sustainable Surfaces (whose stand is pictured here) turns glass, ceramics and mineral waste into Silicastone, which can be used for everything from cladding to worktops and seating.
Plastic Last year, the reuse of plastic was Material of the Year at the London Design Fair and this year the theme continued. The striking slatted Jää bench by &New – made from recycled polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) plastic – was launched. In Design Fresh, at Designjunction, meanwhile, recycled plastic was used as a joining method.
Read more about exciting new uses for recycled plastic in our round-up of sustainable design at LDF.
Mixed materials There were lots of mixed recycled materials at the shows, used for various products. Alusid Sustainable Surfaces (whose stand is pictured here) turns glass, ceramics and mineral waste into Silicastone, which can be used for everything from cladding to worktops and seating.
Plastic Last year, the reuse of plastic was Material of the Year at the London Design Fair and this year the theme continued. The striking slatted Jää bench by &New – made from recycled polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) plastic – was launched. In Design Fresh, at Designjunction, meanwhile, recycled plastic was used as a joining method.
Read more about exciting new uses for recycled plastic in our round-up of sustainable design at LDF.
Accessories Recycling was in evidence on a smaller scale, too. Textile artist Heather Orr was showing her handmade lamps (pictured) at the Design Fair, all made from discarded shades, stripped back and macraméd with various materials, including recycled cotton cord tipped with reclaimed wooden beads.
Tell us…
Which of these trends could you see in your own home? Let us know in the Comments section.
Tell us…
Which of these trends could you see in your own home? Let us know in the Comments section.
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Spotted at 100% Design was this spectacular bathing space by Porter Bathroom. There’s a trend brewing for bathroom design that’s as considered as contemporary kitchen design and as inviting as a bedroom.
In other words, designers are tapping into a desire for a bathing space homeowners can show off and, more importantly, retreat to for some quality relaxation time.