The annual WOW!house returned to London’s Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, opening to the public on June 2 and running through July 2. This curated showhouse gathers designers and sponsors to transform full-size rooms and outdoor areas, presenting a concentrated view of current home trends and material innovation. A portion of ticket sales supports United in Design, a charity creating career pathways into interior design.
What follows is a room-by-room tour of the most compelling interventions — eleven distinct design moments that both celebrate craft and offer practical inspiration for translating bold ideas into everyday interiors.
Bold color and textured layers
Several spaces at the showhouse leaned into saturated finishes and layered textiles to create immersive atmospheres. In the Garden Folly Room, Studio Enass wrapped the walls in Phillip Jeffries’ Amalfi Silk and introduced arabesque tiles by Ca’ Pietra, tasselled soft furnishings, and bohemian glass pendants by Gladee Lighting. The effect is an emotionally resonant den that demonstrates how patterned layering and tactile trimmings produce a sense of escape.
Similarly, Young Huh’s Minhwa Salon, executed with Benjamin Moore finishes, showcased lacquered walls inset with 55 painted boxes referencing historical miniatures. The high-gloss treatment in colors like Galapagos Turquoise and Jade Garden asserts that lacquer and architectural color-blocking are useful tools for creating joyful, contemporary interiors.
Takeaway
Adopt one saturated surface—be it a lacquered niche, a painted ceiling, or a statement wallcovering—and balance it with areas of negative space to maintain visual calm while maximizing impact.
Structures, concealment, and soft architecture
The showhouse presented several approaches to shaping space beyond simple paint and furniture. Albion Nord installed an octagonal drawing room inspired by Georgian precedents, complete with a domed skylight and hand-painted alcoves, to argue for rooms designed for conversation rather than screens. Martin Kemp Design used suspended fabric panels and asymmetric seating to create a cocooning parlor that reveals comforts gradually.
Concealment featured as a luxury strategy. Studio Duggan’s speakeasy salon hides a bar behind patterned wallcovering and deploys theatrical curtains to create intimacy. Russell Sage Studio’s Momentarium teamed audio-visual systems from L-Acoustics and Sony with Fromental’s acoustically transparent curtains and Crestron integration so technology recedes and atmosphere leads.
Takeaway
Think of soft architecture—fabric screens, curtain walls, and draped canopies—as non-permanent ways to reconfigure rooms, manage acoustics, and hide functional elements without structural work.
Romance, craft, and outdoor living
Romantic, layered bedrooms and thoughtfully appointed terraces were another through-line. Salvesen Graham created a primary bedroom with a four-poster canopy bed by Nicholas Walton, botanical wallpapers, and mixed florals that nod to an English country-house sensibility. Pattern-on-pattern here is used to achieve warmth and lived-in charm rather than formal austerity.
Outdoors, Fettle Design’s Italianate terrace paired bold cement tiles from The Mosaic Factory, Murano glass lamps, and a rippling fabric canopy from Perennials and Sutherland’s La Dolce Vita collection. The result reads like an alfresco living room—an important reminder that exterior spaces can be layered and luxurious, too.
Takeaway
Layered textiles, soft lighting, and hospitality-focused seating are the core components of an inviting outdoor room; a statement canopy or pendant cluster elevates the experience.
Material-focused kitchens and upholstered environments
Kitchen design at the show emphasized nature-inflected surfaces and tactile metalwork. Samantha Bartlett’s kitchen for Martin Moore pairs muted green walls, fumed oak, aged bronze details, and Verde Natura quartzite countertops beneath a generous skylight—a study in botanical restraint and functional beauty.
Elsewhere, Sean Symington’s Withdrawing Room used archival Primavera fabric from Zardi & Zardi to cover walls, ceilings, and doors, creating an all-encompassing environment where collectible furniture and layered seating encourage everyday enjoyment rather than museum-like preservation.
Takeaway
High-impact kitchens and living rooms rely on honest materials—visible grain, aged metals, and hand-finished surfaces—paired with repeatable motifs such as botanical threads or archival textiles to build personality.
Final note
WOW!house’s curated rooms demonstrate that the latest trends are less about novelty and more about intentionality: using craft, textile innovation, concealed technology, and considered color to design spaces that feel lived-in and memorable. Whether you’re inspired to try lacquered built-ins, an unexpected room shape, or a hidden bar, these installations offer practical lessons that translate into real homes.
