London Design Festival: Our top 11* Highlights

*why 11 because we love to give you a bit more….

We close our ‘September Design Diaries’ series with a round up of the top 11 products, places, people and brands we discovered at this year’s London Design Festival 2013. We visited shows from east to west – Tent & Super Brands, Design Junction, 100% Design, Top Drawer, Decorex, Forum and a gold nugget in between – hands down, London is truly the design capital of the world for designer furniture!

1. We spotted the lushness and opulence of the peacock, its form, colours and its characteristic feathers. We fell for the ‘Corset’ chair upholstered in a stunning peacock fabric by Munna.

 designer chair,designer cabinet,luxury board games,designer home furniture

'Peacock' backgammon board, 'Camilia' cabinet and the 'Corset' chair at Super Brands

2. Inspired by and firmly rooted in Africa, the irresistible Carrol Boyes collection showing at Top Drawer, has sculptured homewares styled in a fusion of metals that are sure to grace your home with eccentric flair… 

designer metal homewares,designer home accessories,luxury home accessories

Carrol Boyes water jug, cutlery set and their factory in South Africa

3. We saw this quirky coffee table in Paris and then again here in London, it’s a playful interaction of art, function, gravity, geometry and illusion.

designer coffee table,designer furniture,luxury home furniture

‘Up’ Coffee Table by Duffy London at Super Brands

4. We came across a wonderful brand, at Focus in Chelsea Harbour Design Centre, Porta Romana. Their colourful table lamps and their – we’re not taking ourselves too seriously – ‘Duck Feet’ lamp left us a little speechless and with a smile on our face.

designer lighting,designer table lamps,glass table lamps

‘Dumpling’ table lamp and ‘Duck Feet’ table lamp with limited edition ostrich shade by Porta Romana

 5. Speaking of light, we must also mention the delicate and intriguing pendant lights from Curiosa & Curiosa. These gems are hand blown in the UK with no moulds so no two are alike.

designer lighting,glass pendant lights,designer ceiling lights

Pendant lights by Curiosa & Curiosa at Tent 

6. A heart felt mention to Mineheart, a refreshing take on materials and imagery, where what you see is not necessarily what you get…

 

designer wallpaper,designer rugs,designer lighting,luxury homewares

'King Edison' pendant light, 'White Bookshelf' wallpaper & 'Persian Cowhide' rug at Super Brands London 

7. The founder’s of House of Hackney aimed to take the beige out of interiors, and so they did. They took it out, added bold patterns and colours, and brought them to the fashion world. Brilliant.

designer fabric,designer home furnishings,colourful fabrics

Prints steeped in tradition but bold and non-conformist, House of Hackney at Decorex

8. Meeting the creative force behind Insidherland, Joana Santos Barbosa, was such a delight. Her charisma, passion and her love of nature are evident in Insidherland’s breath taking collection.

natural home furnishings,designer furniture,designer wooden furniture

Sherry, founder of The Longest Stay with the Insidherland collection at 100% Design

9. Designer furniture that can be modified and customised according to your needs? This must be too good to be true. Take a look at Sherry, proudly sitting on the 'Lool' sofa. A sofa that allows you to adjust the armrest or backrest how you prefer it. Supported or fully relaxed? This is Design You Edit.

designer furniture,cutomizable furniture,designer sofa

Sherry, founder of The Longest Stay with Design You Edit collection at 100% Design

10. ‘Ripples’ is the creation of Edward Johnson, who challenged himself to create this beautiful undulated effect on all of the planes of the chest of drawers. Its cedar aroma and mesmerising waves make this piece a true design icon.

designer chest of drawers,designer wooden furniture,designer furniture,chest of drawers

'Ripples' chest of drawers by Edward Johnson at 100% Design

11. Time to let our hair down and celebrate the best of British design with the Elle Decoration British Design Awards Nominees 2013 party. It was an event to remember, Elle Décor’s Editor-in-Chief Michelle Ogundehin called our magazine “fabulous” and our very own Sherry proudly presented The Longest Stay magazine.

Elle Decoration,The Longest Stay,design magazine

A little sneak peek of the event, the invite, the party and the Elle Decoration team with Sherry at the Orangery in Kensington Palace

September was a wonderful month, we launched our brand new magazine and stylish new website at the same time the design world’s eyes were on our beloved city of London. Serendipitous, don’t you think?

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Yours in Design,

The Longest Stay