Introducing WOW!house

Introducing WOW!house

WOW!house is a unique showcase held annually at the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour. It offers the chance for you to visit and experience different installations designed by leading interior designers.

How it works

Rather than apply, interior designers have to be invited to design a room. This could be done by the Design Centre team directly, or brands and suppliers will buy a room and invite an interior designer to collaborate with them.

It's not often that you can step into the work of a specific interior designer and experience a room they have designed from scratch, so WOW!house is unique in providing the ability to do just that.

The beauty of WOW!house is that it's a blank canvas and provides a rare opportunity for designers to work without constraints.

My design

My first step was to create a narrative for the project, and I decided to use myself as the client. I came up with the idea of 'Date Night'; conceptualising the next stage of life for me as my children grow up and leave home and how that looks for me and my partner.

Interior design is all about lifestyle, and good interior design should enable the lifestyle you want to live. My design for 'Date Night' was all about facilitating a new way to live and leaning into pieces and materials I have coveted but that haven't been synonymous with family life.

My narrative and design intent led me into a palette of sultry tones and sensual materials to create the right mood. I researched conceptual imagery that conveyed the atmosphere I wanted to create, which helped to consolidate my vision and solidify my design direction.

Collaboration

An integral part of WOW!house is collaborating with brands and suppliers to not only realise your vision but also give them a platform to showcase their work.

True collaboration is giving people autonomy to be their authentic selves and bring their expertise to the process. I presented ideas to some of my favourite brands but also encouraged them to add their own spin on it.

Building our WOW!house space

Our entire WOW!house space has actually been built offsite, as this freed us from any time constraints as well as providing the opportunity to see how everything was working before it was installed.

Key learning

If you were to take away one thing from WOW!house, it is to push the boundaries of creativity. This will set you apart from other interior designers, as well as doing the best work for your clients.