Journalists, stylists and interior designers flocked back to London Design Week in Chelsea this week to see Spring/Summer 22 collections. Whilst there is plenty of bright colour, and shapely furniture emerging, my eye was also caught by wallpapers and fabrics in grand scale botanicals and earthy hues. As promised, here are a few highlights from my notebook.

Charlotte Gaisford’s guest bedroom

I made Charlotte Gaisford’s stand (a ‘house guest’ in the Avenue at The Design Centre Chelsea Harbour) a priority because I have, along with so many people, been a fan of her work for some time. You may remember I first wrote about Charlotte on the blog in 2018. I knew if I didn’t get there first thing on Monday, that the stand would very quickly become besieged with her adoring fans!

And what a beautifully turned out stand it was too. Charlotte is not only a brilliant designer but runs a tight ship business wise too. Charlotte has always been completely transparent about her design processes and told me that, although it is the design bit she adores, in reality 85% of her time is spent on all the other elements involved in running the business.

Impressively, Charlotte made all the cushions and valences for her ‘guest bedroom’ and her sister made the bedcovers. It is all so cleverly put together using different scales of pattern, even finding a rug to work with it all. There’s a bit of bobbin Charlotte painted from Clockhouse Furniture and a lovely ceramic bobbly table lamp from Rosemary Wain at Kinkatou Studio London. The framed prints on the wall include handpainted artwork for some of the designs.

You might like to see Charlotte’s video of her stand on Instagram.

Take a seat

So many shapely new designs, many with bold patterns and jumbo trimmings. P.S. the painted leg (not shown here) is still very much de rigeur.

Beach House style

There are several new outdoor fabrics at Osborne & Little this season but also some wonderful murals and wallpapers inspired by Cornish seascapes. ‘Seascape’ is a very clever tromp l’oeil wallpaper of coastal paintings on a tongue and groove background. Perfect for those coastal-inspired interiors I often talk about on the blog.

Bamboo four-poster

Fabulous oriental-style bamboo four-poster at Paolo Moschino.

Lovely lighting

Always beautiful everything at Vaughan, but especially lighting and mirrors.

Ben Pentreath x Morris & Co 2

The wonderful collaboration between Ben Pentreath and Morris and Co I wrote about previously on the blog has been extended this Spring with the new Cornubia Collection.

Colour blocking with Minnie Kemp

Furniture designers Julian Chichester have collaborated with interior designer Minnie Kemp of the Firmdale Hotel Group to design their window for London Design Week. Minnie’s ideas for the window centred on colour blocking with a nod to Mondrian by way of colourful Julian Chichester shelving and fun lamps with shades covered in borders by her mother Kit Kemp for Christopher Farr Cloth.

Wow house

There was huge excitement at a press launch on Monday for the announcement of the forthcoming Wow House installation (a portion of the £20 will go towards the charity Centrepoint) in ‘The Avenue’ space at The Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour.

It will be open to the public from 1 June to 1 July 2022 where 15 top interior designers from Rita Konig (G P & J Baker Morning Room) to Emma Burns (Colefax & Fowler Drawing room) and Turner Pocock (Julian Chichester Library Room) are taking on a room each, showcasing fabric and furniture companies at The Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour.

New wallpaper

I can’t wait to see Nicole Fabre Designs’ new wallpapers (available from Tissus D’Helene) being used in design projects. I think they are going to look stunning.

Tigger Hall fabrics

I was delighted to meet Tigger Hall from Australia whose collection of fabrics are represented in London by The Design Collective at Penny Morrison.

I was particularly drawn to the earthy hues of these two fabrics which make me think of 1940s/1950s design.

Botanicals with scale

Beautiful botanical designs from Osborne & Little include Orchard wallpaper (top) with its divine ricrac melons and also ‘Lamorran’, a large-scale wide-width linen curtain panel with several flowers including this Fritillary head. I love too, the smoky, velvety feel of Exotic Fruits Fig, a new wallpaper by The Design Archives.

Vintage chic at Designers Guild

Lovely to spot some vintage brass and pewter candlesticks sitting alongside Designer’s Guild curation of new kitchen and dining accessories.

Thank you

Thank you so much for taking the time to read. I hope you have enjoyed this and feel hopeful and inspired for future projects. Meanwhile, I try not to be overwhelmed by the news from Ukraine but remain in awe of all the fundraising activities that people in the UK are doing. In case anyone needs a reminder of charities to donate to here are some suggestions:

The Red Cross

UK Disasters Emergency Committee

Unicef (love how they have a donation option with Paypal)

With best wishes,

Charis x