Spring is always a great time for getting inspired with new ideas for decor. Last week I took the opportunity to visit The Ideal Home Show at Olympia in London. Whilst Gina was busy giving interiors advice to homeowners in the Renovation Hub, I took a look around the show to see what I could find.
The show is huge and encompasses many aspects of home and lifestyle, from home furnishings to renovations including roomsets, kitchens, bathrooms and even whole houses you can walk around to inspire you. There are hundreds of suppliers of everything from soft furnishings to windows and doors, appliances and garden rooms. Additionally the show includes the Eat and Drink Festival with delicious food stalls alongside the latest in kitchen gadgets for your home.
There is so much to see but for me the highlight has to be show homes and roomsets. There were four main show houses to see. The biggest was the 3 bedroom Innovation Home, followed by the Liv-in Beach hut and 2 large garden pods.
The Innovation Home
I started by viewing the largest of the houses. The Innovation Home - so called as it showcased smart technology from British Gas and Hive to help you take more control of your home. Described as a typical Victorian city home reimagined for contemporary living, the interiors are by everyone’s favourite TV interior designer and passionate colour lover Sophie Robinson.
Her playful mix of colour and pattern are evident as soon as you step into the house.
In the master bedroom jewel tones, sumptuous velvets and satin fabrics created a cosy haven of relaxation.
Master Bedroom in the Innovation Home at Ideal Home Show
The nursery was another room which took on the dark decor trend, with contrasting bright colour featuring in the playful patterns of Lucy Tiffney’s colourful wallpaper.
Dark decor in the nursery of the Innovation Home
Throughout your tour of the home there is a voiceover to tell you about all the smart home features in each room. There are window and door sensors which can alert you when doors or windows open, the Hive active light and active heating system are remotely programmable and can be managed wherever you are by an app on your phone.
In another children's room a large mural on the wall creates a jungle playroom. Picture shelves display books and there is a lovely chair for reading. I loved the cactus standing in the corner.
Innovation Home Children's room
In the lounge and kitchen, off-white walls put the focus on the furniture which again was jewel toned. The coffee table and rug echoed the geometric trend and bright fun prints brought colour to the walls.
Innovation Home Lounge
To see the kitchen check out the Create Perfect instagram feed. There are room tours of many of the show homes and room sets in the Stories Highlights.
The Liv-In Beach Hut
After this I visited the Liv-in Beach hut designed by Hudson Architects, renowned for their high quality design projects in coastal locations. This is a one bedroom upside down home with an additional mezzanine room above the kitchen living space.
The Liv-In Beach Hut Bedroom
The beach hut is an exciting concept as the designers Hudson Architects are looking to work with councils on a strategy that would place this type of property in coastal areas as a way to generate a long term sustainable income in these. This development would see a new wave of beach huts with accommodation for 4-6 people in seafront locations with spectacular sea views.
The beach hut bathroom
The kitchen diner is an open plan space which opened on to a terrace for outdoor dining. It has a huge double height picture window and mezzanine bedroom space.
Beach hut kitchen diner space
The beach hut design has a Scandi feel with natural woods and minimal colour. This really is quite a small space so the pictures may not do it justice. To see more of the beach hut take a look at our instagram stories highlights where it is included in the room tours.
The Garden Pods
Next there were two garden pods to visit. The garden room is a popular solution for creating more usable space in your home. Home offices, studios, music rooms or just a space to get away from it all.
The first was designed by Black Parrots, winners of the last series of The Great Interior Design Challenge.
Layers of pattern and texture in the Garden Pod
Their style takes me back to glamorous mid-century hollywood homes. The tobacco and black colour scheme featured in their own unique print designs of fabric and wall paper.
Custom wallpaper alongside high street accessories
With an emphasis on affordable most of the furniture and accessories in the pod are sourced from well known high street stores.
The other garden pod was designed by by 2 Lovely Gays. This design is ideal for a work space such as a garden studio office.
Inside the 2 Lovely Gays Garden Pod
The lovely colour palette of blush pink and grey was accented by textures from sustainable materials such as recycled plastics, cork and vegan leather made from waste pineapple leaves. A lovely light space in which the curved ceiling/wall covered with a custom made mural gave a really organic and earthy feel to the building. See more of this pod on our instagram stories highlights.
Stay tuned as I’ll be posting more from the show next week on the blog with a showcase of the roomsets. In the meantime you can visit our Instagram and see video tours of the show homes and roomiest on our
Stories Highlights.
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