100% Design

London Design Week is drawing to an end for another year and it's been great to dip into some of the shows that have been going on. On Friday I headed to Olympia to check out 100% Design and I found some inspirational designers that immediately made me want to redesign my home!

I love a grey sofa (and have one in my home) and loved this one by British Design Shop. It looks great set against an orange wall and if that's a bit bold, just accessorise with an orange velvet cushion.

The orange and grey theme was also used in this wonderful wool cushion cover. The dark wall behind gives it drama whilst the cream Mid Century Modern chair keeps it fresh.

These retro-inspired tables are by Curve Top Tables and they come in a series of vibrant colours and a variety of fluid shapes, perfect for curving around your sofa and adding flowing lines to your space.

Friends of Wilson is a company that produces hanging screens made form 100% wool felt and available in a range of rich colours. It combines abstract art, design and acoustics to give a practical solution to an open plan space.

For lighting, my favourite company was Showroom Finland a Helsinki-based business that creates stunning lamp shades out of plywood. No glue or screws are used and the lights are assembled using numerous plywood parts, bringing together traditional Finnish techniques with modern computer geometry.

On another stand, these light shades were being produced using a 3D printer.

There was also a good selection of jewel tones on show. I took a liking to these velvet-covered footstools in a fun combination of colours.

Or how about this fabulous teal armchair with a modern twist on the Mid Century style.

Top Drawer

An impromptu trip to Top Drawer on Sunday was actually quite inspiring! I often try and pop along there, as it's a great place to get a feel for design trends. This time I went with my friend Nicky who was sourcing sympathy cards for her business, Angel and Dove. We spent quite a bit of time in the stationery section, which is always good for inspiration. I also dipped into the homewares section to see what was going on.

Pineapples are obviously still a popular design motif and I loved these plates that combine pineapples with a pleasing printed-effect geometric.

Katie Leamon creates beautiful stationery and I loved the simple graphics of her gift wrap that comes in a lovely thick weight paper.

Perlenfischer is a company launched by graphic designer Katja Kucherer. She is based in Germany and creates quirky rubber stamps that are characterised by simplicity and attention to detail. She displayed how versatile the stamps could be, using a variety of stamps to create some really fun images. Check out her website for more fun ideas.

Raspberry Blossom is a company that produces gift wrap and greetings cards. They use a pretty palette of sherbet colours and I really liked their painterly gift wrap.

We nipped upstairs to check out the Spotted and Craft sections, which is where there are a lot more one-off items. It's also great to see new designers who are showing for the first time. I was taken by these fabulous knitted chairs.

Top Drawer

Top drawer is always a great source of inspiration and I often try to get to the twice yearly events to get a feel for design trends and new colour palettes. I use this inspiration for Cheeky Leopard, but also for my design work at Makower UK. It's great to see everything (from luxurious bedding to the latest in plate designs) all under one roof. Top Drawer is held at Kensington Olympia, an immense space filled with goodies, so a few hours is the least time needed to see everything properly. I trotted off there yesterday and met up with my friend Bernie once there. She has a clinic where she does amazing treatments such as massage and facial, but she also sells beautiful items such as scented room sprays and designer jewellery and, of course, Cheeky Leopard bags! We had some fun rummaging through some beautiful jewellery pieces, looking for new designers to sell through her clinic. It was great to look at items I wouldn't normally look at and help choose a collection with her.

We also went our separate ways and I got to see some of the home decor trends as well as new card designs which were all very inspiring.

A recurring colour combination that stuck out for me was navy blue, coral and blush pink. I thought it worked so well in the bedding above, and in the trays below.

These trays were fab and shiny.

I love the colour of these deckchairs - navy blue and orange. Mix in some contrasting cushions, one cream and one with a blue and orange stripe.

What a fab selection of printed cushions!

I love the soft chalky colour palette of the bowls above. The yellow and green are strong and the blush pink just softens it nicely.

Geometric black and whites are always a favourite of mine and they look stunning on these plates which are too nice to eat off!

The nautical theme is always popular and something we do a lot of at Makower. We are always on the look-out for a new take on nautical. There were two very different themes that I saw at Top Drawer. The one above is more sophisticated and uses traditional images of coral and shells, but brings it up to date with a cool indigo palette.

The nautical theme above is more fun and graphic. I love the use of teals and blues.

I thought the mood board above was very clever, showing how the nautical theme can work through out the home - on tea towels, mugs and even a door mat!

Rice is a company that always has a vibrant stand selling their signature bright and fun home wares as well as items for children. I loved the patterned animal heads above.

These animal silhouettes look funky, placed on patterned grounds and check out the three fun coloured paper light shades in varying sizes.

The beakers above are nice and bright and I love the fresh foulard designs they have used.

100% Design

Today I headed up to the 100% Design show, the largest and longest running contemporary design event for industry professionals. Today is the last day of the show and the one day where they are open to the public, so I thought I'd make the most of it and I'm so glad I did! This year it was held in the lofty space of Olympia in Kensington, which gave it a lightness and airiness that some other shows don't have. It was overwhelming how many inspiring designers were there, covering everything from interiors such as lighting, furniture and flooring, to the work place, emerging brands and design and build.

I loved these lamps by Marc de Groot. The gold one on the left is called a beehive lamp.

This stunning geo sofa is by Joined + Jointed. They are a collective of designers working together to create original, exclusive, contemporary furniture pieces.

I love this stunning orange cupboard by Novamobili against the monochrome geo wallpaper.

A grey wool geometric Donar chair by Slovenia Design with a flash of neon yellow on the legs.

Fun items for the home by Ibride for Pad Home.

Cutout brightly coloured drawers by Studio Geci.

Geometric lighting by Design Heure.

Felt cutout room dividers by Buzzi Space.