Design Postcard: Decorex 2024

The four-day showcase of international interior design sees nearly 300 interiors brands filling Olympia to showcase new products, host talks and network, while also hoping to attract buyers.

I headed over to Decorex yesterday for a whistle-stop tour and these are my highlights. I will aim to distil what I saw into a more considered look at trends and directions over the next few weeks, but I think it can be just as instructive to see what catches your eye when you’re not really thinking about it.

As inspiration goes, it’s a great place for a wander and to see all the new stuff. But I also like to note the colours of the stands themselves as I think that’s a true indication of what shades are fashionable IRL, as opposed to the more academic trend forecasts. On that front I can report a lot of olive, burgundy and cream, all of which makes me very happy.

Walking round I bumped into a friend who works in licensing partnerships and goes to Olympia several times a year for toy fairs, Christmas products and general household products.

“It’s so beautiful compared with all the other fairs,” she said. “People are walking around in great fashions, the breakout areas are stylish and it’s all so lovely that you don’t even notice the men in grey suits who are usually so prominent at events like this.”

And to that point ,here’s the first stand I stopped at:

A RUM FELLOW

Founded by Dylan O’Shea and Caroline Lindsell, A Rum Fellow make beautiful handcrafted rugs inspired by artisanal designs. The new collection came from Caroline’s childhood in Devon and Cornwall and incorporates soft heathers and mosses with shapes of the rocks and pebbles she saw on childhood walks.

TORI MURPHY

Winner of the international award for best stand, Tori celebrates English craftsmanship, with fabric woven in Lancashire, washed in the Yorkshire Dales, and made up in Nottingham. In addition to adding curtain poles and finials in a curated collection of colours from Little Greene paint (their factory is based in North Wales) Tori has recently started working with the archives of the last remaining lace manufacturer in the UK to create a stunning collection of coloured lace that works as cafe curtains and even lampshades (can you see the olive green shade on the counter above?).

ALTERNATIVE FLOORING

Now I’ll confess to an interest in this company as I collaborated with them for my own wool carpet range (Quirky Bloom) last year. But this year they have launched a new product: Ca-rPET, which looks like sisal but is made entirely from recycled plastic bottles (PET - polyethylene terephthalate). It’s moth-proof, easy to clean and works inside and out.

TATIE LOU

I have followed Tatie Lou creator Louise Wargnier for many years on Instagram and was delighted to see her exhibit for the first time with her collection I Should Rococo. The colours are vibrant yet not overbearing and it was, she says, inspired by her house in France. I’m a sucker for a floral stripe and these would look gorgeous in a bedroom or bathroom, or should one have such a thing, a boudoir where one could sit and write one’s Substack while wearing a fabulous wrapper ( a suitably boudoir-ish word for dressing gown) before having to come downstairs and tangle with the cold floor and the cat litter.

KAST

I seem to be a lone voice raving about the joys of coloured sanitaryware, but if you’re yet to be convinced, take a look at Kast concrete basins. They’re always a joy. They are launching larger versions on 26 October and frankly if I was starting my bathroom again (I might) I’d definitely go for one of their scallop-fronted numbers.

JAIPUR RUGS

This company makes beautiful rugs and its representative was so on brand when I walked past that I had to take a picture.

LUXURY CARPET STUDIO SRL

Then next door I saw this – Italian exuberance at its finest – and I couldn’t resist. What a wonderful way to showcase your products.

FROMENTAL

Fromental weren’t launching anything this year but were asked to lead several craft workshops. The dress was born out of a collaboration with the designers Harris Reid, who wanted to recycle their silk wallpaper panels into dresses. This went down the catwalk at London Fashion week – but Demi Moore also wore one to the recent Met Gala in New York.

YES COLOURS

We end, appropriately enough, at the exit sign. This sustainable paint company was asked to make the VIP area this year and rose to the challenge. Their colours have always been a little too bright and clean for me, but I was told to take a picture of the outside of the stand (a rainbow of every colour) which does apparently include some slightly “muddier” (my words) shades which will be launching soon.

I hope you have enjoyed this post. Do please like and share and comment and generally engage as it massively helps with visibility on this platform and interior design is such a tiny category that we definitely need help to grow and even, one day, have our own category instead of sharing Design with the graphics and tech writers.