This year was my second time at the Grand Designs Live exhibition, so I was really intrigued to see how different the show is year-on-year. I mainly wondered how many new exhibitors would be attending and how many would be the same as the previous year.
You can read about last years show here.
This year we ended up going on a Sunday, which was also the last day of the show. I think we went on a Thursday last year, and oh-my was it CRAZY busy on the Sunday! I’m talking mega mega busy. It hadn’t been so busy the previous year, so I was in no way prepared for that level of crazy! By around 1pm it did ease up a little, which I was slightly glad about.
One of the biggest surprises (and slight disappointment) of the event was that the upstairs food section was almost non-existent! Being a food LOVER, I was a little gutted. But non-the-less, it is a design show after all and there was plenty of design inspiration to oogle at for sure!
The exhibition was split into different sections, exactly the same as the previous year: interiors, bathrooms, kitchens, gardens, building, technology where you can find specific inspiration in each section. Last year we spent heaps of time wandering around the bathroom and garden sections, but this year was mainly all about the interiors for us.
Here’s some of my favourite finds:
There was so much lighting inspiration at the show this year! How gorgeous are those origami style lampshades? I think they would make a wonderful feature in a spare bedroom… I think I’m sold! I also really love those test tube lights but I reckon I could DIY something quite similar.
This little quirky garden shed is simply fabulous! You definitely couldn’t go about storing large electric mowers in there.. but it’d be great for pots, watering cans, hose pipes and all the little garden extras. I love it!
I was also in serious love with these American diner dining tables and chairs. Not entirely sure these would be in suiting with our ideal style dining room… but I love them anyway! They slightly make me wish I was the owner of an American diner.. Ah, I can dream.
The show also included garden huts, exterior blinds, outdoor living pods, fabulous (and very grand!) floor inlays, oak timber kitchens, super stylish water features, power hoses (so need one of these!) beautiful shutters which I’m seriously considering for our new bathroom and so, so much more!
Here’s a little view of what else the show had to offer:
There were plenty of new exhibitors at the show, which I was pretty pleased about, but also plenty of exhibitors whom I recognised from the previous year. Of course, Kevin McCloud made an appearance on the theatre stage too, however this year we opted to watch a presentation from Eco Designer, Oliver Heath about biophilic design, which is basically all about bringing the outside in and having a closer connection with nature. It was surprisingly really interesting and I learnt a lot about the well-being advantage of this sort of design.
I’m always intrigued by the Green/Eco friendly brands on display at the show and one of the quirkier brands I found was Ezy Peezy. This is basically a gadget that clips into the inside of your toilet and reduces the need to flush so often. The device ‘treats’ urine meaning you don’t actually need to flush every time you pee. The concept sounds great, but I’m not sure how easy I would find it to stop flushing, it’s almost unnatural! Perhaps definitely worth a try though at only £2.50(!!!) – what do you think?!
The show was great fun, a little busy, but I’d definitely recommend for anyone who’s an interior design fanatic! I did even manage to make a sneaky little purchase this year from a boutique called Grace and Grey. How fabulous are these little vases? They were only £7 for a pair, which I thought was awesome! I’m sure you’ll be seeing these soon in the bathroom 😉
Were you at the show? What was your favourite bit?
*Huge thanks to Caribbean Blinds UK for the complimentary tickets to Grand Designs Live. All thoughts and opinions are my own 🙂
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