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WOW!house for the second time

It is, as someone wrote on social media, the time of year when the interior designers get to tell their own stories. Eighteen room sets at Chelsea Harbour loosely following the idea of a (large) house from the entrance hall, via a dining room, morning room, library, office, bedroom and bathroom out to a garden room at the far end, with a set of international designers and sponsors given complete freedom to create the room they want to see.

WOW!house 2023 Iksel Entrance Foyer by Mark D Sikes Photography James McDonald image2.jpg
WOW!house 2023 Iksel Entrance Foyer by Mark D Sikes Photography James McDonald

And what a wow it was. I wrote about it last year and a couple of people said it was all too much for them. But remember this is not meant to be a real house – it’s a showcase of fabric and materials, of textiles and ideas. It shows you where designers are thinking the same thing – decorative ceilings and lots of texture – and where the differ – the clean lines of Waldo Works and the opulence of Timothy Gosling. It is a feast for the eyes and it’s open until 6 July so you can go and see it too.

e iksel entrance to the WOW!house by madaboutthehouse.com
the iksel entrance to the WOW!house by Mark D Sikes image by madaboutthehouse.com

Clearly with 18 rooms I’m not going to share them all here but, instead, have chosen to highlight a few of my favourites. The entrance hall was a great opener to what was to come. Last year it was minimal with an opulent chandelier. This year set the tone with the fabric and handpainted wallpaper by Iksel Studios – the paper took nine months to paint – and the soft ochre colour was a recurring thread throughout the rooms. I also felt the mural wallpaper was a theme we are seeing more and more (try MindTheGap for more affordable printed versions).

WOW!house 2023 Dining Room by Joy Moyler interiors Photography James McDonald
WOW!house 2023 Dining Room by Joy Moyler interiors Photography James McDonald

I loved Joy Moyler’s dining room with its thatched ceiling (a nod, said the American designer) to the English setting in which she found herself. But, taken less literally, one of many ways in which this year’s rooms were all about texture, the highlight of which was the “tattle room”.

wow!house 2023 dining room by joy moyler
wow!house 2023 dining room by joy moyler

With its deep red walls upholstered in velvet columns this was an ode to Christian Dior who had a tiny room in his Paris apartment where he could sit and sketch, chat and relax. This niche is Joy’s version of that where you can steal away after dinner and hot gossip about all that has gone on. I love that idea and, in our more modest homes perhaps it’s about finding space for a comfy armchair in the corner of the bedroom where you can sit and text over the evening’s events before you go to sleep.

WOW!house 2023 Drummonds Principle Bathroom Barlow-Barlow Photography James McDonald
WOW!house 2023 Drummonds Principle Bathroom Barlow-Barlow Photography James McDonald

Now the bathroom was one of my highlights. I’ve long been a fan of the work of Barlow & Barlow and this, in collaboration with Drummonds was a joy from the vintage 70s Pierre Cardin metal shower curtain to the freestanding bath in a nook at the end of the room. Am now wondering whether I need to create a nook in a bathroom just so I can create this look. Of course you don’t have to be as mirrored as this – remember this is a)called the Wow!house and b) is about getting noticed out of 18 other rooms and they certainly did that.

WOW!house 2023 De Gournay Morning Room by Waldo Works Photography James McDonald
WOW!house 2023 De Gournay Morning Room by Waldo Works Photography James McDonald

After the intensity of that it was calming to come into this room by Waldo Works (another of my favourites) but here in collaboration with De Gournay and this felt quite different from the usual floral and chinoiserie motifs that we are more accustomed to seeing from them. This was about the weather and for me it was a very modern take on the trompe l’oeil effect as the cross hatching and geometric shapes gave it a 3D effect.

WOW!house 2023 De Gournay Morning Room by Waldo Works
WOW!house 2023 De Gournay Morning Room by Waldo Works

The bedroom below took green as its inspiration and created a room using 15 different shades. The wallpaper is textured, the bed curtains linen and the cushions were a mix of applique and embroidery. It felt like a real restful space and even if you don’t like green (you know who you are) you could create a similar idea in blue – or even layers of cream and neutrals. While colours may clash or be too bold, textures all love to play together and the more contrast the better.

wow!house 2023 green bedroom by Natalia Miyar in colloboration with sponsor Colony by Casa Luiza image by madaboutthehouse.com
wow!house 2023  bedroom by Natalia Miyar in collaboration with Colony by Casa Luiza image by madaboutthehouse.com

This was technically called the courtyard room but the designers Maddux Creative renamed it the 3am room and, like the tattle room, it was about sinking into a comfy sofa late at night when you’ve done dancing but aren’t ready to go to bed. Note, again the applique on the walls and the curved, conversational sofas.

WOW!house 2023 Fromental Courtyard Room by Maddux Creative Photography James McDonald
WOW!house 2023 Fromental Courtyard Room by Maddux Creative Photography James McDonald

I loved Tim Gosling’s library. Last year one of the rooms was taken lock, stock and barrel, back to its designer’s New York apartment. This time Tim has recreated the library from his 57 room French Chateau which he in in the process of doing up. He based it, it may not surprise you to know, on the palace of Versailles and its Hall of Mirrors. Once again note the tented ceiling and the opulent textures throughout. He sought out UK makers wherever he could and commissioned the wonderful backgammon table from one of them.

WOW!house 2023 Gosling Library by Tim Gosling Photography James McDonald
WOW!house 2023 Gosling Library by Tim Gosling Photography James McDonald

Next to the library was the gorgeous little studio by Clare Gaskin. In contrast to the archetypal office that is dark and book-lined Clare reached to her Barbadian heritage and created a light-filled textured room (rattan ceiling) that was filled with subtle colour and rich patterns. Clare summed up the joy that many of the designers must feel in this space when she spoke of the joy of creating room for a client who doesn’t exist.

And that is why wow!house is so interesting as you get to see inside the designer’s heads. There are no personal preferences apart from their own. They have a space with three or four walls, a sponsor and that’s it. So while the house itself isn’t real it is a real reflection of what some of the most renowned designers in the world today are thinking and feeling.

WOW!house 2023 Study by Clare-Gaskin Photography James McDonald
WOW!house 2023 Study by Clare-Gaskin Photography James McDonald

From there we moved into the bedroom by Christian Bense and De Le Cuona, described as a South African tent meets a Bloomsbury apartment. Yes it was rich in safari elements but it was also warm, cosy and textured. And so rare to see twin beds. Once again the textures are natural from the linen canopies to the natural flooring and bamboo beds.

WOW!house 2023 DE LE CUONA BEDROOM CHRISTIAN BENSE Photography James MacDonald
WOW!house 2023 DE LE CUONA BEDROOM CHRISTIAN BENSE Photography James MacDonald

We’ll swing by the bar on our way out to the kitchen just to see another ceiling – this time in rich silk taffeta with more curves on the table and velvet benches.

WOW!house 2023 Home Bar by Tala Fustok Photography James McDonald
WOW!house 2023 Home Bar by Tala Fustok Photography James McDonald

And so we come to the kitchen – a blend of pale pink with burgundy accents and lots of brass accents. If you do go and visit make sure you open the doors to the pantry and look up at the ceiling.

WOW!house 2023 Martin Moore Kitchen by Henry Prideaux Interior Design Photography James McDonald
WOW!house 2023 Martin Moore Kitchen by Henry Prideaux Interior Design Photography James McDonald

I will leave you to browse the images but before I go I know that last year I wrote about the sustainability aspect of creating such an exhibition. I think it’s important that shows like this can exist – it’s an art form like any other and we do also understand more each year about the important role that our homes can play on our mental health and well being. But I know the designers think carefully about what they are making. The front entrance wall of the house is the same as last year as are the walls and structures that are carefully stored. Other pieces make their way back into showrooms and homes while the fabric is often cut up and sent out as samples.

On my way out I dropped into Colefax & Fowler as I have my eye on some wallpaper for the house in Italy and was told that nothing from last year’s show has been wasted. They are remaking a sofa from last year for a client and have used all the other elements for either display or sale. So go, if you can, enjoy these pictures if you can’t.

Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

14 Comments

  1. I love the wall treatments but find the rooms remind me of 17th century opulence. Not to my taste but full of craftsmanship.

  2. Just so, so very old-fashioned and regurgitated. Nothing original at all. All very Twin Peaks, or Eltham Palace meets 70’s granny vibe. Give me IKEA anyday !

  3. This isn’t just kitsch. It’s completely ugly. Every single space is ghastly. It’s as if every designer thought they had to outdo the others. Good design is about restraint, financially, visually, in all ways. It’s as much about choosing what not to include, what to keep plain, what to leave alone. Some thoughtful ideas, an individual oomph and a strong sense of what is practical and comfortable is the aim. These rooms are a interiors circus.

  4. Hmm. I went last year, and have been planning to go again this year, but more so than last year so much of this looks so… safe isn’t the right word, but there’s so little that’s fresh or sharp or has a little edge. it’s all so blingy and overstuffed like the very worst of Home Goods or Dunelm for the super rich. Guess I’m just not the target market. And I do get that it’s a showcase for as much fabric and wallpaper as possible. The William Morris and Tissus d’Helene rooms last year did that beautifully.

    1. I completely agree. There is a very definite 80s vibe running through all of the rooms with nothing that is either fresh and modern or traditional and authentic. Aside from the lovely print on the chaise longue (itself reminiscent of the front pages in old books) I couldn’t find a single inspiring element!

    1. Nice use of egregious, noted! Maybe we can coin a new term for this style? Coup d’état chic? Blood-diamond core?

  5. Just…horrible. Hot, busy, oppressive and – I don’t know why this word is coming to mind, but – vulgar. Looks like something a dictator would commission. Makes me want to run to a hillside meadow and open my arms to the elements.

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