(Image credit: Milo Brown, House & Garden)

Curating wonder and delight at WOW!House – a round-up of our 2026 highlights.

This month, the award-winning WOW!house has returned to Design Centre Chelsea Harbour. Now in its fifth instalment, the exhibition has quickly established itself as an unmissable event in the international design calendar.

Leading industry names and rising stars from across the globe have unveiled 22 distinct rooms and external spaces that together form a harmonious whole.

This year, each designer was invited to imagine the person who might inhabit the space and challenged to design it according to their tastes, needs and desires. The result is an imaginative and expressive environment where sights, sounds and scents create an immersive world, rich in narrative and context.

Our interiors team visited WOW!house to discover the spaces set to shape style, aesthetics and design direction over the coming year. Here’s a round-up of our highlights.

Garden Folly Room by Studio Enass

(Image credit: Milo Brown, House & Garden)

This year’s WOW!house featured a new type of space: a garden folly room. It was designed by Studio Enass Founder and Creative Director, Enass Mahmoud, who won the commission through a design competition. For her space, Mahmoud acted as the client herself and in a celebration of her North African and Arabic heritage, she created a tranquil and theatrical retreat, designed for cocktails and conversation.

Saturated shades of ruby and emerald were layered with Arabesque tiled banquette seating, tasselled wall lights and a bullion-fringed cocktail table, creating a jewel box of colour, texture and materiality.

Eschewing the obvious floral patterns one might associate with a garden retreat, Mahmoud instead embraced fabrics that featured marble swirl designs which introduced a sense of movement to upholstered chairs.

Upon exiting the room, visitors were surprised and delighted by an exquisite shellwork mosaic by British artisan Linda Fenwick, which beautifully framed the doorway and nodded to the island aesthetic.

We loved the attention to detail and layering of textures, which created an inviting space that transported us to warmer climes.

Turnell & Gigon Group Drawing Room by Albion Nord

(Image credit: Milo Brown, House & Garden)

One of our favourite rooms was the Turnell & Gigon Group Drawing Room by Albion Nord.

Upon entering the drawing room through a curtained entrance, visitors were first struck by the shape of the space – an octagonal room with a dramatic domed roof. The designers had taken inspiration from the architecture of Georgian and Regency drawing rooms which celebrated symmetry and proportions.

The strong structural angles of the space were balanced by the light drenched walls which were enveloped in a light blue, hand-blocked ‘Titli’ linen by Filling Spaces in a stunning display of artisanship. Like the garden folly room, the drawing room also featured tassel adornments, indicating that this decorative detail will be highly sought after for the season ahead.

We felt that the mix of contemporary and traditional elements like the relaxed sofas, paired with the glass fronted bookcase, gave the impression of a space that had evolved over time and felt truly timeless.

Black Edition at Romo Speakeasy Salon by Studio Duggan

(Image credit: Milo Brown, House & Garden)

Studio Duggan is renowned for interiors that blend together different eras and styles so we had high expectations of the speakeasy salon and it did not disappoint. Upon entering, we were immersed into a moody, theatrical and atmospheric room.

The studio imagined the client to be a discerning woman with an appreciation of style, who would use the space to work, relax and entertain. As such, it needed to feature multifunctional pieces such as the ‘Holden’ table by the studio’s furniture line, Trove, which doubled as a work desk and a perch for cocktails.

Our favourite part of visiting this roomset was discovering the hidden speakeasy style bar which featured softly curved seating and a skirted basin beneath a fully stocked bar – a fun element of surprise and discovery.

The Parlour by Martin Kemp Design

(Image credit: Milo Brown, House & Garden)

The Parlour by Martin Kemp was a cocooning space that expertly balanced light with shadow and felt cosy and intimate.

Our team heard directly from Martin Kemp who explained that he conceived of the space with the iconic Grace Kelly in mind as the client. Taking inspiration from her androgynous aesthetic, he juxtasposed masculine elements like an artwork crafted from tangled wire, with feminine pieces, such as the curved sofas. The Jo Malone Myrrh and Tonka scent enhanced the sensuality of the space, illustrating the importance of scent to the narrative of design.

Layers of fabric were suspended from the ceiling in a dramatic fashion, concealing and revealing various elements, so that the space seemed to unfold before our eyes. Kemp explained that the room was designed to entice and to reveal itself slowly over time.

We loved the sculptural and artful nature of the parlour and enjoyed discovering new and previously unseen surprises at a second inspection.

Ca’ Pietra Bathroom by De Rosee Sa

(Image credit: Milo Brown, House & Garden)

Designers De Rosee Sa unveiled a 1970s Mediterranean-inspired hotel bathroom that overlooked the sea, offering the imagined client a moment of solitude.

The colour palette celebrated the spirit of a Mediterranean summer, bathing the space in pink and sunset tones. Of course, Ca’ Pietra stone and marble featured throughout, most prominently with the rose-tinted marble that wrapped around the basin and generous bathtub.

The room served as further evidence that the bathroom is being reimagined from a purely functional space to a personal sanctuary.

We loved the tranquillity of this bathroom, which offered a sense of peace and escapism.

Perennials and Sutherland Garden Terrace by Fettle Design

(Image credit: Milo Brown, House & Garden)

The Perennials and Sutherland Garden Terrace by Fettle Design was the final room at WOW!house. This sun-soaked outdoor space evoked the joyful and relaxed elegance of an Italian garden terrace in summertime.

A low-slung outdoor sofa invited visitors to linger, whilst fabrics upholstered on chairs and armchairs featured citrus fruits, further evoking Italian summers.

From the ceiling, the La Dolce Vita ‘Nonna’ check fabric in lemon shades gave the illusion of a sunlit terrace.

An outdoor marble and timber bar was stocked with bottles of Limoncello for an afternoon aperitivo and lit by Murano glass table lamps.

We felt that WOW!house ended on a high note with this romantic and joyful terrace, and it made us long for the return of alfresco entertaining.

Our interiors team left the show feeling inspired by the creativity, thoughtfulness, and imagination of the designers, whose roomsets surprised and delighted throughout.

Can we expect to see tassels, tiles and richly decorative elements inspire our homes over the months ahead? Watch this space.