Walk into Chelsea Harbour Design Centre right now, and you'll be confronted by the façade of a spectacular Georgian townhouse, tucked into the already pretty spectacular entrance hall of this London design institution. Yes, this year's WOW!house — an annual showcase house designed by some of the world's best interior designers highlighting incredible brands and ideas — has elevated once again, and this year feels more immersive than ever.
But more than just its new exterior look, the trail of rooms is bigger than ever (this year, there's 22), and dare I say it, it's serving up even more varied inspiration. While the styles of the designs vary, from the more classical to the more modern, each has an A-list designer behind it, and each introduces ideas and interior design trends that feel new and thought-leading.
These aren't the sort of designs you often get to get up close with, not least because they're often tucked away in expensive properties, but also because they're 'unbridled'. As Kelly Hoppen, one of the designers at this year's WOW!house puts it: "This space was pretty much designed in an hour," she says. "Not having a client is a joy because you're designing everything you want to do for yourself, so that gives you the freedom as an artist. When you design something with ease, it's digested with ease," she adds.
So, want to see what some of the world's most inspiring interior designers do when they're given carte blanche? Here were some of my, and our team's, favorite features at WOW!house 2025.
This Media Room's Clever Use of Tech
I love when a room comes with a practical demonstration, and for interior designer Alex Dauley, working with the room sponsor Nucleus meant that her vision for this media room came with clever integration of technology.
It's hard not to be taken in by features like an artwork that lifts, at the touch of a button, to reveal a hidden bar, while another artwork cleverly conceals a speaker. "We had the original artwork translated onto a textile, so that the sound from the speaker could pass through it," Alex explained. Put your ear up to it, and it feels as though the sound is coming directly from the artwork's canvas itself.
Of course, the other highlights of this moody lounge space are more classically design-focused. The lighting is dramatic and mood-making, while the built-in sofa, a sumptuous design from Julian Chichester, is a rich terracotta velvet.
It's the sort of space you'd dream of having in your home for movie night.
This Study's Bold Use of Pattern
If you want the definition of small but mighty, walking into Staffan Tollgård's home office design might be it. The walls are covered with room sponsor Phillip Jeffries' Modern Muse, a large scale geometric pattern handcrafted from wood veneers. They've got an innate sense of texture — the sort of walls you want to reach out and touch.
"The one idea you can use at home is to be bold enough to use a strong graphic pattern on your wallpaper on all four walls," says Staffan. "For too long, people have said it's something just for a feature wall, but this room shows how it can be done."
It works so well, because of the scale of the room. It's narrow, and the pattern envelops you, while the furniture, including the Bean desk by Ceccotti Collezioni with its gentle curves, makes traversing the room feel comfortable.
This Art Deco Bathroom's 'Champagne Ledge' Vanity
We've been writing a lot about Art Deco interior design recently here at Livingetc, it is the centenary of the style, after all — but I've developed a new appreciation for the tenets of the aesthetic, when done right. Enter Laura Hammett's Art Deco bathroom design.
"We took the geometric motifs of Art Deco and applied them to the architecture of the bathroom, as well as some of the design details such as the mirror and the vanity," Laura told me when I visited the room. The small protruding ledge on the front of the vanity was a particular highlight for me, and I could see how it would change the way I interacted with the vanity with the undermount sink, something that can sometimes lack usable countertop space.
"It's the perfect spot to put your glass of champagne, too," Laura said.
The Eclectism in This Curator's Room
For me, this 'curator's room' by interior designer Brigitta Spinocchia Freund felt like one of the most original, artfully-decorated spaces within WOW!house this year. A bold mix of materials, patterns, and sculptural forms, the room, sponsored by carpet brand Stark, felt half like a parlour, half like an art gallery.
"I think the interesting part of the room is that we've fused a lot of fashion mixed in with art, textile designers, sculptors — it's a cross-pollination of a lot of mediums coming together," Brigitta told Livingetc.
The designer gives working with fashion designer Roksanda on the "Corbusier-inspired ceiling" as an example of how she's drawn together influences. "It's no longer just about interiors, but platforming new and iconic talent across mediums."
The Lighting Moods of This Spectacular Bathroom
This bathroom, designed by 1508 London and sponsored by House of Rohl, is a spectacular space no matter how you look at it, but it's one that really comes alive through its use of light. Again, I'm a sucker for a practical demonstration, and Paris Albert, associate at 1508 London, walked me through the different moods achieved at the touch of a button.
"'Reflection' transforms the bathroom into a hidden oasis for unwindering and refocusing; 'ritual' honors the timeless practices of bathing and cleansing, with light and shadow adding depth and mystery to the environment, and 'reverie' weaves cultural and histroical narratives into the space, inspired by traditional hammams," the studio explains. A different light setting for your different uses of this space feels like a clever bathroom lighting idea, but the design of the space, with its shower enclosure reveals, also just makes the light look beautiful, no matter what setting you're on.
The Bold Use of Paint in This Joyful Dining Room
Livingetc's interiors editor, Emma Breislin, was invited to spend an evening in the dining room, so I'll hand over to her for this one...
Compared to a lot of the other spaces, the dining room feels particularly bright and joyous, drenched in warm and sunny yellow hues (Broadway Lights by Benjamin Moore, to be exact.) And that’s on purpose, explains designer Peter Mikic, who collaborated with Benjamin Moore (the first official paint sponsor of WOW!house) on the space. “I wanted it to feel uplifting,” he says.
With subtle nods to his Australian roots — the hand-painted wall panels inspired by Indigenous art, and a mural by artist Billy Metcalfe that tells the story of Peter’s emigration — it’s glamorous, layered, and most importantly, energizing.
But yet, it’s still completely comfortable, filled with a mix of new and old, and cozy textures the designer insists you simply have to touch. In particular, the dining table, a custom piece by Peter that features an assortment of colorful stones carefully placed and surrounded by resin. “It’s so special,” he says.
All in all, “I wanted to design a dinner party no one wants to leave,” he shares, echoing the growing sentiment for the return of formal dining rooms. And having spent an evening in it, I can attest he’s achieved exactly that.
WOW!house is open from the 3rd June to the 3rd July, Monday to Saturday, so if you'd like to see these rooms, and many more, for yourself, you can buy tickets from the Design Centre Chelsea Harbour website.
