This month the capital is serving up a veritable pick-and-mix of the best in design and architecture— and much of it is free to access. Open House is a riot for those keen to nose around storied buildings and award-winning residential extensions, while the London Design Festival rivals London Fashion Week for turning pavements into catwalks.
Read on for where to go — and how to make friends while truffling out antiques.
Treasure hunting
Can’t rope any pals into thrifting with you? Sign up for a Vintage Walking Tour with Liz Beardsell of Sundial Store (from £15, @sundial.store) and make like-minded friends, too. Kicking off at Spitalfields Market on September 11 and 25, take in 11 specialist traders and get the honest opinion of fellow antiques appreciators.
If you’ve never made it to The Decorative Fair at Battersea Park (decorativefair.com) then its 40th anniversary instalment should be your cue. From September 30 to October 5, it draws 130 exhibitors from across the country and Europe.
Hot collabs
Ceramics take the lead as fashion favourite Shrimps joins forces with Oliver Bonas to create a tabletop centred around brunch; cable-knit jugs and lion-themed butter dishes will elevate even the most basic of eggs and soldiers.
At The Conran Shop, potter Arjan Van Dal has created Family of Vases, an exclusive new collection inspired by a series designed by Sir Terence Conran in the 1990s. The 21 styles are ripe for collecting (prices from £35).
If you’ve had your eye on one of Bettina Ceramica’s Gigli Pedestal Bowls then its collaboration with Sarah Halpin means you could be the owner of one of eight styles of the wiggly vessels (£325). They launch during LDF.
London Design Festival
LDF, which runs from September 13 to 21, isn’t just an industry event. Marking its 23rd year, there are 10 design districts from Dalston to Park Royal spotlighting creativity in each local community, as well as workshops, installations and talks at the V&A and the Design Museum. Begin along the South Bank, where the lobby and OXBO restaurant at Hilton London Bankside are being taken over by Miffy with a joyful installation of 400 mini Miffys and a 6ft lamp.
Outside Royal Festival Hall, everyone is sure to be ‘gramming Lee Broom’s beacon — a unique lighting installation which reinterprets classic London street lamps to form a vast, sculptural chandelier. Visit Londondesignfestival.com.
Open House
Open House Festival returns from September 13 to 21 and while many tours are already fully-booked, renovators seeking to get inspired for their own projects should make a beeline for the open days at remarkable private homes. Look up ‘Hemp House’ for a snoop around Nimtim Architects’ reimaging of a 1930s semi and ‘Six Columns’, a RIBA House of the Year winner (both are in SE19 and taking place on Sep 20 — simply turn up and queue).
In Putney, ‘Thornhill House’ is a Grade II listed property reimagined by Studio McLeod with contemporary elements, while ‘Twin House’, which recently starred on Grand Designs, is an experimental family home with an upside-down layout nestled on a Victorian street in Stoke Newington. Visit https://programme.openhouse.org.uk/.
Retail therapy
Two indie London brands open their doors this month: Addison Ross, purveyor of irresistible lacquered trays and bobbin pepper mills, pops up at Symons Street, SW3 from September 16 for a six-month residency. It’s an ideal destination for gifting — its bowtie corkscrews are just £35.
Over at 80 Golborne Road, W10, Alice Palmer & Co has set up shop. Decorated in the homewares designer’s signature style, it’s a maximalist haven where her box-pleat fabric shades and tabletop ceramics will lure even diehard minimalists.
Book club
It’s a bumper month for fresh coffee table fodder. The Bible of British Taste, by art and design historian Ruth Guilding (£32, Frances Lincoln), takes readers inside the most characterful homes in Britain; think World of Interiors founder Min Hogg’s and Jasper Conran’s perfectly imperfect habitats.
Two big design names are also releasing hardbacks: Nicola Harding has penned Homing Instinct (Rizzoli, £47.50), which serves an an insight into her creative process and home-making philosophy, while Beautifully British Interiors (Rizzoli, £45) showcases the range of Sims Hilditch’s recent portfolio of work — think London townhouses, country estates and a party barn.
