Why it's finally time to say goodbye to neutral interiors

Five trends to look out for at London Design Week 2019

• 7show all

Five trends to look out for at London Design Week 2019

• 1/7 Colours from nature

  Wallcovering on main wall is Khotan from Zak + Fox at George Spencer Designs, £297 per 10m roll. On left wall is Yucca, Sanderson at Style Library £69 per 10m roll. Right wall, Sur un Arbre Perche, Nobilis, £310 per 10m roll. Paint on main architrave is Papavera, £45 for 2.5L; paint on frame above ottoman is Venetian Red, £47 for 2.5L; paint on central background wall is Tropical Palm, £45 for 2.5L; paint on right architrave is Lazuli, £47 for 2.5L, all at Zoffany

• 2/7 Leaves (3 of 3)

  Terrarium paper, £79 a roll from Sanderson’s Glasshouse collection

  www.stylelibrary.com/San​derson

• 3/7 4. Leaves (2 of 3)

  Leafy tablecloth in Calathea at Sanderson Glasshouse, £59 a metre; blind is Manila embroidered fabric, £79 a metre

  www.stylelibrary.com/San​derson

• 4/7 Leaves

  Blowsy blooms give way to foliage with finesse.

  Acrylic Brahmi outdoor fabric costs £40 a metre at Designers Guild

• 5/7 5. Art

  Trawling the archives, designers find fresh looks, evoking Matisse (Manuel Canovas at Colefax and Fowler), the Bauhaus and midcentury pottery (Zoffany and Harlequin at Style Library). Zoffany has finely drawn "an artist’s muse”, reminiscent of Modigliani. Les Dames fabric on cushion, £99 a metre

  Andy Gore Ltd/www.stylelibrary.com/Zof​fany

• 6/7 Escape

  Expand the frontiers of your London home. Check out Arte where Paleo is based on tribal motifs, while Osborne & Little travels to Morocco. Foscari Fresco wide-width wallpapers are new at Designers Guild. This is Peonia Grande Zinc, £195 per roll, 70cm wide; fabric £69 a metre

  James Merrell

• 7/7 Craft

  "Made by hand” links you the buyer individually with a maker. Furniture is carved, lacquered, gilded, veneered with marquetry or even wrapped in vellum. This Elba outdoor furniture is handwoven in synthetic cane. Side table from £650 at Nicholas Haslam

LondonDesign Week 2019, opening on Sunday at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, is the hottest spring ticket for interiors — and it’s mostly free.

All the latest trends will fill the centre’s three airy, glass-roofed domes and the spread of fabrics, wallpapers, furniture, lighting, floorings, baths, tiles and more promises to be glorious this year.

The show is “trade only” for the first three days, so just for professionals. But from Wednesday to Friday next week, March 13-15, everyone is welcome.

There is no fee for entry and free rides in Mercedes minibuses to and from Sloane Square. There are on-the-house refreshments, including tea and cake, and even a Norwegian breakfast at bed makers Jensen. Guided talks and walks are also free.

So hit the Harbour. Home to 120 showrooms and over 600 of the world’s most prestigious brands, they’re expecting about 15,000 visitors, and an ambitious plan for expansion is well under way.

Colours are bright, bright, bright — pink is ever more vivid, while cobalt blues evoke a perfect summer sky above verdant greens, all bathed in sunshine yellow.

Patterns are pictorial, featuring façades and bookcases, birds, country views and a room of magnolia blooms by decorator Ben Pentreath.

Society decorator Nina Campbell is also “at home” with many tales to tell. So here’s a rare chance to surf the trends, meet design stars — and generally sort those dilemmas of décor.

Specially dressed, the showroom windows have classic photos of Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Twiggy, Bianca Jagger, Michael Caine et al, paired with stylish, modern stuff.

Beneath the North, Centre and South Domes are a staggering 81 showrooms over four floors. The adjacent Design Centre East now has a further five floors offering 39 more.

See how a fabric drapes, bone up on tassels and braids and master those tricky pattern repeats. Get tips for making curtains, sort out those pesky poles and tracks, hang that paper perfectly and scoop up samples for your mood boards.

Be a “design tourist” and visit the brands from overseas — numerous American outfits exude exclusivity. Their grandparents’ generation invented interior design at the start of the last century, powered by the original influencer Elsie de Wolfe, author in 1913 of The House in Good Taste.

“Beige, my colour!” said Wolfe of the Parthenon…or so they say. But blowing beige out of the water are US carpets, hand-cast and forged door handles, lighting, exquisitely crafted furniture and leather.

Germany, France and Italy are also richly represented, while newly arrived is Irish furniture and also a rug-maker from Belgium.

London Design Week 2019: diary dates

Visit dcch.co.uk or call 020 7225 9166 for dates and times of all London Design Week events at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, SW10.

Trade preview: March 10-12

All welcome: March 13-15, 10am-6pm; daily discovery tours at 2.30pm.

March 13: wallpaper whiz Kit Miles holds court; KLC School of Design will expand your creativity. Wendy Cushing shares trimmings expertise. Live demos at Jason D’Souza.

March 14: meet fabric explorer Helen Cormack at Tissus d’Hélène, for handprint and screenprints. Try a ceramics workshop at Christopher Peacock. Acclaimed interior designer Kit Kemp reveals her new book, 6pm-7pm. Tickets £10.

March 15: see the “extinct animals” by quirky Dutch brand Moooi in the showroom of their Belgian printer, Arte.