At WOW!house, the best of interior design just gets better

A bedroom by Salvesen Graham with plenty of colourful wallpaper — (Image credit: Salvesen Graham)

The words ‘interior design’ mean different things to different people, from colour, comfort and curtains to fabrics, finishes and floor plans. Yet a visit to WOW!house that opened its doors last week demonstrates that in the right hands it can actually be a form of alchemy that magically fuses all these elements together to create spaces imbued with soul.

Atmosphere is there from the start in the Hector Finch Garden Folly; the Size Group Façade designed by Darren Price; and the Artorius Faber Entrance Garden by The Gardenists, where the poise and balance of classically inspired form are built on a foundation of handcrafted materials as well as finishes in the form of Hector Finch’s new verdigris that elevates these distinctive spaces with a sense of timelessness.

The alchemy recurs throughout the spaces: the Turnell & Gigon Drawing Room by Albion Nord top lit by a magnificent cupola; the Benjamin Moore Minhwa Salon by Young Huh, inspired by the Millions Room at the Schönbrunn Palace; and the Salvesen Graham The Collection Primary Bedroom, which oozes both classic comfort and transatlantic glamour.

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An enduring memory of this year’s WOW!house will be spaces that resonate with a sense of drama, not only in the atmospheric celebration of decoration, as in the Schumacher Dining Room by Max Rollitt, but also where you might least expect them, such as the Ca’Pietra bathroom by De Rosee Sa and the moody half-light of the hidden bar behind the Romo Speakeasy Salon by Studio Duggan

An eclectic dining room with a marble fireplace and a crystal chandelier — A pair of octagonal windows set high in the walls enhances the architectural feel of the Schumacher Dining Room by Max Rollitt, as fabrics in wool, mohair and silk enrich its tactile quality.

A green wallpapered drawing room — The Zardi & Zardi Withdrawing Room by Sean Symington combines transatlantic influences to create a cosmopolitan, eclectic feel.

A modern and traditional minimalist feel for this drawing room — The Turnell & Gigon Group Drawing Room by Albion Nord offers a glimpse of bold architectural elements and layered interior design.

A very colourful salon featuring works of modern art — The Benjamin Moore Minhwa Salon by the New York-based firm led by Young Huh combines a variety of influences, notably miniature paintings depicting the lives of Mughal rulers in the Millions Room at Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace — as well as 'minhwa', Korean folk art. As with many of spaces at this year’s WOW!house, the ceiling has not been overlooked and here a coffered design adds a layer of depth.

A delightful Marble bathroom — The Ca' Pietra Bathroom by De Rosee Sa evokes the mood of a Mediterranean inspired space awash with early-summer light.

A speakeasy style spare room with a functioning bar — The Black Edition at Romo Speakeasy Salon expresses Studio Duggan's ability to create practical, liveable spaces that blend eras, styles and textures.

Another bathroom with a circular bath in the middle — The Samuel Heath Primary Bathroom by Rigby & Rigby is a 'tranquil space to encourage imagination'.

detail of the pavilion by adam architecture. it is very classical — The texture of Artorius Faber's handcrafted British stone provides a foil to the clean, classic lines of the elegant Size Group Façade by Darren Price of Adam Architecture, which welcomes visitors to WOW!house. A feature of the external space was the Artorius Faber Entrance Garden, designed by The Gardenists.

A pavilion at Wowhouse — The Garden Folly Façade by Darren Price of Adam Architecture and Hector Finch adds an exciting new dimension to WOW!house. In the tradition of follies, it is a 'moment of pause, surprise and delight'. Within, Studio Enass has evoked the escapism of an island hideaway.

WOW!house is at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, until July 2.

Giles Kime is Country Life's Executive and Interiors Editor, an expert in interior design with decades of experience since starting his career at The World of Interiors magazine. Giles joined Country Life in 2016, introducing new weekly interiors features, bridging the gap between our coverage of architecture and gardening. He previously launched a design section in The Telegraph and spent over a decade at Homes & Gardens magazine (launched by Country Life's founder Edward Hudson in 1919). A regular host of events at London Craft Week, Focus, Decorex and the V&A, he has interviewed leading design figures, including Kit Kemp, Tricia Guild, Mary Fox Linton, Chester Jones, Barbara Barry and Lord Snowdon. He has written a number of books on interior design, property and wine, the most recent of which is on the legendary interior designer Nina Campbell who last year celebrated her fiftieth year in business. This Autumn sees the publication of his book on the work of the interior designer, Emma Sims-Hilditch. He has also written widely on wine and at 26, was the youngest ever editor of Decanter Magazine. Having spent ten years restoring an Arts & Crafts house on the banks of the Itchen, he and his wife, Kate, are breathing life into a 16th-century cottage near Alresford that has remained untouched for almost half a century.