I’m writing this month’s Zeitgeist Edit in the holiday spirit, as I’m just about to jet away for a short break. The weather in the UK hasn’t been feeling too summery so far, bar a short heatwave, so I’m ready for the escape.
However, the wet weather in June so far has dampened the spirits of the design world. Our lifestyle writer Gilda Bruno has been sending back reports of vibrant, exciting installations from Copenhagen design week that felt very uplifting, while I’m still reeling from this year’s WOW!house designs, which opened this month.
So yes, this month’s edit is full of energy and optimism, even if the summer’s forecast looks set to rain on my parade.
↑ Going Up — Bedroom Carpet
Bedside tables are transparent cubes containing works by contemporary artists and
found objects.
Image credit: Matthieu Salvaing. Design: Studio KO
Luxurious materials contrast against the building’s visible architecture, with concrete ceilings in each room.
Image credit: Matthieu Salvaing. Design: Studio KO
I used to be so staunchly anti-carpet in all forms. Perhaps a hang-up of growing up in the 90s, where the stuff seemed to get everywhere. In my first ever apartment, there was a carpeted bathroom.
However, I’ve softened to this floor covering, and now, there’s something that feels a little off about hard flooring in a bedroom to me. Yes, I’d usually choose a nearly wall-to-wall rug, but something about that plush feeling to the very edges of the room I’m finding newly appealing.
It’s probably not helped by the colored carpet trend, which I’m seeing in all my favorite schemes right now. Take Bus Palladium, a new five-star Paris hotel that finds its home in an iconic nightlife venue reimagined. Given a cinematic new look by designers Studio KO, the bedrooms, with their cork headboard and wall-to-wall red carpet, is the latest design scheme seared into my brain permanently.
↑ Going Up — Architectural Inspiration
Love Your Home has launched a new collection inspired by J.M.W. Turner
Image credit: Love Your Home
The sofa mirrors the curves and decorative detail of Sandycomeb lodge.
Image credit: Courtesy of Love Your Home
I love a furniture detail that draws from somewhere other than classic furniture design, and there’s one such detail in Love Your Home’s new Turner House collaboration that gives me a real thrill.
Inspired by Sandycombe Lodge, the home designed and lived in by J.M.W. Turner, the Turner’s House Collection contains elements directly inspired by the architecture of the house.
“When I visited Turner’s House during the 250th anniversary of his birth, I was struck by the balance of the building — it’s thoughtful without being showy, elegant but liveable,” says founder Leigh Harmer.
The Turner Sofa is a highlight, not only for its undulating architectural back, but for its intriguing leg design, directly inspired by the brick detailing of Sandycombe Lodge’s exterior.
↑ Going Up — Emerging Talent
The winner of last year’s student competition, Alireza Borhani with the project ‘Phoenix’.
(Image credit: Courtesy of Porada)
When you’re trying to find a way into the world of luxury design, there is no easy path. However, Italian design brand Porada has relaunched its annual competition for the design creative community that puts a spotlight on under-the-radar and emerging talent.
Not only is there prize money and the esteem that comes with winning the competition, but a couple of the designs that have won the competition over the years have even entered production, including the Pebble sideboard and the Ginkgo armchair.
There are separate categories for professionals, and students, too. Fancy entering? Applications are open now until 31st January 2027.
↑ Going Up — ‘Living’ Living Rooms
Each piece is made to order in the United States.
(Image credit: Willam White x Valley Studio)
Talk about a scroll-stopping moment. This riot of color is the Duvet System, the latest design by New York designer William White in collaboration with Valley Studio. It’s inspired by the concept of childhood building blocks, but not just in its vibrancy, but in that each piece is a modular piece that you can play with in your home.
One piece is a chair, two make a daybed, ten make a conversation pit, and that’s before you start to mix and match colors. As the designer explains: “Because in New York, space is never singular. It is a living system. The home becomes a salon, a workspace, a guest room, a place to land. Furniture must adapt — fluidly, intuitively, without friction.” It’s a living room that’s actually ‘living’.
↓ Going Down — Open Plan
Cesar’s Passage Doors are a new launch for this year.
(Image credit: Cesar)
We’ve been talking about the demise of ‘true’ open plan spaces for a little while now, but while people want homes that feel a little cozier of late, it’s the way we introduce transitions between rooms that has become the most important factor. It’s not just the case of adding more walls.
I feel like that’s one of the motifs behind the move from one of my favorite Italian kitchen brands Cesar into interior doors. These Passage Doors are epic floor-to-ceiling designs, with a tactile finish. Open them up, and you’ve almost got that open-plan feeling, but close them away, and you’ll make yourself a snug.
↓ Going Down — Damaged Flooring
This system was used for Francis Sultana’s Grand Entrance Hall at this year’s WOW!house.
Image credit: James McDonald
Each plank can be individually repositioned.
Image credit: Matt Payne
I have a huge scratch in the middle of my living room floor, and really, there’s not a lot I can do about it without ripping up the whole thing. That’s why, when, a few years back, I heard about Schotten & Hansen’s ‘magnetic’ floor installation system, I was intrigued. However, while it’s been used for several years for installations and showcases (I saw a brilliant ‘changeable’ tabletop made from it one time), it’s only actually just hit the market properly.
I saw it in person again at this year’s WOW!house event, and it’s such a clever idea. Where a click system virtually locks your flooring into place, so they can only be taken out on one edge, piece by piece, each plank of Schotten & Hansen’s magnetic flooring can be repositioned, replaced, and removed. So, if you have a bit of a scratch, you could take up a piece from under a rug and swap it, even.
It’s sort of a game-changing flooring trend in this sense, and it’s sustainable, too. If you move into a home with this system and want to change the floor, you could entirely take it up and re-use it somewhere else, without damaging it in the process.
