At the start of the month, we visited Grand Designs Live 2023 at ExCel London. Grand Designs Live showcases the most recent concepts, ideas and advice for home projects, with plenty of #InteriorsInspo too. Visitors can listen to various talks from experts on the Interiors Stage and Sustainable Future Theatre, as well as hear from Grand Designers themselves on their projects that were shown on the popular TV programme.
The exhibition brought together over 100 brands, split into four unique zones, Grand Build, Grand Interiors, Grand Gardens and Grand Kitchens & Bathrooms. There was also the Green Living Live area, which featured advice to visitors on how to decarbonise their homes, a variety of workshops and Kevin’s Green Heroes, a collection of today’s eco innovators.
Image: The entrance to Grand Designs Live 2023
Being a specialist kitchens and bathrooms PR agency meant we couldn’t resist heading straight to the Grand Kitchens & Bathrooms zone on our arrival. Our client InSinkErator exhibited, demonstrating its food waste disposers and specialist kitchen taps to visitors. The InSinkErator stand featured the stunning Brushed Gold 3N1 steaming water tap, which we love, as well as the sleek and stylish Velvet Black taps too! The team also explained to visitors the benefits of owning a food waste disposer if you are unable to compost inedible food waste at home.
Images: The InSinkErator stand at Grand Designs Live
The Grand Kitchens & Bathrooms zone also featured cooking demonstrations, elegant tiles and stunning bespoke glass doors. What’s more, Liebherr displayed its innovative range of fridge freezers and wine coolers. Regular readers of our blog will know that we love green interiors and since the COVID lockdowns, nature-inspired décor and biophilic design have been increasingly popular with consumers looking to emulate the natural environment in their own homes and reap the calming benefits they bring. Also in the Grand Kitchens & Bathrooms Zone was a stunning shaker-style kitchen being displayed by Anthony Mullan furniture, which featured beautiful black scalloped seating to complete the look.
Image: The striking green kitchen on display in the Grand Kitchens & Bathrooms Zone
Our next stop was the Grand Gardens zone, as we were keen to see the latest products and find out what was ‘on-trend’ to give us some inspiration to get our own gardens ready for the summer. We fell head over heels with the gazebos being displayed on the Breeze House stand. The varied collection of garden rooms were exquisitely decorated, each had their own interior colour scheme and some were big enough to house a home bar in the middle!
The Grand Gardens Zone was jam-packed with hot tubs, rattan furniture and outdoor lighting too, meaning visitors could design the garden of their dreams, while getting advice from the experts on the stands. A garden item that has been soaring in popularity is the outdoor pizza oven. While we all might not have space for a fully functioning outdoor kitchen, pizza ovens come in a range of shapes and sizes to suit even the smallest of spaces. There were plenty on show for visitors at Grand Designs Live and we may have to add one to our bucket list too.
Images: The Grand Gardens Zone gave us plenty of garden-envy
For those visiting Grand Designs Live for advice from industry experts, a wide variety of talks took place throughout the exhibition, covering a range of topics including ‘Mastering your renovation’, which offered advice and guidance on home-build projects to ensure they weren’t super-stressful or over-budget (a familiar outcome of Grand Designs’ projects!).
Over at the Sustainable Future Theatre, Kevin McCloud formed part of a speakers panel for the ‘Older property – New technologies’ session, where a group of industry experts discussed the trials and tribulations of introducing new innovations into older properties. The Interiors stage, sponsored by Ufurnish.com, was well-attended by visitors, keen to hear from interior design experts on a range of topics including ‘Using colour confidently’, ‘Feng Shui – Discover how to enhance prosperity, relationships and well-being in any property’ and ‘Designing with florals’.
Image: ufurnish.com sponsored the Interiors Stage at Grand Designs Live
In addition to the theatre and advice area, as part of the Green Living Live zone was an area dedicated to Green Grads, the future innovators in eco design, which showcased ideas for a greener, cleaner future. Grace Arrowsmith from Loughborough University highlighted the current situation farmers are facing when it comes to selling wool through an activist design project that shows the potential of the wool and denotes how we should be utilising it more within the textile industry to support farmers and reduce waste. Another wool-based Green Grads project sees Amber Thompson create beautiful cloud lampshades! We were also intrigued by Andrei Petrar’s green roof tile project that not only adds to the aesthetic of a roof but boasts numerous environmental benefits too!
Images: Green Grads projects on display at Grand Designs Live
Last, but not least, we checked out the Mini Grand Designs competition. Year 7 students at Prendergast Ladywell School were tasked with designing and building their very own Grand Designs project models, which were then voted for by visitors to the exhibition (using Lego bricks as voting counters). The pupils also had to utilise as many eco-friendly materials as possible in their designs. The designs all looked amazing and they were all worthy winners, however, we only had one vote each and in the end, we chose the stable and the open-plan house as it featured lots of our favourite colour, pink!
Images: Year 7 students at Prendergast Ladywell School took part in a Mini Grand Designs competition, which was voted for by visitors to the exhibition
We had a great time at Grand Designs Live and we hope to attend next year. Did you visit the exhibition at ExCel? Let us know what your favourite parts were in the comments!
Ends
Hannah at jmm PR
31st May 2023
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