The 7 Most Exciting Design Trends Emerging From WOW!house 2026

WOW!house, at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, has returned this June for its fifth year, bringing together the world's best designers – both emerging and established – and iconic brands to create a 'house' that is a creative hub and a must-have on the calendar for anyone passionate about beautiful design.

This year's showhouse is made up of 21 rooms. Visitors move through it like a real home, from the front garden and facade to the back terrace, passing through drawing rooms, libraries, home bars, salons, bedrooms, bathrooms, and more. It's a true source of inspiration, with the designers behind each space on hand to discuss the concepts and ideas that shaped their rooms.

It's also an opportunity to see some of the biggest emerging design trends, from bold uses of color and interesting textures to new patterns and innovative approaches to space and layouts. Seeing these ideas in situ is a delight, as you move between rooms that both contrast and complement one another, creating a truly immersive experience.

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These are this year's biggest takeaways from our sneak preview of the showhouse.

1. Tassels, Trims and Fringe

Fringe has come in and out of style countless times. It was the height of maximalist sophistication in the 1800s, came back with the flapper girls of the 1920s, and returned again in a more relaxed, boho form in the 1970s. At WOW!house 2026, fringe, tassels, and trims were back, quietly adding interest to sofas, drapes, throw pillows, and even furniture.

Stepping into the Garden Folly Room by Studio Enass (left) – our Next in Design 2025 winner – the opulent deep red room was layered with texture, with an emerald green bullion-fringed cocktail table at its center. Elsewhere, tassels and passementerie could be found on the bolster cushions, the blinds, and, unexpectedly, hanging from the glass wall sconces.

Elsewhere, fringe could be found on sofas, replacing last year's major trend for skirted sofas – notably in the serene sea-blue Philip Jefferies Morning Room by Sara Cosgrove (right) and the cleverly named Withdrawing Room by Zardi & Zardi and Sean Symington Design, which also featured tassels on the drapes.

2. Playful Primary Palettes

Color was abundant this year. There were lots of moody, deep purples and uplifting pale blues and greens, but of course, a real showcase of color was seen in the Benjamin Moore Minhwa Salon by Young Huh (above).

The salon really does burst with color and pattern. It's a glorious contrast to the moody darkness of the Shepel' Library by Róisín Lafferty that you step out of. The concept for the salon was to create an exhibition space for a collector who loves to host, with lacquered walls covered in 55 inset boxes, each painted in a bold hue or filled with a hand-painted decorative mural by Fromental, inspired by Minhwa (Korean folk art).

You won't find many of Benjamin Moore's well-known neutrals in here (although the classic Chantilly Lace was the perfect backdrop for making the bold colors pop). Instead, its most playful hues come together – Galápagos Turquoise sits alongside the zesty green Citron, while the vivid orange Picante clashes beautifully with Jade Garden.

3. Shells and Sea-inspired Shapes

Shells have been on our radar since summer collections started to launch earlier this year. This classic summer motif has experienced a resurgence in 2026, with more elegant, subtle interpretations appearing in many new collections, so it wasn't a surprise to see sea-inspired shapes scattered throughout WOW!house.

First, in the Garden Folly Room by Studio Enass (right), blink, and you'll miss them, but as you turn to leave the room, you're met with a beautiful shell mosaic framing the doorway. The bespoke Reverie pendant by Gladee Lighting, which hangs in the center of the room, was also inspired by the fluted shape of a scallop shell.

Shells and sea-inspired motifs also appeared in the Philip Jeffries Morning Room by Sara Cosgrove (left). Most obviously, they take the form of a piece of artwork and a shell-shaped ornament on the coffee table, but there are more subtle aquatic references too, such as the Aura mural, which wraps the room in an ethereal, water-like print. The milky glass Fiore wall lights by Pure White Lines also resemble a shell-like form

4. Beautiful Bookcases

‘Bookshelf wealth’ may be a new way to describe the aesthetic of a meaningful, slightly disorganized, personal collection, but the concept itself is far from new – and it's one that appeared throughout the rooms of WOW!house.

The first example can be found in the Salvesen Graham The Collection Primary Bedroom by Salvesen Graham (left), which offers real insight into the person who inspired the room. There's no color coordination here – just a lived-in, layered bookshelf that adds even more texture to the space.

When asked to describe the room in one word, Mary and Nicole immediately chose ‘layered’, so naturally, the bookshelves needed extra layers too. Artwork doesn't simply sit among the books; it's hung directly on the shelves, creating even more visual depth.

The Zardi & Zardi Withdrawing Room by Sean Symington Design (right) also embraces layering and features a pair of characterful bookcases, both displaying artwork hung from the shelves themselves. The bookcases are painted in the perfect shade of green – Sage by Benjamin Moore – proving that a bookcase doesn't need to be a neutral backdrop. This muddy green strikes just the right balance, acting as a feature in its own right without clashing with the colorful book spines.

5. Curves

Curves were everywhere. Curved sofas and a burl wood desk appear in the Black Edition at Romo Speakeasy Salon by Studio Duggan; in fact, in this space, there were zero straight lines in sight. This meant the room had a very natural flow, which was key as the salon was designed to have many functions – a room to relax in, a room to work in, and a room to host in – and yet none of the spaces felt zoned off. Instead, they all merged with one another. It felt like a very relaxed, easy space to be in.

The Lalique Home Bar by Elicyon (left) was also all about the curves. Through an arched doorway, you are met with a glowing, soft room with an elegant Art Deco style inspired by Lalique's French heritage.

Perhaps an unexpected room to find so many curves was the Martin Moore Kitchen with Samantha Bartlett (right). The curves in this space are both clear and subtle. Every cabinet edge was curved, as were all the countertop edges, so the room felt very tactile and soft, which can be hard to achieve in such a practical space.

The room was inspired by nature and natural light, with its muted green and dark wood palette, plus the magical Ivy Shadow Chandelier designed by Tord Boontje for Porto Romana that looks like it almost grows from the ceiling. So many curves only added to this very natural feel.

6. Aubergine Hues

If one shade stood out as the shade of WOW!house 2026, it was aubergine. Luxurious, moody, and perfect for drenching a whole room, this deep shade has been a color trend for a few years, moving from a bold choice that felt very brave to a popular selection across all rooms – we are even seeing more aubergine kitchen cabinets than sage green ones in 2026.

At WOW!house, the first room where you meet this indulgent shade in full is the Black Edition at Romo Speakeasy Salon by Studio Duggan (left). Here, you step through heavy, deep purple drapes into a compact room covered in a deep, purply-brown linen-blend wallcovering that has the softest, most subtle sheen. The sofa is upholstered in a luxurious aubergine velvet, and the table lamps that flank it are made of a red-tinged marble. It might sound like an intense space – and in many ways, it is, which is the point – but all the rich, dark shades are unexpectedly offset by a wall-to-wall, almost lime-green carpet.

The deep purple hues continue into the Parlour by Martin Kemp Design (right), where you are met by layers of suspended fabrics that mean the room reveals itself to you slowly as you walk deeper into the space. The more you look, the more you see. A pair of deep purple curved sofas contrast with a geometrically shaped coffee table, and vintage finds mix with contemporary shapes.

You even see a pop of aubergine in the Benjamin Moore Minhwa Salon by Young Huh. Among the bright yellows, oranges, and reds sits Benjamin Moore's Grape Juice, grounding the more primary shades.

7. Vacation Inspired Bathrooms

One thing all the bathrooms at WOW!house 2026 had in common was that each was inspired by a destination. Stepping first into the Samuel Heath Primary Bathroom by Rigby & Rigby (right), you are immersed in a space inspired by the wellness sanctuaries of Scandinavia and Japan. At the center sits a large, round Japanese ofuro bath, and the gentle scent of Japanese cedarwood fills the air. The tactility of the room is a direct reflection of its influences – the timber-clad walls nod to Scandi style, while a lattice motif on the ceiling was inspired by Kumiko, a pattern often found on Japanese shoji screens.

The Ca' Pietra Bathroom by De Rosee Sa (left) offers another escape, this time to the Mediterranean coast, specifically in June, specifically in the 1970s. The color scheme draws from earthy, warm summer shades, featuring Ca' Pietra's honed marble in a beautiful, rose-tinted 'Versailles Rouge' used for the double sink and bath. This is contrasted by a dramatic, dark-veined marble on the baseboards. Glass wall lights from Valerie Wade add even more '70s glamour to the space.

As always, WOW!house is filled with inspiration from the world's top designers and iconic brands, but it's also a place to find very real takeaways that we can implement in real homes. The key trends this year, while stunningly executed, aren't overly exclusive; you can take something from each room that could be used in your own home, whether it's a color, or a texture, a shape, or a concept.

WOW!house is at the Design Centre Chelsea Harbour from June 2 to July 2, you can get your tickets here.

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