Round Up of Top 5 Picks 2018

In January of this year we launched our new social media and online series: The Top 5 Picks.  It follows a simple format each month – we ask an interior designer, or someone connected to the interiors industry, to choose their five favourite products from within the membership.

The designers have all taken their own unique approach when making their selection – some giving themselves an imaginary brief, others highlighting products they’ve used on recent projects, or their go-to suppliers from within the Chelsea Design Quarter. It has been fascinating to see how individual their selections have been and how well they reflect their own personal style.

We are continuing the series into 2019 – but before we move forward we wanted to take a moment to reflect on some of our favourite picks from each designer who has worked with us on The Top 5 Picks this year.

We were delighted when Grant Pierrus aka The Interior Style Hunter, agreed to launch the series for us in January.  Our highlight from Grant’s picks was his choice of the Blend tiles from Reed Harris.  We love the natural wood effect tiles that can be used in bathrooms. You can see why he chose these tiles and the rest of his picks in his round up here.

We can’t help but agree with Justin Van Breda about the stunning Murano Glass shell dish from Guinevere that he included in his selection.  He had used these on the dining table that was the centre piece of his Holiday House installation with Nina Campbell.  A really luxurious addition to a table!  Read Justin’s thoughts on this dish and the rest of his picks in his round up here.

We loved Martyn White’s overall selection – and our followers agreed!  We are torn between the eye catching “Because I Can” cabinet from Tatiana Tafur (also featured in Holiday House by Studio QD) and the luxurious Tamar Cast Iron skirted bath in gold from Drummonds.  Read about Martyn’s other choices here.

The fabulous Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead of 2LG Studio made a great selection – but for us the favourite of their choices was the Crimson Round Basin from Bert & May.  They were a delight to work with and you can find their full round up here.

Brian Woulfe took part in the Top 5 Picks in May and we also had the pleasure of spending the day in the area with his furry assistant Chow Mein (highlights on Instagram).  Once again we are torn to choose a single highlight as we love both the Skyscape rug from Deirdre Dyson (part of a the collection they launched at Maison et Objet in January) and the Pan range in matt black by Zuchetti from West One Bathrooms.  You can find all of his picks here.

At the start of the summer Sophie Paterson joined us to choose her favourite five.  Having recently worked with Waterworks on her utility room it was no surprise that she chose two of their products and we loved the RW Atlas Two Hole Bridge High Profile Kitchen Faucet, Metal Side Mount Levers & Spray.  Read Sophie’s thoughts and further choices here.

Sarah Mailer, aka Girl About House visited Chelsea Design Quarter in July for her Top 5 Picks.  You can see her Instagram stories about her picks in our highlights.  It’s hard for us to choose which of her picks we like best – but we think a Bolle 6 light Pendant from Christopher Wray hanging above the Brass Bateau with painted charcoal exterior from Catchpole and Rye would be very elegant!  Her full round up can be found here.

Henriette Von Stockhausen of VSP Interiors joined us in August and we felt that her picks really projected her style.  In between the picking and publishing Henriette’s choice from Guinevere sold – showing what excellent taste she has!   We found it hard to pick from her choices – but we loved the Crucial Trading Sisal Divine and also the Square Highlights from John Cullen Lighting. Henriette’s thoughts and the rest of her picks can be found here.

September brought us to Simone Suss whose picks were rolled out during Decorex, where she was one of the four designers chosen to design an area of the entrance.  We also enjoyed seeing Simone speak at their talk on “Bespoke: how to guarantee original design for every project”.  Simone chose two products from Go Modern – so we had to have one of those as our highlight and went with the Mannuti Garden Elements sofa. However, we couldn’t forget the Decorum Est Metal Leaf Palladium!  Al of Simone’s picks can be found in her round up here.

Hot off the back of his entrance design at Decorex we welcomed Henry Prideaux to the Top 5 Picks.  As with all the designers his choices were unique to him and we felt, again, reflected his own personal style brilliantly.   We especially loved the Canyon Console from Tom Faulkner which was previewd in September and officially launching next year.  We also loved the Coupole doorknob polished gold from Haute Deco – showing how important attention to even the smallest details is important!  Henry’s picks can all be found here.

The final designer to take part in our Top 5 Picks for 2018 was Irene Gunter.  It was fitting for her take part as she is based in the heart of Chelsea Design Quarter and knows our members very well.  Her picks were very popular and we especially loved the Heather Sofa from the Jean Louis Deniot collection at George Smith that she had recently used in a project.  Also the Tracery Rug by Kelly Wearstler from The Rug Company was also used to great effect in a study project.  Read Irene’s round up here.

Thank you again to all of the designers who took part in the Top 5 Picks in 2018.  You were all a complete pleasure to work with and we look forward to doing new things with you in 2019!