Interior Designer's London Guide: Chelsea Harbour Design Centre

You know the Design Centre? No? The biggest interior design shopping centre in the UK, you've never been? Then let us let you in on the best kept interior design secret in London.....

Design Centre this way

Neoprene Wallpaper - bonkers

Design Centre Exterior

Pink velvet sofa with Grey velvet cushion surrounded by Bianca Carrara Marble

Furniture at Chaplins

Loop Rug, Metallic Silver Leather and Pink Velvet Leopard. Too much?

The cosy Sheepskin Chair at Nicholas Haslam

Glass topped table top on a base of golden orbs

Foglio Brass Wall Light by Flos

Up5 Chair which self-inflates when packaging is opened - FUN!

Modern wallpaper display including Le Corbusier design

Copper Coffee Table at Chaplins

Sky Blue Hat Stand

Pollock and Beetles. Some of the more unusual fabrics to be found

Kitchen from Espresso Designs

Popham Cement Tiles at Ann Sacks

Sample Books - 1000's of them

Bertoia Diamond Chair in Gold

Sample Board

Mirrored and Brass-Inlay Tiles

Curtain Poles in every shape, colour and size

As the name suggests this enormous shopping centre hides in the exclusive harbour at the bottom of Lots Road, Chelsea. Within three domed areas and East building, all four storeys high, CHDC is home to 120 showrooms and over 600 of the world's most prestigious luxury interior design brands.
Wallpaper, tiles, paint, floor coverings, kitchens, fabric, lighting, furniture, books, window treatments, home accessories you name, they've got it.

As well as the showrooms, the centre boasts a restaurant, cafè, coffee shop, RIBA bookshop and member's club. It's so big you have to spend days in there to see everything. I saw hardly any of the showrooms on my recent three hour visit and still snapped all these photos, not to mention the masses of fabric and wallpaper samples I brought back to the office (more about them in my next post).

​So why haven't you heard about this until now? Well the centre caters primarily for designers, so no surprise that its wall-to-wall, white shirt wearing, beautifully presented blonde women (and men) sauntering around with bags of fabric samples, drinking coffee (for stamina) and discussing trade discounts (which are very important).

However, what a lot of people don't realise is that it's open to the public too (however do note that it's only open on week days but don't let that discourage you). So go and explore this mecca of interior design and if you need someone to hold your hand we'll come along and show you our favourites.