London for Design Junkies
We've already sent you to some of London's best design shops for the home. Here's a list of top design destinations and events for the design junkie in search of modern inspiration and historical perspective. After the jump: 400 years of English interiors at the Geffrye Museum in Shoreditch, the newest work of international design stars at the Design Museum along the Thames, and London's only antiques, vintage, and retro department store.
Design Museum
Shad Thames, London SE1 2YD
A leading international museum devoted to contemporary design, the Design Museum has a dramatic waterfront location and changing exhibitions that showcase contemporary talent. Just opened is a show about Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Rogers. Great gift shop, nice cafe, good restaurant with a great view, and late-night Design Overtime talks with design players like Vivienne Westwood and the architect of St. Pancras make this a must-stop for the London design freak.
Designers Guild
277 Kings Road, London, SW3 5EN, United Kingdom
The Designers Guild is a must-stop for those in search of quintessential British fabrics and wallpapers in a riot of colors and patterns for the most eccentric interior. They also offer an interior design service if you feel incapable of doing it yourself. Down Kings Road at #267, their Homestore is stacked with home accessories and furniture -- cushions, rugs, ceramics, tableware and glassware, antique and contemporary furniture, and one-off vintage pieces.
Geffrye Museum
Kingsland Road,London,E2 8EA;
The Geffrye Museum in Shoreditch is a decked out 18th-century house that showcases the changing style of the English middle-class living room in a series of period rooms from 1600 to the present day. They offer lectures and symposiums on London domestic design throughout the ages -- from 17th-century oak-panelled rooms to Georgian, Victorian, mid-century modern, and a late 20th-century living space in a converted warehouse. Be sure to visit the period gardens.
Grand Designs Live London
One Western Gateway Royal Victoria Dock London E16 1XL
From May 3-11 at the ExCeL center in London's Docklands, the Grand Designs Live London is a festival version of the popular TV show, with ideas and inspiration from featured houses, a huge range of UK kitchens and bathrooms, free decorating advice and seminars, and more than 450 exhibitors.
The Old Cinema
160 Chiswick High Road W1 London
The Old Cinema calls itself "London's only antiques, vintage, and retro department store." Housed in a 1890s picture palace you can find period antiques, 70's Danish, hardcore industrial, and more stock from around the world. From May 2-15, the Old Cinema hosts its annual Urban Art Show, where you can find international street art for sale among the vintage finds.
Victoria & Albert Museum
Cromwell Road London SW7 2RL
The Victoria & Albert Museum bills itself as the world's greatest museum of art and design, with its 3,000 years worth of furniture, ceramics, glass, metalwork, textiles, and more. And in addition to all that, until July 15 you can check out China Design Now, a temporary show devoted to the best in contemporary Chinese design. There's a great gift shop and late night drinks and live performances on the last Friday of every month.
