Furniture has always been the big category for us at Livingetc — the easiest way to make a statement and the sort of investment we know you take weeks, months, to consider. A central piece of furniture becomes the focal point that anchors a scheme, setting its mood through sculptural form, beautiful craftsmanship, a clever use of colour or a comfortably welcoming shape.

The winners in this year's Style Awards furniture category are particularly strong — today's standout designs are as comfy and versatile as they are visually arresting.

From beautifully engineered side tables and statement seating to heirloom-quality craftsmanship and dynamic new design talent, these are the pieces that stopped our judges in their tracks. Whether through innovative materials, impeccable detailing or silhouettes that feel instantly iconic, each winner is the sort of piece which can transform the spaces around it.

Best in class: Half-Pipe armchair by Gallotti&Radice

Gallotti&Radice started 70 years ago as a glass specialist and is now a leading name in contemporary furniture too. And the new Half-Pipe chair, bringing together the brand’s expertise in both fields, was a true standout at this year’s Salone del Mobile in Milan.

Made from recycled glass powder, it has a gemstone-like quality, catching the light and sparkling ever so subtly. ‘What a hero of a piece!’ says Livingetc's editor Pip Rich. ‘It is quite mesmerising and a reminder of the wonder that great design can inspire in the people who see it.

Shop the chair.

British design: Split Turned bench by Galvin Brothers

Galvin Brothers has long been utilising the best of British craftsmanship to create sculptural pieces of furniture, and this design is another huge success. It is a meeting of wood top and ‘buttered’ brass pedestal that gives the bench its signature lightness and lift. The result is a sublime piece that is weighty in form yet visually very elegant and graceful. "Just beautiful — a work of art as much as it is good furniture," says Livingetc's global editor in chief Sarah Spiteri.

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Newcomer: Tabitha Isobel x Dom Callaghan

Ferro is the debut homeware collection from interior designer Tabitha Isobel, created in collaboration with maker Dom Callaghan and including a side table, wall light and mirror.

Both the richly grained and characterful London Plane timber and brushed, on-trend stainless steel used in the design caught the eye of all our judges. "This smart collection is small but perfectly formed, and I’m excited to see what she’ll do next," says Pip Rich.

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Small furniture: Dual pouffe by Six The Residence

Many designers think of animal print as a neutral: this pouffe could just prove them right. The monochrome version of a tiger coat is just the perfect graphic pattern — not too shouty but interesting enough to enliven even the dullest corner.

"As someone who tends to shy away from print, I’m impressed to find one I feel I could easily fold into my home," says Livingetc.com editor Hugh Metcalf.

Shop the pouffe.

Table: Lozenge side table by De Rosee Sa

Lacquer (clearly the finish of the moment) shines in the form of De Rosee Sa’s new Lozenge side table. Its cantilevered tabletop means it can slide neatly over the arm of a sofa or chair, whizzed around to be useful wherever and whenever you need it.

"I like that it can be a laptop rest for working one minute and a coffee table for relaxing next to another, as versatile as we need our homes to be," says Sarah Spiteri.

Shop the table.

Collection: Rizzo by Trove by Studio Duggan

Inspired by Trove by Studio Duggan’s founder Tiffany Duggan’s love of the iconic designer Willy Rizzo, her Rizzo collection of tables captures his ‘let’s have a cocktail’ chicness perfectly.

Lacquer finishes gleam, hexagonal corners jut rather sexily, and there is a sense of pure 1970s glamour. "The exact table I want to gather my favourite people around for the most fun night in ages," says Livingetc's interiors editor Emma Breislin.

Shop the collection.

Craft: Avington chair by Bill Amberg Studio x Joss Stoddart

Bringing together two master craftsmen, the Avington chair marks a new collaboration between Bill Amberg Studio and rising British designer Joss Stoddart, and is made in the UK using English oak and oak bark–tanned British leather.

"The best of craft comes from collaboration, and seeing a powerhouse work with a newcomer shows how supportive our industry can be," says Emma Breislin.

Shop the chair.

Sofa: Curve by Aurelo

A newcomer on the design scene, the judges felt that furniture brand Aurelo deserved praise for the sensual yet welcomingly chubby roundedness of the Curve sofa.

Defined by flowing lines and soft geometry, it’s modular and able to go as large as you would like — what we have here is a family sofa that doubles as cocktail seating too. "This is the perfect shape to lie back into and onto," says Hugh Metcalf.

Shop the sofa.

See the rest of the Style Awards 2026 winners.

A beautifully designed bedroom should do more than look inviting — it should actively help you rest. As our understanding of sleep continues to evolve, so too does the way we furnish our most private spaces, with every layer, from bedding to bedside furniture, contributing to an environment that feels calm, comfortable and restorative.

Sadly, a good night's sleep is created through a series of thoughtful decisions rather than one magic solution (we all wish we could just wave a magic wand in this department).

So our Style Award judges were drawn to pieces that make everyday rituals feel just that little bit more special, whether it's slipping into beautifully crafted linen, breathing cleaner air through the night or waking up beside furniture that brings joy before you've even had your morning coffee.

Best in Class: Amber Cora Stripe bed linen by Secret Linen Store

Secret Linen Store’s linen has always felt particularly good — it comes from trusted sources in Europe, is as sustainable as possible and has a certain weft to it that is both light and satisfyingly strong at the same time.

The Amber Cora Stripe collection manages to bring together what the brand does best — a smart array of colours in a chic yet playful design. "We’re seeing a move away from standard plain white linen, as people want more characterful homes," says editor Pip Rich, "and this is a perfect example of why."

Shop the collection.

Collection: Build Your Own Bedding Bundle™ by Bed Threads

We’ve often felt bedding sets should match, and the best come in pairs. Two pillows in one colour, two in another, and a duvet that matches the sheet. But whatever your preference, the Build Your Own Bedding Bundle™ allows you to curate your own look.

"There is a freedom here that is really enticing, that makes bedding shopping very personal," says global editor in chief Sarah Spiteri.

Shop the collection.

Bedding: Cloud duvet by Panda London

What makes a good duvet? Something that manages to be soft and light yet cosy and cosseting, and always keeps you at the right temperature. Step forward Panda London and its lovely Cloud duvet.

Made with organic bamboo, it feels like down feathers but is so much more sustainable and affordable to source. "It’s really hard to believe what this is made from as it feels so wonderful and fluffy," says interiors editor Emma Breislin.

Shop the duvet.

Tech: HushJet™ compact purifier by Dyson

Despite being no bigger than a wastepaper bin, the HushJet™ compact purifier can clean the air in a room up to 100 square metres. The fully sealed, hi-tech machine captures and traps pollutants, allergens and mould spores, and it’s ultra-quiet, too, even at full power.

"This is so smart, and very useful during hay fever season as it’s particularly good at trapping pollen in the air," says Livingetc.com's editor Hugh Metcalf.

Shop the purifier.

Furniture: Judarn Hale bedside table by Anthropologie

You can rely on Anthropologie to bring a collection this characterful to the British high street. Covered in a print inspired by Italian tapestry that appears on beds, tables, cabinetry and desks, it’s the bedside table that stood out to our judges.

"We’re not really used to seeing decorative nightstands — this bedside table would be a joy to wake up to each morning," says Emma.

Shop the bedside table.

See the full list of Livingetc Style Awards 2026 winners.

For years, the bathroom has been more than a functional space. We've seen it become a retreat, a spa, a haven, an extension of the rest of the home. A space in which to recharge, beginning and ending each day feeling restored. And the best bathroom design balances function with personality, combining technical innovation, exceptional craftsmanship and sculptural beauty in equal measure.

This list of winners show just how far the category has evolved. Baths and basins are becoming statement pieces with bold architectural forms, hardware is as satisfying to use as it is to look at, and technology is making our daily routines more intuitive without ever compromising on style. Even the finishing touches, from beautifully woven towels to meticulously crafted fittings, have been elevated into objects of beauty.

Best in Class: Milazzo collection by Greg Natale for Plumbline

Milazzo is a collection of free-standing and wall-mounted baths and basins that Australian designer Greg Natale dreamed up after being influenced by the minimalist lines of southern Italian street design. They are all super contemporary in their roundedness, getting close to donut-shaped in how pleasingly plump each piece is.

"It’s rare to see a bathtub in a form that hasn’t been done before, but this feels very fresh," says Livingetc.com editor Hugh Metcalf.

Shop the collection.

Innovation: S - Range smart showers by Aqualisa

So this is quite genius. The S - Range shower series by Aqualisa enables every member of the household to save their own routine, set by temperature, flow and duration, which can then be activated via app, voice control, remote or controller.

"Being able to have pre-sets programmed in for each member of the family reimagines what it means to just be able to wash and go," says global editor in chief Sarah Spiteri.

Shop the range.

Hardware: The Hudson collection by Pembrooke & Ives x Drummonds

Developed by Drummonds in collaboration with the brand Pembrooke & Ives, The Hudson collection takes its name from the Hudson River, referencing the city of New York where both British brands operate.

Cross-head handles are smart and crisp, while lever options offer a pared-back alternative. "Not only does each piece look good, it’s also satisfying to hold and use," says editor Pip Rich.

Shop the collection.

Accessories: Signature Turkish cotton towels by Christy

When is a towel not just a towel? When it’s also a part of British heritage, made by the brand that invented the concept of towels in 1850.

Step forward Christy’s Signature range, which gets better over time — loops deepen, softness increases, and the lovely weight and absorbency compound. ‘My set was so soft on arrival, and feels even better after multiple washes,’ says Pip Rich.

Shop the collection.

Furniture: Marbella deck-mounted marble lavatory sink by Waterworks

It was the rich veining of the Marbella deck-mounted marble lavatory sink that first caught our judges’ eyes, that and its strikingly art deco, blocky form.

Available in eight stone finishes, the Marbella sink is nothing but a showstopper. "Just so beautiful and lavish and luxe. Exactly what we want to see in bathrooms right now," says interiors editor Emma Breislin.

Shop the collection.

See the rest of the Livingetc Style Awards 2026 winners.

We all know that the kitchen is the heart of the home, and it's also the space we tend to focus on most when doing a renovation. It's where we cook, gather, entertain, work and unwind, meaning every design decision has to balance practicality with personality. The very best kitchens are easy to use, withstand all sorts of wear and tear and look beautiful while doing it, too.

This year's Style Awards winners tick all those boxes. They are united in their ability to make everyday rituals feel more enjoyable. Whether it's an invisible hob that allows a worktop to remain beautifully uninterrupted, a pantry that doesn't require bespoke joinery or a coffee machine that embraces changing lifestyles, these are products that solve genuine problems without compromising on aesthetics.

Together they represent a new generation of kitchen design, where innovation is at its best when it quietly disappears, leaving behind spaces that are welcoming, hardworking and a genuine pleasure to spend time in.

Best in class: Espresso and cold brew coffee machine by Smeg

We’ve long loved Smeg’s espresso machines — both cute to look at and easy to use – but the new ability to make cold brew coffee in less than five minutes is a neat adaptation that plays perfectly into our longer summers.

"This machine was reviewed very favorably on Livingetc.com for a reason — most importantly because it makes excellent coffee," says interiors editor Emma Breislin.

Shop this coffee machine.

Solution: Mini water filter tap and glass cleaner by ABI Interiors

Ever since Gwyneth Paltrow unveiled the home bar in her LA home (designed by Brigette Romanek), the concept has been elevated. Marble slabs, built-in fridges, swizzle sticks that match the decor… and now a swish filter tap and glass cleaner by ABI Interiors.

"Is this essential? Of course not," says Emma. "But it’s perfect for the convivial, elegant way we all want to live."

Shop this system.

Furniture: Borough kitchen by Neptune

It’s such a joy to be able to work with free-standing kitchen furniture, which is exactly what Neptune’s Borough collection is. Including an island, pan drawer, undercounter refrigerator and larder among other things, it’s ideal for flexible living, for renters and for anyone looking to upgrade without doing an entire renovation.

"I love how it means anyone can have a pantry without the need for a joiner," says global editor in chief Sarah Spiteri.

Shop this collection.

Innovation: Novy Undercover invisible induction hob by Novy

The future is here and it looks… well, you can’t really see it. We’ve been talking about the idea of invisible hobs for a while, but up until now some have been inaccessible, tricky to install and prohibitively expensive. Novy’s subtle and chic Undercover hob changes all that.

"Totally seamless, and so very stylish — this takes integrated tech to the next level," says digital editor Hugh Metcalf.

Shop this hob.

Design: The Mix kitchen by Pluck

When tile brand Bert & May turned its east London showroom into a multi-brand home decorator’s dream destination called The Mix last year, a standout was this kitchen by Pluck.

Aubergine-hued cabinets sit next to warm London plane wood fronts, topped off by a dark Cullifords stone counter. "This kitchen draws you in — it’s the perfect palette of unexpected but welcoming hues," says editor Pip Rich.

See more kitchens by Pluck.

Detailing: Little Venice kitchen by Blakes London

Blakes London is always a brand we turn to for beautiful kitchens, and it’s the detail of the stainless steel units in its Little Venice project that stands out. Yes, chrome kitchens have been a rising trend for a while, but rarely have they seemed as warm as this one. "It’s the cute little round handles that give this hard finish the feel of an antique dresser," says Pip. "It’s a surprising and clever interpretation."

See more kitchens by Blakes London.

See the full list of Livingetc Style Awards 2026 winners.

Most of the judges have lived through big renovations themselves, and so know the heartache and heartfelt decisions that go into them. They agreed that the most memorable homes aren't defined by a single statement piece, but by the hundreds of thoughtful choices you make along the way, all shaping how a space looks, feels and functions. It's the weight of a window handle in your hand, the richness of the timber beneath your feet, the shadow line created by a moulding, or the softly irregular edge of a tile that all add up to create an interior with genuine depth and personality.

This year's Style Awards winners celebrate those often-overlooked elements that elevate a renovation. These are the products that designers obsess over because they understand that the smallest details often have the biggest impact. Hardware has become jewellery for the home, flooring introduces warmth and atmosphere from the ground up, while architectural mouldings and beautifully crafted tiles bring texture and rhythm. Your next renovation starts here.

Best in Class: Window furniture by Corston Architectural Detail

When we’re considering which houses make it into Livingetc and which ones don’t, it often comes down to the detail. Has the designer focused on the right edges? The perfect plug sockets? And what about the window furniture?

This is where Corston Architectural Detail comes in, the brand that takes the everyday like pull handles for windows (see also plug sockets) and elevates them into a design feature in their own right. "So satisfying to hold, but even more satisfying to look at," says global editor in chief Sarah Spiteri.

Shop the collection.

Tiles: Enso collection by Ca’ Pietra

Our love for organic edges continues to endure — and that’s particularly true of
the Enso tile collection by Ca’ Pietra, which comes ready weathered, its irregular edges seemingly already loved for years.

It’s the sort of design that makes everything around it more characterful, adding bags of charm to a new project. "These tiles are so soft and pretty,’ says Hugh Metcalf, editor of Livingetc.com. "I love how individual each one is."

Shop the collection.

Finishing touch: Kate moulding by Kate Guinness x Camilla Hampton

Inspired by the crenellated edge of a bedside table that Kate Guinness designed, this moulding — in collaboration with Camilla Hampton — is really so versatile. In a choice of covetable colours, use to add flair to the edge of a shelf, run around a door frame or demarcate a niche.

"It takes imagination to create something that can be used in this many ways," says editor Pip Rich.

Shop this moulding design.

Flooring: Classic Futures® collection by Ted Todd

There are real subtleties in the new real wood floors by Ted Todd. Harlington mixes rich brown tones with gentle greys, balancing richness and warmth; Chatsworth features golden yellow hues teamed with warm tan-browns for a classic wood floor feel; and Appleby has trend-driven terracotta against a red-brown brick undertone.

"They all make statements but not loudly, so you can live with them for a long time," says interiors editor Emma Breislin.

Shop the collection.

See the full list of Livingetc Style Awards winners 2026.

Great decorating is rarely about one big idea. Instead, it's the careful layering of colour, pattern, texture and finish that gives a home its personality, creating spaces that feel entirely individual. The products in this category run the scale of very eye-catching (hello, metallic tiger print) to quietly calm (that paint palette!). But each one impressed our judges with how transformative it can be.

In fact, the Style Awards judging panel felt that this year's winners reflected a growing confidence in decoration, a trend we've seen coming through in the homes that are now submitted to us. Wallcoverings are becoming more expressive, fabrics are richer in texture, paint is being used more creatively across every surface, and even the smallest details, from trimmings to specialist finishes, are being celebrated as opportunities to add individuality. Throughout this list, there are suggestions here for aesthetic overhauls you can make: big, small and everything in between.

Best in Class: Ambiguous Tiger by Harris Reed for Fromental

Following a stellar collaboration with lighting brand Porta Romana, fashion designer Harris Reed’s fabulous new collection for Fromental is just as much of a knockout. Encompassing five new designs across wallcoverings, plus cushions and throws, the whole collection is noteworthy, but Ambiguous Tiger is the standout for its metallic and maximalist sense of glee.

‘This is so sophisticated – the use of colour gives a whole new life to the classic tiger stripe,’ says Livingetc's global editor in chief Sarah Spiteri.

Shop the collection here

Trimming: Romaunt collection by Martin Brudnizki for Samuel & Sons

When Martin Brudnizki teamed up with Samuel & Sons, he wanted to create trimmings he could use in his own schemes – think Soho Beach House Miami and the Vesper Bar at the Dorchester.

No surprise, then, that the result is so sumptuous, beautiful and fun. ‘Samuel & Sons is the brand we turn to for perfect finishing touches – and this collab might be its best collection yet,’ says editor Pip Rich.

Shop the collection here

Fabric collection: 2026 collection by Yarn Collective

Last year saw Yarn Collective release a collab of acid bright and sky blue designs with Sister by Studio Ashby; this year, the shift is much more towards textures, deeper tones and warmth.

Each new design has an interesting weave, a tactile pile and an ability to subtly alter as the light changes. ‘You could easily do a whole house with just these fabrics,’ says interiors editor Emma Breislin.

Shop the collection here

Fabric Design: Cord by Pandora Taylor

Inspired by passementerie, Pandora Taylor’s woven fabric offers a way to add a playful flourish. She has used it on a headboard and as curtains, and it could also work well as cushions, trim or to cover a sofa. It’s characterful and comes in three colourways, though can also be used on the reverse for a bolder look.

‘I like the personality and energy,’ says Emma. ‘I can see it in both minimalist and eclectic schemes.’

Shop the fabric here

Paint Collection: Shoreline by Fired Earth

Small and perfectly formed, the tight edit of 12 paint colours that go into Fired Earth’s Shoreline collection all have a truly wonderfully calming softness to them. Inspired by shades found around the beach, the palette is easy to play around with and even easier to live with.

‘Putting any of these colours together in any combination makes a home feel like a real haven,’ says digital editor Hugh Metcalf.

Shop the collection here

Wallcovering: Anju collection by Larsen

Shown for the first time in Paris in January, the Anju collection by Larsen is inspired by ikats, Tuareg rugs and traditional weaving methods. Made with natural materials including abaca, water hyacinth, hemp and banana leaves, the result is a mix of earthy browns and soft greys, gentle tonal shifts and a lot of subtle texture.

‘The joy comes from the way they feel as much as how they look,’ says editor Pip Rich.

Shop the collection here

Newcomer: Jessie de Salis

Despite being based in Somerset, textile designer Jessie de Salis found herself inspired by the beautiful sun-drenched regions of northern Italy for her new Como collection.

There are wavy pinks borrowed from frescoed facades, warm burnt oranges echoing peeling stucco walls and classic beachside stripes in chalky blues and creams. ‘The collection is a showcase for how talented Jessie very clearly is: destined to be the next big thing,’ says Sarah Spiteri.

Shop Jessie's textiles here

Collaboration: A Dialogue Between Disciplines fabric collections by Zinc Textile x Dieter Vander Velpen

The Belgian design scene has long been known for its love of slubby linen and bouclé, so when we heard about this collab that’s close to what we were expecting. But not so – instead, we have a range of 1970s-style fabulousness in rich tones.

‘This is one of the most glamorous collections I’ve seen in years,’ says Hugh.

See the collection here

Paint finish: Flat Eggshell by Farrow & Ball

With the same delicious matt finish as Dead Flat, Farrow & Ball’s launch from last year, the Flat Eggshell, works easily and beautifully on interior wood and metal. Scrubbable and stain- and scuff-resistant, it is perfect for kitchen cabinets, skirting boards and even floors. With a 20% sheen, it’s the flattest interior eggshell the brand offers.

‘The fact this gorgeous chalky finish can be used on floors without scuffing is genius,’ says Pip Rich.

Shop the finish here

See all the winners of the Livingetc Style Awards 2026.

The finishing touches are often the details that people remember most. A beautifully woven rug, a sculptural mirror, an elegant candle, or a thoughtfully crafted tabletop accessory can all bring warmth, personality, and narrative to a room, transforming a space from well-designed into deeply lived-in. They're the layers that soften architecture, introduce texture and colour, and reveal something about the people who call a place home.

This year's Style Awards winners in the Accessories category celebrate the extraordinary creativity found in those final decorative flourishes. Some preserve centuries-old craft techniques, others reinterpret traditional materials in fresh, contemporary ways, while several prove that everyday objects can become works of art in their own right. Rugs emerge as the standout stars of the category, redefining how pattern, texture and form can shape a room, but every piece here shares the same ability to elevate its surroundings.

Best in Class: Medley rug by Peter Page

Part of Peter Page’s Between Lines collection, the Medley rug is woven from hand-spun silk on a cotton warp, forming a delicate linear structure that runs across the surface of the rug. It is inspired by architectural cues such as panelled surfaces, grid formations and repetition, and the result is a graphically geometric design that seems both nostalgic and comfortingly retro – and totally, completely contemporary.

‘It’s so cleverly made, to really showcase the craftsmanship behind it as an art form. I’m very impressed with Peter Page right now,’ says Livingetc's global editor in chief Sarah Spiteri.

Shop the rug here

Lifestyle: Basketweave mahjong set by Jonathan Adler

In a bid to cut down screen time, three of our four judges had independently found themselves playing mahjong for the first time in years. So Jonathan Adler’s elegant set in bright blue seems like the perfect piece for right now.

‘Playing this with the kids, or even when friends come over, is such a fun way to get everyone off their phones – and this set is wonderfully vibrant and energising,’ says Sarah Spiteri.

Shop the mahjong set here

Decorative Element: Kruller Extra mirror by OINK

With a gentle, sculptural detail around its edge, the Kruller Extra mirror by OINK manages to make wood seem like a fluid material. Originally created from offcuts that were simply too good to throw away, this design harnesses waste to create a piece that is full of character.

‘I can see how well it would enhance even the most minimalist and pared-back of schemes,’ says digital editor Hugh Metcalf.

Shop the mirror here

Soft Furnishing: The Explorer Palette collection by Majeda Clarke

Textile artist Majeda Clarke has pulled from some amazing influences for her artistic Explorer Palette collection of blankets and throws – taking inspiration from early female explorers and expertly reimagining the watercolour palettes in their sketchbooks.

‘The idea behind these pieces is so creative – and the end result achieved is even better than its parts,’ says Hugh.

Shop the collection here

Table dressing: Twist placemat by Coro Cora

Made from natural fibres by artisans in Colombia, these placemats are more than just a table setting – they’re a way of keeping an art form alive. Created using a traditional technique passed down through generations, the intricate patterns are woven on a wire frame in iraca palm.

‘It helps that they’re such good fun, a multicoloured way of making dining seem like a celebration,’ says Emma Breislin.

Shop the placemat here

Fragrance: Rhubarbe candle by Diptyque

The fab fruity freshness of rhubarb has definitely always translated well to beauty products, but Diptyque’s new Rhubarbe candle takes the scent to a whole new level. Mixed with aromatic patchouli and the earthy intensity of carrot seeds, there is a sense that this is the best of the outdoors and not a speck of mud in sight.

‘This smells like absolute heaven,’ says Emma Breislin. ‘Having it on while working makes me feel more creative.’

Shop the candle here

Collaboration: Floræ Folium Series by Sam Baron for Tai Ping

When rug atelier Tai Ping enlisted Paris-based designer Sam Baron, it didn’t realise he was going to revolutionise its offering. Incredibly, this is the first time the brand has made either square or circular rugs, yet the shapes works so well to showcase Sam’s stunning abstract floral designs.

‘With some of these pieces, you have to look really close to tell the lines are based on flowers, and that’s what makes it all so beautiful,’ says editor Pip Rich.

Shop the collection here

See all the winners of the Livingetc Style Awards 2026.

Sifting through the entries for our inaugural House of the Year award proved almost as challenging as selecting the winner itself. All five projects bring together that secret alchemy that makes them a Livingetc house — that is hard to explain but that we know when we see it. It's partly down to their bold creativity, their ability to mix eras and styles and still find a way to blend everything together smoothly. But it's also because each designer has taken a thoughtful approach to how we want to live today.

From quietly layered neutrals to exuberant colour, sympathetic restorations to inventive contemporary updates, each home demonstrates the power of great design to transform not just the way a home looks, but how it feels, too. Look a little closer so as not to miss any of the clever details, smart planning and original ideas. They represent some of the finest residential design we've featured this year — and while only one could take home the title, every project here deserves its place among the very best.

House of the Year: Highgate House by A New Day

For our first-ever House of the Year, London-based studio A New Day’s project in Highgate was a unanimous winner. On judging day, editor Pip Rich was immediately drawn to the colours, global editor in chief Sarah Spiteri noticed how well zoned, and therefore how good for families it was, while inteiors editor Emma Breislin and Livingetc.com editor Hugh Metcalf were both impressed by various details, such as the beaten metal edging of the desk in the entryway and the way the Wasabi granite was painstakingly cut around the power outlets in the kitchen splashback.

In short, not only is this house absolutely bursting with ideas (already making it the perfect Livingetc home), it’s also an incredibly well-considered space that was made specifically so that its family could easily live the lives they had expanded into.

Highly Commended: New York house by Greg Natale

Truly fantastical, this bold, evocatively colourful home in New York is a curated mix of collectable vintage and 20th-century design pieces layered with artful custom finishes.

Standout pieces, such as a pendant light commissioned from Crizu, handmade from paper flower bouquets, are just one of the ways designer Greg Natale has turned this home into a wonderland. ‘The decor is so whimsical but above all that, so, so pretty,’ says Emma Breislin.

Highly Commended: House on the Hill by TXTURED

A masterclass in being both pale and interesting, this striking north London period house was overhauled by design studio TXTURED to have more flow, and feel more harmonious.

Layered neutrals, warm browns, muted ochres and soft blush tones blend together to create a calming backdrop, a monastic world where the soul is soothed and looked after. ‘This home is ever so restful, and seems like it would look after anyone who lived in it,’ says Hugh Metcalf.

Highly Commended: Regent’s Park apartment by Gunter & Co

Showcasing studio founder Irene Gunter’s trademark use of warm colours, clever storage and smart ideas that make each space supremely liveable, this Grade II-listed apartment feels both personal and lived in.

As with all Gunter & Co projects, there is a very clever balance between on-trend ideas and aesthetic choices that will last for years. ‘Every space seems so layered, so interesting, so full of stories,’ says Pip Rich.

Highly Commended: Chelsea apartment by Elicyon

Oh, but this space is so grown up. Moire silk wallpaper in neutral tones, a TV that slides behind an artistic screen, a beautiful and enticing palette of rich golds, aubergine and chocolate to sit alongside the neutral details. Bespoke bedroom wardrobes are finished beautifully, helping to create a very polished and serene ambience.

‘There are so many clever details in this apartment, and I really like how traditional design ideas have been updated for a modern scheme,’ says Sarah Spiteri.

See the full list of Livingetc Style Awards 2026 winners.

There are people for whom summer holidays equate with nothing else than recharging. But if you are anything like us at Livingetc, time off also equates with greater opportunities to capture your sense of style, whether it'd be through an impromptu creative project you decide to pick up while OOO or, more simply, via the travel essentials that follow you around on your vacation.

As I write this, uninterrupted sunshine and sweltering temperatures have been hitting London for weeks on end now. And so, while certainly still key to a smooth, stress-free itinerary, there is a feeling that luggage itself — left in your chosen hotel or apartment rental at check-in to be emptied out and, then, filled up again right before departure — is somewhat losing its relevance. What's gaining momentum, instead, are all of those objects and lifestyle accessories that, rather than merely helping you in the transit to your destination, get to be out in the wild with you as you spend another summer you'll do anything not to forget. Laid out on sand and imbued with salty air, beach towels are one of them.

From print-like compositions carrying the humor, wit, and captivating atmosphere of decades that belong in a celebrated past to stripy numbers that'll make any sun lounger and bathroom rack look simultaneously playful and sophisticated, our beach towels 2026 edit is for daring globetrotters who fear not being seen and admired out in the sun, and for everyone wanting to keep a slice of that sunshine in their home year-round. Discover our picks of the ultimate summer 2026 buy.

In need of more tips? Revisit and browse our editors-led 2025 summer packing list to discover what each Livingetc staff member decided to bring with them on their long-awaited holiday — and what unique buys shaped the look of it.

For an even wider selection, explore our latest travel essentials edit for design-discerning globetrotters.

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Drop all lookbooks, log off Pinterest, and most importantly, stop scrolling: if the color, material, or motif of your kitchen and dining room renovation is all you've desperately been trying to wrap your head around recently, and if, despite all that, you still haven't managed to make up your mind just yet, you're in luck.

You might think our habit of constantly monitoring all the best restaurant openings is all about knowing where to dine out next. But really, the addresses high on our radar come in handy the next time we decide to dare a dining room glow-up, as they are ideal for satisfying our cravings for surprising interiors and mouthwatering plates.

Now that many hospitality addresses begin to resemble the look and feel of a home, we believe it's time to swap your usual interior design catalogue with some on-field research. Selected for their striking floors and the way they reinterpret traditional, vintage, and contemporary aesthetics into one, each of the eateries below is a masterclass in being bold from top to toe.

Mount St. Restaurant. London, UK

First Floor, 41-43 Mount St, London W1K 2RX

There's a reason why Mount St. Restaurant has made the cut in our edit of the best restaurants in London for design connoisseurs, or more than just one. What's certain, though, is that, together with its spectacular painting collection, its mesmerizing, terrazzo-style Palladiana mosaic floor played a role in the final decision. Composed of several types of marble fragments, this architectural element of the establishment is actually a hidden-in-plain-sight work of art itself. The brainchild of American artist Rashid Johnson, Broken Floor is a piece diners can "explore, interact with physically, and stand on", making a truly unusual masterpiece, and a pretty functional one. Upstairs at Mount St. Restaurant, more terrazzo extravaganza awaits, as Verde Api marble brings shine to the floors of the level and its central bar.

At home: terrazzo-marble flooring like this statement Palladiana one is the perfect way to infuse any home with the old-world grandeur of a storied Italian palazzo. Placed underfoot, it allows you to bask in it all day long. Easy to clean, resistant, and cool even in the hottest temperatures, terrazzo is the ultimate trick for homes that resist fleeting trends while seamlessly readapting to today's warmer climate. In one word, timeless.

SIX Coffee+Wine. Almaty, KZ

Bogenbai Batyr Street 117, Almaty 050010, Kazakhstan

Choosing a floor for your kitchen and dining room also allows you to bring a different kind of rhythm, or twist, to your interiors. That's what Kazakh coffee shop, wine bar, and restaurant SIX Coffee+Wine's shell limestone-inspired, tinted terrazzo floor does best with its chessboard aesthetic. All around, minimal furniture in chrome and pale wood, colorful stained glass windows, industrial-style lighting, and creaturesque, velvety soft seating are styled into a cadenced composition of straight and soft lines, to which the floor itself provides an eye-catching base. Inspired by the minerals and materials that characterize Almaty's own architecture, the interiors of SIX Coffee+Wine also show how even flooring can help you bring that outdoor-indoor living feeling into your home scheme.

At home: tinted terrazzo is a pared-back alternative to more extravagant, fully speckled surfaces like that of Mount St. Restaurant, great for kitchens wanting texture without pattern overload. Pair it with natural stone counters or wood for a crafty, grounding look.

Deux Gares Express. Paris, FR

2 Rue des Deux Gares, 75010 Paris, France

I know an iconic Paris hotel when I see one, and boy, is Hôtel Les Deux Gares iconic. Inaugurated last autumn, this proudly maximalist base in the city is sandwiched between Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est railway stations, ideally located for a pitstop vacation. Inside, you'll find spirited retro café and neo-bistro Deux Gares Express, where alongside the most delicious brioche croque-monsieur, Boulangerie Sain pastries, and Taka & Vermo selected cheeses thrives interior inspiration for the most irreverent among us. Designed, like the rest of the eatery, by British tastemaker and writer Luke Edward Hall, the bold geometric tiled floor of Deux Gares Express is an explosion of color not everyone will necessarily appreciate or seek to recreate in their own space. Still, boasting complementary tones of brown, yellow, and green, this kaleidoscopic look rings immediately country-chic, as if we were somewhere in rural Burgundy rather than in the much more trafficked, grayer Paris. For Hall, the color combo is a timeless, even neutral, one, "a million times warmer and easier on the eye" than those preferred by millennials.

At home: if anything, the designer's whimsical attempt proves patterned tile floors need not rely on traditional colors (black-and-white, navy blue) at all costs. Opt for earthy, saturated color combos styled with organic and wooden furnishings for a home that feels soft, welcoming, and nonchalant, instead of clinical.

Capiche. Surat, IN

1st, Samanvay, Gymkhana Rd, near Chandni Chowk, Piplod, Surat, Gujarat 395007, India

After Yiaga in Melbourne, one of the most impressive restaurant openings of this year so far, Surat's pizzeria Capiche is the second interior I come across in 2026 entirely clad in terracotta bricks. In the case of the latter address, the choice is thematic, its space designed to evoke the structure of a traditional brick oven. For architects Chinmay Laiwala, Jigar Asarawala, and Tarika Asarawala of Neogenesis+Studi0261, the earthy reddish-brown and burned-orange palette "radiates warmth, enveloping guests in a cocoon of rustic sophistication." We couldn't agree more. And you, will you be so bold as to go for a total brick look?

At home: continuous brick flooring is a flooring trend that infuses rustic warmth into open-plan kitchens, and works especially well when paired with extra earthy layers, such as wooden and rattan furniture. Consider it for a sturdy, textural, and truly unusual outdoor patio dining room, or experiment with it indoors for a Mexico City-inspired, tactile look.

Brown's of Leith. Edinburgh, SCT

4-6 Shore, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6QS

Ever since I came across the sensual industrial interior of Peckham's new bar and nightclub Palais, one of the coolest red-tinted bars in London, I haven't stopped thinking about its paint-drenched, lacquered interiors, matte chrome decor, and overall boldness. Brown's of Leith in Edinburgh, a former 130-year-old engineering works factory turned multi-restaurant food hall and nightlife venue, brings a similar edge to Scotland. The work of studio GRAS, the space captivates with its mix of exposed metal architecture and piping, sleek silver furniture, and soft cream curtains, though really it's the floor that gives the space its immersive ambience. Retained from the warehouse, the original red-stained and raw concrete flooring has been completed with reclaimed sandstone bricks sourced from a quarry. The result is perfectly imperfect.

At home: perfect for loft conversions or kitchens wanting that 'unfinished' warehouse aesthetic, worn, exposed, sealed concrete flooring is a low-maintenance option that pairs well with reclaimed materials and patina, evolving in tandem with the house and those who live inside it.

La Sponda. Positano, IT

Via Cristoforo Colombo, 30, 84017 Positano SA, Italy

Already spotlighted in our recent deep dive into the most beautiful pools in the world, Positano's legendary hotel Le Sirenuse is back on Livingetc for the sea of hand-painted, hand-glazed terracotta floor tiles that make its in-house restaurant, La Sponda, even more magical. Created specifically for the stay by the stay's late style curator, Franco Sersale, and the historic family-run ceramics workshop Fornace De Martino, these crafty design details stand out for their natural pigments — earths and oxides — and subtle reflections, coming to life at night when the restaurant terrace glimmers with lights.

At home: handmade glazed ceramic tiles like the ones of La Sponda are your secret to bringing Mediterranean romance home after your holiday in Il Bel Paese. Their uneven surface and one-off finish, a sign of the artisanal crafting and firing behind them, make them one-of-a-kind. Pick them for a veranda or outdoor dining terrace that captures the beauty of coastal Italy year-round.

Bar di Bello. Los Angeles, US

3300 Sunset Blvd #109-110, Los Angeles, CA 90026, United States

Any avid reader of Livingetc's lifestyle stories will know I am a real sucker for a listening bar. Los Angeles's Bar di Bello captures the enduring charm of 1970s Italian design, the soul-filled ambience of London's coolest sound hangouts, and the electrifying atmosphere of a film set into one. In the dim light of this 22RE-designed address, the marble and stone mosaic flooring could almost pass for checkered carpet, feeding further into its nostalgic vibe. Chocolatey brown and ochre travertine and basalt tiles have been laid to facilitate wayfinding in the space, paired with wood-heavy, walnut furnishings, back-lit surfaces, and sculptural lighting. It's a choice that conveys depth and character to a dining room that would otherwise risk coming across as flat, perfect to root people in place through patterns and warmth. We have a new contender for our list of the best Los Angeles restaurants.

At home: mosaic marble flooring makes for a glamorous, mid-century modern Italian pairing straight out of a Gio Ponti home. The understated, yellowed-like palette of Bar di Bello, specifically, gives it an old-Hollywood look that makes me think of sumptuous dinner parties and exclusive gatherings; a dreamy setting for keen hosts and their social life. Finish it with intentional pops of color in the form of eccentric vintage furniture or artwork for an even more striking result.

There's no stopping restaurant openings, and while every year we attempt to bring you a curated edit of some of our favorite and most recently unveiled culinary establishments, we know no roundup will ever suffice to capture the full range of design inspirations gathered in their dining rooms.

Here are just a few of the places we have fallen for since our latest list came out:

• First Look — Inside Le Fou, Vienna's New Anti-Trend Cocktail Bar With Big 'Main Character' Energy

• Finally, a Restaurant Terrace in London Serving Design Inspiration Fit for a Heatwave and Beyond — Here's All You Need to Bring Its Instantly Iconic Look Home

• "Like a Rustic Small Town Square You Stumble Upon on Holiday" — How Notting Hill's Romantic Lebanese Restaurant KINZ Mastered the Art of Indoor-Outdoor Dining

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As two of Europe's keenest collectors, deciding where to hang an artwork has gone from dilemma to everyday job for couple and interior designers Johanna and Friedrich Gräfling. The duo has been acquiring contemporary pieces from as early as their university years, when, to remedy their tight budget, they would collaborate with artists and even exchange creative services. Slowly building their archive from the ground up with an eye toward innovation in conceptual work, installation, sculpture, painting, and video art, they managed to gather enough pieces to launch Schlachthaus, an experimental exhibition space set inside a former slaughterhouse, which opened in the early 2010s.

Unsurprisingly, their eponymous, Frankfurt-based multidisciplinary design studio, Gräfling, has since become known for its refreshing blending of art, architecture, and everyday life inspiration. Versed in the three-dimensional language of plastic arts as they are in the chiaroscuro of the most compelling canvases, the designers bring the same theatrical quality to the residential transformations, historic renovations, and immersive art-led spaces they bring to life. This approach is best distilled by Salon Kennedy, the domestic gallery concept Johanna and Friedrich Gräfling inaugurated in a storied 1904 villa in their home base of Frankfurt, crafted to favor a more intimate, immersive experience rooted in IRL connection and dialogue.

The owners of over 400 original artworks, including masterpieces by prominent names like Alicja Kwade, Michael Sailstorfer, and Grace Weaver, the wedded duo and creative powerhouse knows a thing or two about how to hang art. What's clear from the start when I speak with them, though, is that simply placing artworks on a wall is not enough to ensure your interior feels artful. Instead, what lies around, over, and below your chosen inspirations is just as important — if not more — than the artworks themselves. Carry on reading to find out more.

What's the Biggest Mistake People Make When Decorating a Space With Art?

"There's a common misconception that art belongs at the very end of an interior design project. The walls are painted, the lighting is installed, furniture has been placed — and only then does someone ask what should be hung above the table. We have always approached it the other way around.

"For us, art is rarely the finishing touch. More often, it is the starting point. An artwork can shape the atmosphere of a room long before decisions are made about materials, colors, or furniture. It can influence scale, introduce visual tension, dictate rhythm, and even determine how someone moves through a space. Rather than filling an empty wall, we prefer to let art establish the room's point of view from the outset.

"That doesn't mean designing an interior to match a painting. In fact, we would strongly advise against it. One of the most common mistakes we see is treating an artwork like a color chart — lifting its dominant shades and repeating them in cushions, rugs, and curtains. This often diminishes both the artwork and the room. Instead, we think of art as a compass rather than a blueprint. An interior should respond to a work, not imitate it."

What's the Ideal Relationship Between the Artworks of an Interior and the Interior Itself?

"The strongest relationship between art and interiors doesn't always come from harmony; often, it comes from contrast.

"That response might be inspired by the emotional tone of a painting, the rhythm of its composition, the texture of its surface, or a subtle secondary color rather than its most obvious shade.

"A bold painting can feel even more expressive within a muted interior, while a quiet conceptual work may gain unexpected presence against richly coloured walls or highly tactile materials. Tension can be just as rewarding as perfect visual agreement."

We Often Hear About 'Gallery Walls' — Is That a Good Way to Include Art in a Scheme, or Not?

"Art behaves differently in a home than it does in a gallery. A museum offers the ideal conditions for viewing: uninterrupted walls, controlled lighting, and very little visual competition. A home is something else entirely. Here, art has to coexist with furniture, books, windows, lamps, architectural details, and the constant movement of everyday life.

"We don't see this as a compromise. Quite the opposite, these relationships make art feel more alive. Living with art means encountering it repeatedly — passing it in a hallway, catching sight of it through a doorway, or noticing how it changes with the afternoon light.

"A home should never become a white-cube gallery. Instead, art should help shape the character of everyday life, becoming part of the way a space is experienced rather than simply observed."

How Can One Ensure Art Supports an Interior Scheme, Instead of Crowding It?

"This is where what we call 'white space' becomes so important. Also known as negative space, white space doesn't necessarily mean white walls. It's the visual pause that allows an artwork to breathe.

"It might be an uninterrupted section of pigmented plaster, a low piece of furniture beneath a painting, an unoccupied corner, or simply the decision not to hang another work nearby.

"These moments of restraint are just as carefully designed as the objects themselves. Not every surface needs to be activated, and not every wall has to tell a story. Empty space is never synonymous with an unfinished interior; it creates hierarchy, gives the eye somewhere to rest, and allows individual works to maintain their own atmosphere."

How Do You Decide How — And Where — to Style an Artwork?

"Whenever we place an artwork, we ask ourselves a series of questions: what emotional energy does it carry? Is it quiet, confrontational, melancholic, or playful? Does it need distance or intimacy? Natural light or a darker, more enclosed setting? Should the surrounding interior create harmony or deliberately introduce contrast?

"We also think about movement: what is the first glimpse of the artwork from a doorway or adjoining room, and how does it reveal itself as someone walks through the space?

"These questions have informed many of our projects. At our Frankfurt exhibition space, Salon Kennedy, we deliberately avoided creating a conventional white-cube gallery. Instead, artworks sit alongside furniture, textiles, color, and architectural details in a distinctly domestic setting, allowing visitors to imagine how they might live with art themselves."

What's the One Piece of Advice You Wish Someone Had Shared With You When You First Started Engaging With Art in Interiors?

"For anyone designing their own home, our advice is simple: begin with an artwork you genuinely want to live with, not one that happens to match your existing scheme. Introduce important pieces early in the design process, before all finishes are finalized.

"Think about sightlines throughout the home, not just the frontal view. Most importantly, resist the temptation to fill every empty wall. Leave room for your collection to grow.

"An art-led interior isn't about matching a room to a painting — it's about allowing art to give the room direction."

Shop a Gräfling-Inspired Wall Art Selection

Want to get the inner scoop on Friedrich and Johanna Gräfling's latest Berlin Villa? See how the duo transformed a 120-year-old house into a kaleidoscopic canvas. Need more hot takes? Revisit our conversations with today's burgeoning designers for opinionated explorations of home and living.

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Retail destinations in London (and beyond) are beginning to resemble someone's beautifully curated and lived-in home. As Tom Horne, co-founder of essential menswear fashion label LESTRANGE, puts it in the notes behind the brand's just-unveiled new Soho concept, The Apartment, from greater demands come greater responsibilities, and room to evolve. "Ten years ago, retail was primarily about acquisition," explains Tom, one half of the label, known for its With Less, Do More motto and minimalist-chic seasonless wardrobe.

However, now that brands can go viral without ever opening a physical door, old-style brick-and-mortar stores have one challenge: attracting people by offering "something the internet simply can't replicate". The Apartment stems from that very aspiration. Completed by Tabitha Organ's namesake design studio, Tabitha Isobel, and launched earlier this month, the London concept store is a perfect synthesis between LESTRANGE's environment-conscious vision of fashion and the designer's "grounded, tactile, and instinctively calming" aesthetic, as she herself described it in a recent interview published in Livingetc.

Just like LESTRANGE moves away from the dynamics of fast fashion by releasing capsule lines comprising just a few high-quality designs made to last for a lifetime, Tabitha Organ, too, took the "low intervention" route. Instead of preparing for a full-scale renovation, the studio went on the lookout for striking vintage furniture to layer alongside curated pieces crafted for the occasion, as well as art and printed-matter collectibles. "A well-placed material or a single strong gesture will always feel more intentional than an accumulation of details," she told us a couple of months back.

That single-gesture confidence is what makes the space an instantly iconic design destination in London, as if it had always been part of the spirited geography of 68 Berwick Street. But let's look at The Apartment more closely.

Design Higlights — How The Apartment Welcomes Guests Home

As visitors come in, the first thing they meet is a vintage oak cabinet with glass-fronted doors, styled with books and objects and lit by a faceted hexagonal paper pendant hovering above their heads. Compared to a typical tillpoint, this is a quiet yet meaningful shift that sells passersby an atmosphere and a lifestyle, rather than foregrounding the transactional nature of shopping right away.

Past the cabinet opens a cocooning central seating area anchored by a striped olive-green rug, two vintage mid-century William Plunkett armchairs in deep green leather, and smoked glass nesting tables. These aren't just for ambience: visitors wanting to spend more time at The Apartment, browse for buys, and enjoy the shop at its fullest are encouraged to sit here for a while, discussing options while sipping a cup of coffee with friends or loved ones and, simply, relax.

Perfectly in sync with Organ's earthy, biophilic palettes of browns, greens, and burned reds, the clothing itself becomes an active protagonist in the interior scheme. Hung up mid-air on linear, built-in rails, it reads less like anonymous stock and more like a wardrobe you've stumbled into.

Here, the label's signature Trouser Bar sits against walnut-stained timber paneling reaching picture rail height, while a reimagined French Art Deco dresser — complete with chrome detailing and glass shelving — does double duty as both storage and display for extra sizes and colorways.

Toward the back, a vintage burl wood drinks cabinet has been repurposed into a crafty coffee station, paired with a newspaper rack and a sculptural Ferro wall lamp designed by Organ and crafted by Dom Callaghan — a folded stainless-steel piece that catches the light in what's easily the moodiest corner of the store.

Downstairs, the pace slows further even further: a dedicated wardrobe consultation room and sprawling changing rooms, softly draped in curtain rather than harsh doors, continue the same warm material story — oak flooring, Farrow & Ball's Slipper Satin on the walls, soft curtains from Nordic Knots — down to its quietest, most private moments.

Style Advice — How to Pull Off The Apartment's Look in Your Base

1. Give Furniture a Second Chance

Poetically curated throughout by Organ and the team at Tabitha Isobel, the strongest pieces on display at The Apartment aren't necessarily new, but carry the memories and the emotional and material patina they have gathered in their past lives, from their former owners.

What was once a drinks cabinet finds a new raison d'etre as a coffee station. A dresser is turned into a display case. To do this at home, visit your favorite antique markets or vintage dealers for buys with presence — then turn them on their heads (not literally, of course).

2. Forget Bright and Even Lighting: Go Warm and Low

Skip the shopfront-style overhead strips, spotlights, and skylights. All retail, restaurant, and hotel design experts agree: a single sculptural pendant or wall lamp, particularly those with a tactile surface, does more to set an intimate, welcoming tone than any amount of even, shadowless lighting. Whether applying the rule to your new shop or a corner of your home, you'll be thanking us when the trick entirely revolutionizes the feeling of your rooms.

3. Root in Place Through Sensory Touchpoints

When it comes to designing and furnishing a shop, it is easy to slip into overdoing. The truth, though, is that you'd never want to spend more than a few minutes in a store that feels suffocating and overly bright, let alone call it your home.

Organ knows that well, which is why she lets a single interior accent pull the weight of the flagship at a time. A rug, a stack of books, a thrifted ceramic vase: here, every component feels like a long-cherished piece of decor, aged in tandem with those who own it, or a souvenir from some remote destination.

By giving each element its own place and purpose within The Apartment, Organ reminds us of the beauty that lies in being intentional with the environments we inhabit. Indirectly, she also reminds us that clothing, too, should be something we treasure and choose — a mission statement LESTRANGE has embraced from the very beginning.

Learn more about LESTRANGE.

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The pink-shaded Strawberry Moon, symbol of abundance, union, and harmony, wasn't the only thing to hypnotize Bali's cultural and spiritual capital, Ubud, this June 29. As Moon Gang, a 5-suite luxury stay immersed in its lush rice fields and winding jungles, debuted in the village, it became instantly clear that a new cult destination was born — or so it was for us at Livingetc.

The boutique hotel, designed by Sydney interior design studio YSG, finds its home in a former private holiday residence that had deteriorated over the years. Acquired by Australian multidisciplinary platform Firstbase Studio, it was transformed into a spirited sanctuary rooted in "Indonesia's ancient and modern health, music and spiritual rituals, with a utopian spin," the group shared.

Sleeping up to ten guests, this intimate, airy retreat packs a vinyl-led hi-fi sound experience, complete with a DIY DJ station, and a panoramic outdoor spa into a sojourn that will be hard to forget. Once a bare concrete bunker, Moon Gang is now a contemporary tropical utopia — what would come out if Space Age and Boho design and Japanese modernism had a child. It is also one of the most exciting hotel openings of 2026.

Produced in collaboration with 15 of the country's most innovative artisans and makers with locally sourced, eco-conscious materials, the interiors of Moon Gang read as a letter to the future of interiors, catching a glimpse into what the design world could — and should — become: whimsical, climate- and nature-responsible, and yet, undeniably original. Become part of that transition and let your surroundings indoors with the three decor ideas listed below.

1. Move Over, Chemical Dyes — Embrace Plants as the Secret to Pollution-Free, Textile Extravaganza

It's hard to look at pictures of hotel Moon Gang without being taken by the crisp curtains that, cascading as if in a slow dance from its high ceilings, drape the space almost in its entirety. And so it's no surprise this was also the first detail to have me think of the destination as a masterclass in future-forward interiors.

Commissioned by YSG for Moon Gang, these custom curtains were hand-dyed by the Balinese textile specialists at Pagi Motley, founded by Andika Putra in 2019 with the goal of "increasing people's awareness of the dangerous chemical usage on textiles" and its impact on soil.

To color them, they used natural pigments derived from botanical ingredients like indigo, mango, coconut, and ketapang leaves, applying them by hand directly onto the fabric to obtain watercolor-like abstract impressions ranging from marigold and earthy tones to matcha green, aqua, and deep-sea blue. An artisanal process whose manual essence yields results that are unrepeatable and fully unique.

2. Bring on the Porthole Window — And Let Light and Air Through à la James Turrell

The earth-based limeplaster YSG used to breathe new life into the cement architecture of the mansion that now houses Moon Gang — a structural trick that allowed the studio to restore aesthetically damaged walls while giving it a crafty, adobe-style touch — isn't the only design element of the stay to ensure its interiors stay fresh at all times; so do the Space Age-y organic portholes that, carved into existing structures of the property, create a direct connection between the hotel environments and its tropical outdoors.

Now, blame it on the recently unveiled As Seen Below – The Dome, American artist James Turrell's 100th 'skyspace' artwork, and his most ambitious yet, but I can't help looking at porthole windows as a key component of innovative interiors.

Taking the form of a monumental ceiling porthole positioned in the subterranean expansion beneath the ARoS Aarhus Art Museum in Aarhus, Denmark, and opening up to a cerulean sky-like view, this installation seeks to reveal "that human vision is not like an objective camera: what we see inside arises through the controlled meeting of light, space, and the senses".

The same, of course, is true of what we perceive in a home interior, or, like in this case, inside a hotel, something portholes can contribute to altering, and largely in a positive sense. The uneven, glass-less porthole located on the left outer end of the music-filled Nongkrong Lounge, for instance, reframes the inside of the communal area as nothing but an extension of what lies around it — thriving vegetation, undulating tree trunks, and the green-themed Amang Pool Club.

In the suite named Sun Dust, drenched in dense indigo from wooden walls to curtains and artwork, and boasting a distinctively Japanese-infused look, something similar occurs. Casting shadows on a bamboo-base futon bed, a roof porthole stretches the beamed roof beyond its top, just like Apollodorus of Damascus is believed to have done in envisioning the oculus of the Pantheon in Rome back in 126 AD.

Whether implemented for their surreal effect or due to temperature-related concerns, porthole windows provide structural integrity and prevent cracks by evenly distributing pressure. They maximize natural light in tight spaces, improve ventilation without compromising safety, and even add a striking, space-saving architectural feature sure to attract the attention of your guests. No wonder so many design destinations, from Los Angeles' Melrose Hill district and Madelynn Ringo's NYC wellness design projects to Vietnamese restaurant Lai Rai in Peckham, are going full 'Turrell'.

3. Think Old as New — And Let Yourself Be Surprised by the Past Lives of Materials and Furniture

Perhaps, the greatest lesson Moon Gang's interiors hold is never to look at objects that have been discarded as something void of potential. Many of the boldest furnishings you'll encounter in the hotel were made from recycled materials: from the terrazzo-like speckled surface of the Concierge Desk and the Cosmic Kiosk's POS — bespoke designs realized in collaboration with recycled plastic bottle sheets by Balinese waste-recycling company Weedoo — and the reclaimed timber furniture bringing catching your eye with its odd shapes and uneven silhouettes — custom-designed by YSG and produced by Furnistool Bali — to the BYO Living-manufactured pool loungers, side tables, and bench seats crafted from the Sydney studio's bespoke designs in recycled plastic.

Rather than hiding or minimizing the use of plastic in the organic scheme of Moon Gang, YSG took a different, more daring approach, and addressed its extensive production by reworking it into something else. At the jungle-like Moon Gang's Ambang Pool Club, upcycled plastic is the real protagonist; its heritage-inspired knitted outdoor furniture demonstrates that the best way to reduce the negative impact of design is putting a spin on what's there already.

The benefits of reappropriating these materials aren't purely aesthetic: essentially beautiful and tactile at heart, the shou sugi ban elements integrated in the scheme (timber slabs made rot-, insect-, moisture-, and UV-resistant through surface charring with fire) guarantee natural weatherproofing without chemical treatment. Finally, the bedside Cloud Pendants that adorn suites like the Velvet Mood, dreamed up by YSG and sculpted from dyed banana leaf paper by studio Greenman Banana, are emblematic of how agricultural waste can be reinterpreted as one-off lighting elements that add instant atmosphere and awe.

Completing Moon Gang's transportative interior scheme are soft seating and cushions upholstered in fabrics designed by Raf Simons for Kvadrat, and others bearing the signature of leading Italian textile house Rubelli. Surprise statement touches by other designers, like a sculptural standing lamp by Alexis Dornier, also feed into the stay's colorful triumph.

But really it's the nature-inspired decor that, impressing more with less, takes the prize this time around: could a new era of hospitality design be on the rise? Hard to tell, but if it were, we know Bali would be leading the charge.

Revisit our travel trends 2026 report for more wanderlust-driven stories, or subscribe to our newsletter to have all the best Livingetc articles sent to you click-free.

With dozens of hotel openings announced in London every year, it's easy to miss the hottest new openings. St Clement, though, the first hotel concept in London by Soho House's former CEO and founder, Nick Jones, certainly wasn't one of the debuts to go unobserved. Nestled above the pioneering group's 180 The Strand private members' club, St Clement soft-launched in early June and will be fully operative in autumn. Although a preview was enough for it to catch our eye.

Discreet, elevated, and uncompromisingly irreverent, its Eagle + Hodges-designed scheme leans heavier on a residential feel than the flashy aesthetic typical of short-term holiday stays. That's exactly what makes it one of the best design hotels in London for Livingetc. St Clement is the latest addition to the 180 Quarter, a slowly growing 360-degree lifestyle conglomerate comprising a collection of 140 fully serviced, loft-style private apartments, London-favorite restaurant Toklas, workspace and creative studios, and multifunctional coffee shop, bakery, and deli Corner Shop 180, among others.

Swapping the grand, ceremonial essence of traditional hotels with an inspiredly curated selection of mid-century modern furnishings, striking artworks, and (the odd) timeless touches, the property confirms what we have concluded from our explainer on resort-core: that the time we take off our commitments shouldn't be viewed as fleeting, or with a due date, but as an inspiring reset that continuously inform the way we think of and experience life in our day to day.

Design Notes — Quietly Exclusive, Uncompromisingly Curated

Our desire to retain the feeling of our favorite holidays year-round is what's turning more hotels into sophisticated boltholes whose pared-back look and taste-heavy object and art curation make for longer-term engagement — whether we're looking to get energized or for repose.

That's what the stylistic choices of the design studio's co-founders, Alex Eagle and Sophie Hodges, conceal. Compared to the notoriously bold, layered look private members' club Soho House is known for across the globe, St Clement feels intentionally restrained.

Soft plaster walls, natural stone, brushed steel, oak flooring, stained-glass screens by Brian Clarke, and a kaleidoscope of geometrically cut, handcrafted furnishings, alongside vintage George Nakashima and Jean Royère homeware, bring the address closer to a private residence for the extra-rich than your average London stay.

The interior styling, which purposefully juxtaposes contrasting textures — from velvet to rattan, from wood to marble — and forms — sharp edges contrasted with softer silhouettes — throughout, reads as collected over time rather than imposed-on.

This is also evident in the generously sized (from 450 square feet up) suites of St Clement, complete with luggage-dedicated wardrobe compartments, end-of-bed benches storing yoga mats as well as hand-weights, and the characterful books, sculptures, and accessories resting on their shelves — not too many, nor too few. This is a place crafted to be lived in, not simply to be treated as a base, and God is in the details.

The Holiday Ethos — Fewer Touchpoints, More Unhurried Fun

Many people conceive hotels as a place to check into simply to get elsewhere. St Clement, on the other hand, is a destination in itself, and, as such, comes free of all admin-y steps associated with the hotel experience as we know it — in-person check-in, paid-for minibar snacks, laundry forms.

Similarly to New York's capsule hotel Now Now Noho, St Clement, too, has made the whole stay process paperless and digital-first: pre-arrival WhatsApp direct messaging and online payment links are shared with visitors to make them feel welcome, assisted, and with plenty of time in their hands to do as they please.

It's a model that can sound impersonal at first, but really strives to be the opposite: returning guests will be monitored in an 'orange book' and rewarded with preferential rates, while Jones also argued that reciprocal respect, kindness, and an appreciation for St Clement's model — not money or visibility — are the values he expects from his ideal clientele.

What Else Is In for You — Fine Dining, Wellness, and Uninterrupted River Views

You know a hotel restaurant is truly good when people head there even without sleeping at the same address — or head out to it on purpose from elsewhere. That's exactly what Jones hopes the newly launched Café Clement, the property's all-day French-Italian brasserie from chef Danny Bohan, will be for the British capital: one of its best restaurants.

Bobbi's Bar, the in-house speakeasy-style late-night venue, injects rhythm into every sojourn with vinyl DJ sessions running until (yes!) 3AM. Set to land in time for the real opening of St Clement in September, rooftop restaurant Lunette will see Sessions Arts Club alumna Florence Knight at the helm, promising mouthwatering food served against a jaw-dropping backdrop. Also incoming is the stay's three-floor health club and spa, a wellness incubator bringing together a 25-meter pool, hammam, banya, sauna, steam and treatment rooms, and ice baths.

Every St Clement resident will also be granted access to Soho House membership, a perk ideal for those looking to establish deeper connections in the city — and beyond. Because, as well as feeling reinvigorated, contemporary travel is all about chasing moments that matter, and savoring memories as they unfold. That, not hotspot ticking, is what St Clement is really for.

Book your stay at St Clement.

With its expansive spaces and quietly luxurious interiors, St Clement proves there is no need for excess to make a lasting impression.

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For some unknown reason, it seems much easier for restaurants with outdoor seating in London (and beyond) to slip into pastiche — garish fake flower arrangements and plants, cheap or démodé furniture, kitsch branded cocktail banners that wipe away the most remote sense of atmosphere. Luckily, though, there are exceptions to the rule that show al fresco dining doesn't renounce style, like owner Nick House and executive chef Theo Hill's Tower House.

The eatery, inaugurated in November 2025, revives the premises of a former mid-19th-century riverside home sandwiched between Richmond and Twickenham Bridge, and boasts a sprawling, elevated garden from which to savor its "spontaneous, generous, and full of joyful flavor" menu while soaking in the Thames golden hour. But that's not all.

Compared to most restaurants with outdoor seating in London, Tower House retains a consistently sophisticated aesthetic inside and out. Upon entering, visitors are greeted by a vaguely Asian-infused, golden-hued bar enriched with intricate floral wallpaper, velvety stools, and sheeny brass touches. With an antique Rosso Levanto marble fireplace as its beating heart, the eatery oozes a sense of undisturbed calm, and anchors people in place through a range of sensory accents, from wall-to-ceiling glazed tiling to patchwork flooring and sleek cabinetry.

Downstairs at Tower House, where the mood is defined by the live flame of the open-plan kitchen counter, the energy shifts from glamorous to eccentric-chic modern heritage: old-style wrought iron chandeliers complete with chunky candles hover above diners' heads. Together with the William Morris-like floral carpet and the flared-leg marble tables styled alongside sculptural upholstered stools in a lounging nook of the dining room, the unsuspected lighting fixture makes this past-present theme even more evident.

But back to Tower House's true piece of resistance: the restaurant terrace. Seating up to 100 guests and tucked behind a balcony door on this lower level, this is the ultimate spot to sip your drinks out in the sunshine. Lush palm trees, softly glowing lanterns, and considered outdoor furniture turn the patio into a vibrant oasis I have rarely seen before in the capital (if not at cult eatery Petersham Nurseries). You'll find winding grape vines spreading like paint on an abstract canvas on textured pergolas, gently illuminated Punica trees, and seasonal blooms to complete the scheme with a pop of color.

Designed for typical British weather, the terrace at Tower House is protected by a see-through glass roof, which opens up to make room for blue skies whenever the forecast predicts some sunshine. A timeless detail, black wax stamps seal the menus every day, turning the discovery of Hill's delicacies into a hands-on performance. They've thought about everything, haven't they?

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Speaking of restaurants, are you sure to have all of the best restaurant openings of 2026 so far on your radar? If not, you're still in time to up your reservation game: just make note of your favorite dining rooms for serial interior enthusiasts, starting with our top eateries for floor inspiration. We promise you won't regret it.

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Forget minimalist listening bars designed to bear no sign of decor other than their color-drenched neutral walls: in romantic Vienna's First District, a new moody cocktail bar is challenging the stripped-back look of Europe's coolest nightlife spots through plush patterned fabrics, shimmering lighting, and a rabbit-hole-like journey through intentionally contrasting textures, rich materials, and colors.

An experiential manifestation of the saying "more is more", Le Fou brings back old-school glamour and grandeur, recasting it for the style-discerning bon vivant and keeping shabbiness in check. Ask us, and we'll confirm: we're obsessed. Opened last December, Le Fou unfolds as a series of four interconnected rooms anchored by a central stone bar and located in one of Vienna's most charming neighborhoods, and is the work of London-based Austrian designer Theresa Obermoser.

She imagined the sprawling cocktail destination for owner Alexander Schrack in less than 12 months, having first received a call from the entrepreneur while she was still in the hospital recovering from giving birth in January last year. As Obermoser took to Freisingergasse 4, the location was born again, too — not by sticking to dominant trends, but by setting an aesthetic of its own.

Move Over, Trends: Le Fou Is Here, and It's Not Afraid to Experiment

Obermoser intentionally kept away from the biggest interior design trends to foreground a layered look where each element of the scheme "have presence while forming a cohesive whole". The same principle also applies to the venue itself: "Alexander wanted every room to tell its own story, almost as though each had its own main character," she says. "My job was to translate those characters into design."

Heavy with drama, the result is part Paris at nighttime, part London private members' club, with densely draped curtains revealing each ambience "one by one, rather than a single monolithic room".

"The decision to give every room its own personality — its own wallcovering and palette — and let the bar do the work of connecting them expresses our belief that interiors should be experiential and emotionally distinct, not uniform," adds the designer.

Again, this goes against the airy schemes we have seen trending over the past few years, where walls were knocked down, and spatial divisions vanished to embrace continuous home environments, an outdated living room layout trend that's now being reversed by using separation to create a sense of intimacy, comfort, and surprise.

Each Room, Its Look: Behind Le Fou's Environment-Specific, Progressive Scheme

Across Le Fou, curated art is replaced with bespoke wallcoverings, and abstract motifs set the mood for every individual space. To put it in Obermoser's words, here, "the architecture itself is the canvas", and each of the four rooms boasts its own standalone color story.

In the Main Room, alive with the same rusty tones of London's premium jazz club Upstairs at Ronnie's, and wrapped in striking moiré wallpaper by Arte, guests are welcomed in the most sensational of ways — staggering Murano glass chandeliers, velvet red banquettes, and an aura of spectacle.

A jewel-like atmosphere awaits inside the Blue Lounge, where an Arabian-blue palette is balanced off by glossy and matte brass, and with textured wallpaper and romantic drapery by Beata Heuman.

Even more opulent and eccentric is the Golden Lounge, possibly the most daring and 'transitional' of all four rooms — an irreverent mix of heritage and contemporary influences distilled across cocooning olive green seating, Art Deco lighting, navy accents, and lacquered surfaces, with Lizzo's peacock-pattern fabric and theatrical curtains bringing it all together.

Last but not least comes the Leopard Room, the most exclusive space in the house, serving as Le Fou's coveted retreat. Its floor-to-ceiling (and walls) Pierre Frey leopard print, fluted glass ceiling lamps, and punk stone tables aren't for the faint-hearted, but even then, "they're the most photographed corner in the whole bar," reveals Obermoser.

The Balancing Act: Lean Into a Sense of Bravery

The list of manufacturers that contributed to the project is almost as eclectic and varied as Le Fou's kaleidoscopic atmosphere, from textile pioneers Dedar and Ege Carpets to bespoke furniture makers Leta and Topos Workshop, curtain and cushion artisans Raumgestaltung Thomas Albrecht GmbH & Co KG, and bespoke joinery and built-in seating by Landeka Massmöbel GmbH, among others.

"Coordinating Austrian craftspeople with international fabric and wallpaper houses on a one-year program was the real test," Obermoser confesses. Without them, Le Fou wouldn't have turned out the vibrant mosaic of interior inspiration it is today. Recently featured in the prestigious Prix Versailles World's Most Beautiful Restaurants list, this riveting spot is a reminder that, unlike bravery, trends alone won't get you far.

Book your table at Le Fou.

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Feel as though you need more guidance? Read about how textile artist Mia Sylvia embraces fabric to capture the emotional essence of her surroundings, or browse our curated shopping buys for an extra decor spark.

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As someone who is almost begrudgingly type-A, the key time of year this trait comes in especially handy is summer. To be more specific, summer holidays. It results in being the friend who has that extra thing you forgot, rolls into airports unnervingly calm, and returns home with a suitcase with laundry items sorted and ready.

And this year's suitcase organization trends take these travel tricks to a new level. From the way you fold your clothes for travel to how efficiently you can unpack within your hotel and back at home, it contributes to a seamless holiday experience.

Think vertical packing, sorting by outfit, using packing cubes, having a dedicated bathroom bag, organizing with laundry in mind, and choosing luggage that stays neat. So, if you're planning your next holiday, here's what the experts recommend.

1. Vertical Packing

"When you fold all your clothes using the KonMari folding technique, you can pack your clothes upright, rather than in piles," says professional organizer Hester van Hien. "Now you can see everything you've packed, avoiding the need to rummage around to find the items hiding at the bottom of your suitcase."

She tells me this is also called file-style packing, as you’re ‘filing’ your clothes in a similar way to how papers are stored in a filing cabinet. "If you don’t already store your clothes vertically, I would also recommend changing the way you organize your wardrobe at home," she adds.

Whether you're packing for a short trip in something like this Small Weekend Colour-Block Cotton-Canvas Tote Bag from HAY or you're planning a long getaway with luggage like this Mykonos 4 Wheel Hard Shell Medium Suitcase from M&S, vertical packing is the trick to steal.

2. Packing Cubes for Everything

If you're travelling without packing cubes to organize your luggage, you're doing it wrong. And Hester explains that this trend is at its most alive in 2026. It's a clever way to sort your clothes, but she tells me these organisers are also being used to categorize the rest of your on-the-move necessities.

"Consider storing electrical items, like chargers and travel adapters, medication, and even your out-of-office entertainment, like books, magazines, and pocket games, in packing cubes," she suggests.

"And this trend is an extension of rule four of the KonMari method — to tidy by category. Except, you're now taking this trick beyond your home and influencing how you travel."

I love this Charcoal Set of 3 Packing Cubes from M&S if you're a minimalist. Or, you can try these Compression Woven Packing Cubes from THULE.

3. Sorting by Outfit

The way you pack might seem like just a task of the moment, to get your clothes from inside your closet to the shelves of a resort's wardrobe. However, the way you pack can truly change the way you unpack your suitcase in a hotel. And the trend of packing by outfit proves just that.

"Tidy travellers are no longer packing by clothing type," says Stephanie Dinnie, director of operations at Packmate. "They're now packing by occasion, too. Think one cube for your airport look, one for date night, and one for your beach stylings."

This genius trend of using packing cubes as wardrobe capsules will save you so much time. And it'll help you style the outfits you thoughtfully planned, rather than forgetting what goes and where a missing piece of apparel is at the last minute. Which is why I've got my eyes on this Striped Packing Cubes Set from Oliver Bonas.

4. Quality Wash Bags

While toiletry bags are not necessarily a new concept by any means, the importance given to them has only grown. Whether that's in part to advancing AM and PM skincare routines or luxury brands elevating the way these accessories look, it's a new trend to take inspiration from.

Not to mention, it plays an important role in organizing your suitcase. "Toiletries are being packed like a tiny bathroom, not tossed in as an afterthought. Clear pouches or hanging wash bags mean fewer leaks and less counter clutter," says Stephanie.

"And no frantic digging through socks to find your cleanser when you are already late for dinner. You also don't have to listen to your lotions and potions rattling around when wheeling your suitcase!"

If you prefer a toiletry case you can hang in your hotel bathroom, the Essential Hanging Wash Bag in Stone from Antler. Or, if you like to keep your wash bag right by the vanity, this 5 Pack Large Utility Bag Set from M&S offers organization by type of product.

5. Considering Laundry

"The humble laundry bag is finally getting the respect it deserves. Keeping worn clothes away from clean ones makes the whole trip feel calmer, and it stops the journey home from becoming one big suitcase of things to wash," says Stephanie.

Using a shopping bag to sort your laundry from your clean clothes no longer makes the cut. Instead, the trick is to carry a dedicated laundry bag that keeps the rest of your apparel from losing its freshness.

This Ruffle Laundry Bag from Not Another Bill is a cute way to bring this organization trend into your home. Or you can opt for something simpler like this Laundry Bag in Green from Antler.

6. Luggage that Links

Although this is more about the organization of your collective luggage, rather than what's inside a singular suitcase, it might be my trend so far. Over the last few years, it has felt like the luggage you're caught travelling with is as much a style statement as the clothes within.

And while that continues to ring true, this year, we're seeing a return of thoughtful functionality working alongside aesthetics. And at the heart of the trend is luggage that works as a unit.

Think a carry-on that slides onto a suitcase with a spot for your travel pillow to hook on — all so you can weave through an airport without the nerves of dropping anything. And the BÉIS Hybrid Collection might be the best example yet, with luggage that links and moves as one.

Now, you probably have your destination all set. But if you're looking for some flaunt-worthy stays, our guide to the best new hotel openings in 2026 will set you ahead of the curve.

For some last-minute holiday shopping, take your pick from our joyful edit of beach towels for summer 2026 or dive deep into our curated selection of design buys for style-discerning globetrotters.

And in the meantime, subscribe to the Livingetc newsletter so you can get a design download directly in your inbox.

It doesn't take more than a weekend out with friends to feel as though there is nothing that doesn't cost you money when you live in London. But while hyper-touristy locations in the city are designed to make you feel that way — think, for example, about the never-ending succession of brutally lit shops crowding the entire length of Oxford Street, and the even more extortionary food traps that, profiting off travelers' exhaustion, charge you £20 for a plate of overcooked pasta anywhere near there — others, including many concept stores, restaurants, and cafés, are replacing a strictly commercial aesthetic with a much warmer and more distinctive look.

The goal? Convincing you, even if just for a moment, that you're not simply there to purchase something or indulge in your favorite selection of small plates, but to feel at home — spending quality time more than merely tapping your card.

That more and more concept stores and foodie hotspots in London are going residential in their interior choices isn't anything necessarily new. When I first discovered fashion insider-turned-homeware dealer Dani Hides' vintage hub Passé The Store on one of the platform's Brockley Cross pop-ups a couple of years back, my desire to make its layered setup — stunningly preserved antique artwork, softly glowing handmade sconces and table lamps, and statement soft seating in the quirkiest silhouettes — my own was pretty much immediate.

In a world where anything from our fast-fashion purchases to rentals and, now, with heat-induced work-from-home routines, even offices, feel more volatile than ever before, could the places we choose to visit to switch off — eateries, coffee shops, hotels — or reward ourselves with something new — clothing and furniture stores — become the ones where we feel most welcome? The design of these three new London destinations speaks for itself, and reveals what style tricks, collectibles, and materials make spaces feel more personal.

1. Cubitts The Yard

Unit 14, Bagley Walk Arches, Coal Drops Yard, London N1C 4DH

Inaugurated on June 25, Cubitts The Yard, a new 3,000-square-foot global HQ and optical manufactory in London's King's Cross, is the first permanent location of Tom Broughton's British spectacles brand Cubitts, which he founded in October 2013. But it is also one of the most fitting manifestations of what seems to be a growing residential-retail design trend.

A multifunctional destination reuniting manufacturing, training, and cultural programming in one place, the flagship revives the former Victorian stables of the nearby Crosse & Blackwell vinegar brewery into a post-industrial maze that makes the district's zealous working past and Cubitts' own contribution to that legacy instantly tangible in a refurbishment led by London studio 51 architecture.

A conversation between old and new, raw and polished, sets the scene for an immersive experience: visitors can discuss the specifics of their next pair of specs and get their old ones repaired, dive into the Cubitts archive, or attend live events, all while being surrounded by mid-century modern furniture, vibrant textiles, and thriving plants — not your usual optician setup.

The building itself and the use made of its many rooms dictated the look of each environment, 51 architecture's Catherine du Toit and Peter Thomas tell me. To balance its pared-back shell, "gentler materials, textures, and colors were introduced to create warmth and comfort, with beautiful new and vintage pieces inspiring the creative process," they explain.

"A space for slower conversations, the consultation room is more formal and intimate. Toilets were completed with new tiled finishes to accentuate their utilitarian essence, while the monolithic staircase is stripped back to its original raw concrete finish with bespoke new handrails for a pleasing tactility."

An atmosphere of relaxed attentiveness and playful material precision across both contemporary and heritage details beautifully marries the ethos of Cubitts. The brand seeks to fight fast-fashion's disposable mindset through made-to-order, enduring, and intentional eyewear that turns traditional craftsmanship into a style statement. The same is true of its time-traveling headquarters.

Cubitts' waste-conscious, essentially smart essence also informed what to keep from the warehouse's original architecture. More specifically, 51 architecture saved anything "that was useful and stood as a homage to the area's tough working past and continuing utilitarian present", heralding a new era for the brand "that's fresh, current, and members of the public are welcome into".

The patina of the existing finishes is retained to offset new materials and furniture, including the timber workbenches made by Lozi Designs. From the entrance to the communal dining area of The Yard, occasional pops of lime-based colors by Simon Marsh "bring fresh energy to tired parts of the building that still work but needed love, like the ducting".

Hard-wearing, industrial, and easy to look after, the communal kitchen and dining area — dotted with spirited warm wood furnishings — allows each Cubitts employee "to meet, socialize, and be recognized as part of a common enterprise". With the smell of freshly ground and brewed coffee spreading from newly installed La Marzocco machines, feeling at home has never been easier.

2. Réalisation Par

95 Mount St, London W1K 2TA

Part of the appeal of these new design destinations in London stems from their ability to simultaneously feel home-like and relatable and aspirational — a fantasy world we can, for now, only strive toward. Such is the charm of Melbourne fashion brand Réalisation Par's new Mount Street flagship, completed earlier this spring by interior designer Sophie Baker for co-founders Alexandra Spencer and Teale Talbot.

"Réalisation Par has built the 'dream girl' world that women connect with emotionally, and from the beginning our ambition was to bring that feeling into a physical space for the first time," she tells me. "Rather than designing a conventional store, we wanted to create somewhere intimate, glamorous, and immersive — a place people would genuinely want to spend time in." They succeeded.

The inspiration came from 20th-century Milanese, London, and Paris apartments that embodied "an effortless, understated glamour", including the Milan home of late Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, filled with "quiet confidence, timeless materials, and carefully collected pieces".

To ensure the store felt more like a beautifully curated home than a boutique, Baker layered custom furniture and lighting, contrasting materials such as wood, stone, plaster, and terracotta, soft textures, and carefully chosen vintage pieces into a scheme that, she explains, "carries a sense of character and permanence rather than feeling overly styled or temporary."

Softness was key, too. "I want the spaces I design to make people feel good, so lighting is intentionally low-level and decorative rather than bright and harsh," Baker adds. Parchment walls and rich timber details, silk, antique brass, and luxurious fabrics were all picked for their warmth and tactility — "so the space feels inviting and beautifully lived-in".

Having previously imagined several addresses for pioneering private members' club group Soho House, Baker knows how to infuse presence and familiarity in rooms devised to be inhabited for a short period of time. In this case, though, the 95 Mount Street building also played its part in shaping the result.

"The scale, high ceilings, and beautiful rear windows overlooking the gardens bring an incredible quality of natural light that makes the whole space feel elegant and effortless," she explains. Here, every element — the architecture, furnishings, and collections — has been styled to sit together naturally and celebrate the address's history without competing with it.

Emotion sits at the heart of the Réalisation Par brand. "The dresses have an effortless confidence that makes you feel good, and we wanted the interiors to evoke that same feeling: the space is designed to capture that dream-like energy, allowing visitors to slow down, immerse themselves in the environment, and leave feeling uplifted and inspired," Baker concludes.

3. Cremer

1 Geffrye Street, Hoxton, E2 8JH

Asked about the rationale behind the Réalisation Par flagship's mansion-like ambience, Baker argues it taps into reigniting a deeper interaction between people and their surroundings: "we wanted to create a destination where visitors could spend time, connect with the brand, and experience its world beyond the collection itself, while celebrating thoughtful craftsmanship and design." The latest venture of Ramzi Abouchalache, founder of hip Farringdon listening bar and record label Space Talk, all-day café, bakery, and canteen Cremer serves that same vision on a plate.

Launched earlier this month, Cremer was crafted with care by Spazio Leone's founder, Gennaro Leone, and long-term collaborator Oscar Piccolo. Similarly to Dalla, the Italian neighborhood restaurant they dreamed up together to transport the warmth, emotiveness, and storied design legacy of their motherland to Hackney in 2023, and one of our favorite restaurants in the capital, the address stands out for its unpretentious yet highly researched and slightly sentimental atmosphere.

An unruly selection of books, juxtaposed with one-off illustrations, sculptures, framed artworks, and organically shaped vases, appears in colorful blocks atop wall-wide shelving. Hand-painted countryside scenes interrupt the warm wooden paneling of the bar scheme. And woven rattan baskets, constellating the space together with embroidered fabrics and mismatched cushions and seating, give the space the tactile essence of places you've learned to recognize on repeated visits throughout your life — your parents' own living room, a relative's crafty office and workshop, a holiday home that belongs in the family.

At heart, Cremer is a coffee shop and day-only restaurant. But its ability to foster a sense of familiarity, disrupting the non-stop rhythm of London life and convincing people to linger just a little longer, is one the Hoxton establishment shares with the places closest to us.

From the moment Ramzi Abouchalache reached out to him in September, Leone knew the goal for Cremer was one: "to create a place where you could spend the whole day without feeling rushed — somewhere you could work, read, and have a bite to eat, where everything is made in-house, with that feel of intimacy and comfort," he tells me.

The familiarity one can breathe at Cremer also comes from the real-life connections that made the address, literally. Leone and Abouchalache have been supporting each other's projects for a while and, joined by Piccolo, they found a way to conceive the space that "felt very organic" — emblematic of their shared vision of hospitality and craftsmanship.

An airy, light-filled, open-plan scheme where natural woods and white-washed walls are brought to life by intricate tapestries, unique objects, and immersive abstract canvases; Cremer doesn't seek spectacle, but holds a reassuring presence and stillness at a time when everything else moves faster than we can often afford to chase.

Somewhere midway between a library, an artist studio, and a lively canteen, the result "represents where Spazio Leone is heading: a space built around collaboration, storytelling, and creating experiences that go beyond traditional interior design," Leone explains. You know where people will be finding shelter from the heat this summer.

Keen to know what else is hot in the world of interiors this month? The Apartment by sustainable menswear brand LESTRANGE joins the likes of Cubitts the Yard, Réalisation Par, and Cremer in blending the boundaries between retail and the domestic.

Dive into design writer Olivia Wolfe's anticipated ICYMI for the only furniture releases to have on your radar this summer, or look out for editor Hugh Metcalf's July cultural mashup, The Zeigeist Edit, which is coming up soon. Plus, don't miss out on St Clement, the first hotel venture by Nick Jones, Soho House's former CEO and founder.

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It's been a hot moment since the announcement of Swedish designer Gustaf Westman's IKEA collection launch sent his fanbase and Livingetc's website into a frenzy last autumn. Yet, the Instagram-viral creative isn't backing down on projects, as confirmed by the unveiling of his pop-up corner shop at Selfridges, open through July 25.

That his debut drop with Swedish homeware giant IKEA was a total success, with queues of Westman stans fighting over the final pieces of each design available to collect in store from the day it launched on September 20, shouldn't surprise. Fantastical, tactile, and pop at heart, the pastel-tinted plates, mugs, meatball trays, lamps, and flower vases released on that occasion captured a growing desire for decor that isn't beautiful in the traditional sense, but eye-catching, irreverent, and playful.

Needless to say, the Stockholm sensation's practice ticks all of the above — and beyond. Immortalized as piles of dirty tableware left in the sink at the very end of a long party, captured in unsuspected locations of the domestic setting — wrapped in stripy bedsheets, placed atop a sleek piano for a sculptural touch, or even piled up into a rainbow-like statement installation — rather than simply sitting on dining tables, Westman's glossy and soft-edged creations capture the true spirit of today's 'time-poor' culture.

In a world where even the slightest move is embedded in technology, there is a freedom that comes from embracing the beauty and comforting analog essence of our own chaos. Westman's latest 'chunky' serveware drop, available to shop at Selfridges now, will help you ignite your mess with uncompromising joy and character. Find some of my favorite pieces below, or explore the full range via Selfridges' website.

After the launch of his viral and instantly sold-out collection for Swedish homeware giant IKEA, and the announcement that his Stockholm home had landed on Kindred, ready to book for your next holiday, Westman continues to steal the show with his boldly extravagant designs.

His rounded creations and pastel-toned palette show that young designers are still craving softness in decor. For more style and trends reports, join our newsletter and let inspiration come find you.

The vaulted ceiling and arched mezzanine aisles at KINZ could easily pass for those of a restored basilica — at least until you learn the Grade II-listed 1930s building, designed by Sir Edward Maufe at 50 Notting Hill Gate, was once a Lloyds Bank. Its past is far more profane than the space suggests at first glance. But an unconditional devotion to Lebanon's home cooking and heirloom recipes turns sibling entrepreneurs Jad and Karim Lahoud and Rasha Khouri Bruzzo's recently unveiled new restaurant into a temple to emotional dining all the same.

When we visit the eatery at the end of June, it's not yet midday, and warm rays of sunshine draw geometrical lines onto its tiled flooring, cutting through the wide tracery windows placed near its roof and bouncing off the stone in a warm, suffused glow. One of this year's most exciting London restaurant openings, KINZ unfolds as a progression of seamlessly connected rooms anchored in organic materials, delicate hues, and timelessly beautiful furniture. It boasts a private dining room seating up to 16 guests, with pomegranate-inspired plastered sculptural ceilings, cream zellige tiles, embroidered curtains, and earthenware vessels echoing Lebanon's own atmosphere and capturing a sense of intentional domesticity.

An even more intimate experience awaits inside the bank's original, upcycled vault, now repurposed as a dimly lit cellar and wine tasting room, where crystal sconces and lacquered surfaces infuse the space with glamour. But it's KINZ's interior scheme — al fresco charm without the punishing London summer heat — that makes this all-day brasserie feel like exactly what its name promises: a treasure. Like its sibling establishment, Palestinian eatery Akub, KINZ was imagined by London design studio Fare Inc.. Below, founder Annie Harrison tells us about the process and the choice of finishes, lighting, and materials that helped them shape its indoor-outdoor aesthetic.

What Specific Interior Choices Helped You Craft KINZ's Current Airy Layout?

"The building at KINZ was always very bright, but we highlighted this with simple neutral paint for a summery outdoors atmosphere. To make it even more garden-like, we enriched the wrought iron staircase leading diners upstairs with stained glass dowels, and placed juxtaposed glossy white and red tables to further the glow."

What Are Some of the Best Furniture Options for an Indoor Garden Feel?

"For the dining room at KINZ, we selected stripe upholstery, a trendy outdoor furniture choice that instantly gives a garden-like feel, but is actually also found quite often on banquette seating throughout Lebanese terraces, in between arches, and under lovely canopies. Here, it was implemented across artisanal chairs, curved sofas, and characterful ottomans, with many of the pieces crafted by local makers.

"To complement the look, we've styled more traditional Lebanese vessels alongside large photography of Beirut locals — a combination that strikes a beautiful balance between heritage, locality, and contemporary minimalism, something you wouldn't expect to find in an old bank in Notting Hill."

Lighting Was Also Key. What Can You Tell Us About It?

"For the restaurant design of KINZ, we wanted an impactful light feature hovering over the central space without it feeling too commercial or overbearing.

"Lanterns give a much more atmospheric feeling — as if strung high over a rustic small town square you stumble upon on holiday — where locals gather, play games, dine, and drink at all times of the day. The red color of the main lamp was chosen to balance the red tables below and contrast against the very neutral white walls."

What Impressions Do You Hope KINZ to Leave to Those Who Come Visit?

"I hope that people leave KINZ feeling like they've experienced Lebanon with a sense of warmth and ease that makes them want to stay a little longer, and that they remember the atmosphere and feeling of the space as part of their memory of the meal."

Tempted by KINZ? So were we, even before realizing how good the food is. Start the meal off right with a cucumber cooler, one of the restaurant's zingy mocktails, packed with honey, lime, mint, and Fever-Tree Soda.

Next, it's time for some sharing bites — the creamy walnut and tahini cod fillets and the moreish pumpking 'kibbeh', shells stuffed with spinach, onions and walnuts, were my lunch highlights, while social media editor Abla Fahmi found her latest guilty pleasure in KINZ's djej wa toum chicken 'sandweechet', filled with sweet slow-cooked chicken and pickles and toum garlic sauce, and served in a hot baguette.

The aromatic stuffed vine leaves and baby courgettes make for a hearty treat, while the generously sized super food salad will give you the nutrients and freshness needed to get through yet another heatwave. Sadly, we failed to keep some space left for dessert, which alone is a good-enough reason to head back to KINZ.

Keep an eye out for more restaurant, bar, and hotel openings in our lifestyle pages, like the leafy Tower House, or subscribe to Livingetc's newsletter for weekly design trends, collection launches, and travel alerts.

That the latest piece of smart home tech advice you'll find on Livingetc is coming from me, an analog-obsessed, eternally nostalgic renter who has categorically refused to purchase a TV to avoid it disrupting the (aspirational) mid-century-modern chic scheme of her London apartment, is somewhat ironic. But if even I can recognize the functional beauty that lies in some of the most iconic designer collaborations electronics houses have come up with over the last couple of decades, chances are you too will be tempted.

The truth is that, despite my apparent cynicism, I am well aware that installing a projector in place of a regular TV is anachronistic. But what to do when every contemporary screen feels a little too bright, too chunky, or straight up nerdy, to become your living room centerpiece.

Researching this edit of designer-made-and-approved smart home tech devices made me realize that, maybe, what I really need is some more electronics literacy. From artwork-looking TVs to Philippe Starck-designed thermostats and sculptural phone charging stations that could easily pass for a vase, these six design-driven smart home tech products prove that the future of living need not renounce style.

Bouroullec Brothers x Samsung — The Serif

Philippe Starck x Netatmo — Smart Thermostatic Heads

Fred Bould, Tony Fadell, and Ben Filson x Nest — Nest Learning Thermostat

Per Brickstad, Martin Willers, and Magnus Wiberg — TRANSPARENT Speakers

Gen Terao x BALMUDA — BALMUDA The Clock

Quaglio Simonelli x LEXON — Oblio Wireless Charging Station

Now that you've got some of the best-looking smart home tech buys on your radar, you no longer need to worry about bulky gadgets disrupting your home aesthetic.

Still not convinced? See how IKEA's newest smart temperature sensor helps you keep track of temperature and humidity amid this summer's recurring heatwaves while looking chicly discreet.

"Your bed looks a mess," my friend Sarah says, as she steps into my new east London flat for the first time. "But it's deliberate, isn't it?"

She's right, of course. Those stone-washed Tekla sheets haven't exactly styled themselves. Nor have the stack of papers, postcards, old magazines — last weekend's HTSI or an archived edition of Casa Brutus from my last trip to Tokyo — that sit in studied disarray, topped with a rustic Guatemalan jar and stick of palo santo, on the neighboring hardwood floor.

If you ask the algorithm, you'll find it's a growing trend — the 'time-poor' aesthetic. Not simply maximalism, and not simply messiness, the style is a domestic rebellion against the hyper-organized, 'everything-in-its-place' home that took over the 1990s and struck again in the 2010s.

Once locked neatly away in a bathroom cabinet, the latest Byredo fragrance is suddenly a dining table paperweight; that blown-glass bracelet, thrifted in Venice, joins a spread of jewelry, pride of place on the mantelpiece; a scribbled-on sudoku is abandoned, in a scattered pile of receipts, and a crumpled exhibition leaflet on the seat of a dining chair — a Tibetan tea-towel thrown over its backrest.

"For me, it's about shaping environments — rather than just spaces," explains Charlotte Taylor, an artist and interior designer whose unabashedly untidy, object-laden rooms immediately come to mind.

In Copenhagen, at last year's 3daysofdesign, where much of the design world — in typical Scandi style — was reaching for restraint, Taylor was piling on: stacks of books and careless scribbles, shirts and blankets tossed roughly about, leftovers from breakfast on the kitchen table.

The designer's apartment for the week, which doubled as a 'showroom' of sorts, invited passersby to make themselves at home: "people were laying on the bed, playing chess, reading books — I was making instant coffee in the kitchen — so it felt like you were really walking into someone's house."

In Taylor's own words, her installation was an act of deliberate revolt — against the city's showrooms that often err on the side of "intensely curated".

Revolt seems central to this messy look. My beloved copy of Kyoichi Tsuzuki's 1993 cult classic book Tokyo Style reveals the 'real Tokyo' — untidy, lived-in, often micro, spaces — to challenge the archetypal notion of Japanese minimalism. A recent reprint, three decades on, is unlikely a coincidence; imperfect interiors are, once again, in demand.

That demand is spreading fast online. At this point, I think it's safe to say we've all been tempted in by a TikTok — like David Költgen's monthly color palette — that feels 'real' through its cozy informality: clothes crumpled on a bed, dishes in the sink. Is it too obvious, or even cliché, to suggest that we're simply craving authenticity?

Beyond Taylor and Tsuzuki, it's hard to ignore the sense, however, that there's a different, greater kind of rebellion going on here. At a time when technology is supposed to be giving us time back, it seems, increasingly, that it's actually taking it away — stealing our attention with the mind-numbing ease of a simple scroll.

Digital distractions are all around us; don't ask me about my screen time — it's a sensitive subject. But while we're seeing, reading, and watching more than ever before, technology is leaving us markedly unsatisfied, explains Charles Spence, Professor of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford.

In his 2020 book, Sensehacking, the professor — who admits to appearing on a list of the world's messiest academic offices — writes about a sensory imbalance in society. A digital overload of auditory and visual information has made way for the "neglect and understimulation of our more emotional senses," he explains. Of these, touch is an important one.

Spence refers to 'touch hunger', a term coined by developmental psychologist Dr. Tiffany Field, whose research found that a lack of daily interpersonal touch is harming us — and leaves us wanting.

When it comes to interiors, there's evidence of that very hunger in our growing keenness to be surrounded by things, objects, textures.

In the design of architect Nathaniel Mosley's family home, for example, a layered approach — which builds over time, not overnight — brings touch and tactility firmly into focus.

Shelves in the entrance hall become host to found objects: rocks and pebbles, old flint, a timber block from a factory in Detroit, a terracotta chimney pot.

"Whenever the kids and I go to a pebbly beach or on a countryside walk, we have half an eye out for a beautiful thing to be brought back," Mosley says. "It's a bit like building an art collection."

In the case of curator and design collector Alex Tieghi-Walker, his Manhattan loft takes that concept just a little more literally. His live-in gallery is an ever-evolving showcase — no artwork or furnishing too precious to be used or handled.

Mosley and Tieghi-Walker both tap into a demand for leaving collected objects on display, an evident rejection of the all-too-tidy.

"There's a growing awareness of the house as biography — an accumulation of all the things we are," adds Sonia Solicari, Director at Hoxton's Museum of the Home.

Despite the mess, our homes are "often highly curated spaces", she explains. In our current moment — which swings, once again, away from a pared-back look — the curator connects with the "power of narrative and personal stories".

The best designers are taking that opportunity for narrative seriously. In a north London home, O'Sullivan Skoufoglou has followed an almost archaeological design approach; traces of the previous owner — a pianist — have been retained, layered, and exposed, from old joinery and picture rails to an original fireplace and doors.

Driving the wider trend here is an uptake in 'second-hand chic', another revolt against that perfect flat-pack chest of drawers or that boxy, white, landlord-special bed frame. Once — not long ago — a niche corner of the internet, the furniture resale market is thriving.

As a (newly-anointed) east Londoner, I have only to wander up to Aelfred in Hackney Wick, or Two Columbia Road in Shoreditch, to see where the demand is coming from. But for the time-poor amongst us, 2nd Home, IntOndo, Vinterior, and MCF Select are the designer's choice of online marketplace for tracking down a storied classic.

But the look isn't all simply 'in with the old'; the most time-poor amongst us reach for whatever we can find.

Think: Martino Gamper's Arnold Circus Stool, paired with a thrifted rug and topped with a tumbled plate from Ferm Living that holds it all — keys, an old business card, a collection of rings. Or the latest homeware from Gustaf Westman's eclectic series that holds down a pile of magazines and sits, as a statement, on a twentieth-century table, found on Facebook Marketplace.

Even the messiest of styling is rarely an accident. Our homes, as portals into the "inner workings of ourselves" are often responsive to contemporary debate, and shaped by wider political and socioeconomic realities, explains Johanna Agerman Ross, Conran Foundation chief curator at the Design Museum.

Early minimalism, for example, Ross credits to the legacy of the First and Second World Wars — noticeably marked by material scarcity — while minimal interiors in the 90s channeled an understated sleekness that deliberately "broke with the extravagance of postmodernism and 1980s opulence."

Perhaps the present-day equivalent is the rise in renting — thirty-five per cent of UK households now rent — and the way our meaning of home is increasingly 'borrowed'.

A new book, by the founders of multi-location London concept store Earl of East, unpacks this; in Home for Now, the writers visit more than 40 rented homes, interrogating how people style a sense of belonging without ownership.

I'd argue it's no coincidence that the time-poor aesthetic has taken hold at precisely the moment we feel most dispossessed — of our attention; of our walls, painted by a landlord we'll never meet.

Technology tells us what to watch, where to go, how to optimize our early mornings. The rental contract tells us what we cannot change, nail into, or brush over.

In a day-to-day increasingly managed by forces beyond our control, the home — however borrowed, however small — becomes the one space left to push back.

"A friend and I always joke: if you want to pop in and see me, come anytime," photographer Ola. O Smit tells me. "But if you want to pop in and see my house, give me five hours."

It's instinctual — our compulsion to tidy up before a guest arrives at the door. But the messiest home — an interior that reveals the most about you — is the one that I would always, without fail, much rather step inside.

Want to read more of this kind of stories? Get new The Meaning of Home articles straight in your inbox by subscribing to our newsletter now.

New restaurants seem to open and go viral overnight. And while the abrupt rise of many of them is largely due to their truly mouthwatering plates and Michelin-star-recognized culinary prestige, others — read: the kind we are most interested in here at Livingetc — owe their popularity to the minds behind their atmospheric dining rooms.

To help you put the right names on the map ahead of your upcoming getaways, we have compiled a list of new restaurants worth fighting for a reservation over wherever you'll be. But don't worry: although decor is, of course, a top priority when it comes to selecting our favorite eateries, you can rest assured restaurant design isn't the only reason for visiting.

Spanning multiple continents and defying preconceived genres, the new restaurants gathered in this listicle have got great taste to spare, whether in their room decor or their tantalizing menus. Enjoy!

New Restaurants 2026 — A Worldwide, Anti-FOMO Design Edit

1. Yiaga. Melbourne, AUS

Fitzroy Gardens, East Melbourne VIC 3002, Australia

What was once a derelict 1960s park pavilion tucked inside Melbourne's historic Fitzroy Gardens has been reborn as a 44-seat fine-dining hotspot at chef Hugh Allen's recently unveiled Australian restaurant, Yiaga, where a commitment to seasonal ingredients and creativity extends to every object inside — furniture, glassware, and the cellar all contributions from local makers, largely crafted from native materials — in an interior scheme that gathers cues from the surrounding environment and celebrates its textural essence; a glassy box with a flat pyramidal black slate roof from the outside, indoors it unfolds as a maze of rounded, interconnected, backlit spaces where more than 13,000 individually hand-pressed terracotta tiles, designed by John Wardle and ceramicist Robert Gordon to evoke the bark of the 100-year-old Scottish elm trees enveloping the address, curve along the full length of the walls for a cave-like atmosphere, floor-to-ceiling glazing dissolving the boundary between dining room and garden while concrete and iron-oxide flooring stands in for red-dirt soil.

While it technically launched in 2025, this year's prizes and nominations confirm its ongoing stylistic relevance, as does Lanza Atelier's recently unveiled Serpentine Pavilion 2026, where wavy terracotta architecture in a similar spirit lends itself to cultural gatherings and conversation on the lawn of Kensington Gardens in an open-air design exhibition. To try this at home, consider color-blocking the walls of your dining room, or commit to a single shade across all of its furniture and decor for an even bolder effect. Have a garden-facing dining room? Commission a single statement cladding material for one wall and let the views do the rest.

Book your table at Yiaga.

2. Langosteria Private Restaurant. Milan, IT

Via Savona, 10, 20144 Milano MI, Italy

19 years after Enrico Buonocore first opened Langosteria at this Tortona address in a leap of faith, the world-acclaimed group — fresh off launching its first London outpost — marked a new chapter earlier this year with a whole-space private dining room for up to 16 guests, conceived by architect Giuseppe Porcelli as a domestic sequence of vestibule, double salon and cocktail lounge rather than a conventional eatery, anchored by a bespoke cherry-wood dining table with amber-glass legs, wide red fabric lanterns lending the lounge an Asian-inflected glow, and bordeaux velvet club seating built for lingering. To bring the look home without commissioning original murals, try coral-red rugs and antique-looking framed artwork against contemporary colourful touches like this rechargeable H&M table lamp or a similarly priced bouclé-weave alternative — and don't forget to weave in some reflective surfaces.

Book your table at Langosteria Private Restaurant, or discover more restaurants in Milan.

3. Manko Paris. Paris, FR

15 Av. Montaigne, 75008 Paris, France

Hidden beneath the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, this legendary Nikkei address — Peruvian-Japanese cuisine from chef Melio Oriundo Chavez — completed its most ambitious transformation under designer Sophie Lacroix of Bureau Lacroix, the same creative mind behind beloved Paris Mexican restaurant Tio. Rooting the destination is a monumental marine mosaic by master artisan studio SICIS: thousands of deep-blue and gold tesserae suspended above the Ceviche Bar, designed to ripple with light depending on angle. Midnight blue velvet seating embroidered with gold, a golden sun at the bar, and Japanese-inspired openwork screens complete the atmosphere. The lesson for home: invest in one artisan-crafted, light-responsive surface — mosaic, glazed tile, handmade glass — and let it anchor the room, pairing it with plush Art Deco seating, grand Murano glass chandeliers, and shimmering accessories.

Book your table at Manko Paris, or discover more restaurants in Paris.

4. Ceintuur Theater. Amsterdam, NL

Ceintuurbaan 282, 1072 GK Amsterdam, Netherlands

Dutch interiors firm Studio Elèn Letort converted a former 1921 cinema in Amsterdam's De Pijp into an all-day café-restaurant, guided by founder Elèn Letort's stated ambition: "to create something timeless, rooted in traditional craftsmanship, yet playful and expressive." Exposed brick and original structure were left intact across the double-height space, while full-length acoustic curtains on the upper floor soften the industrial quality. A stained-glass arch, a striped cocktail bar, and a plethora of bespoke furniture pieces — including a custom sofa with a cylindrical bolster on a triangle-shaped backrest — introduce color and geometry. For a domestic reinterpretation of the look, use bold architectural color and custom joinery to hold its own against strong heritage bones without competing with them. Opt for tactile paper lanterns and extravagant forms to contrast the rusticness of warehouse-style walls.

Book your table at Ceintuur Theater.

5. Selene. New York City, US

23 Grand St, New York, NY 10013, United States

Designed by Kondylis NYC, this 10,000 sq-ft three-storey Greek restaurant in SoHo features a retractable roof atrium that opens to the sky, a distinctive feature linking back to its moniker. Named after Selene, the Greek goddess of the moon, at this new eatery in New York, the moonlight literally enters the dining room. Travertine stone, plaster arches, terracotta surfaces, Cycladic curves, and linen drapery give the space its Aegean character, while a lush garden terrace, a bar lounge, and a 250-seat main dining room complete the sequence. Coastal Greek cooking (think charcoaly whole grilled fish, juicy lamb chops, and hyper-fresh crudos) is served up daily by a team renowned within New York's Greek dining scene. To steal the look, explore including plaster arches and terracotta tones in your dining room, or kitchen-cum-living area, to bring Mediterranean warmth indoors without resorting to pastiche. Additionally, revisit our interview with textile artist Mia Sylvia to discover the style tricks that the power of fabric can help you unlock in your home setting.

Book your table at Selene, or discover more restaurants in New York.

6. Bánh Bánh Brixton. London, UK

326 Coldharbour Ln, London SW9 8QH

Artist duo Joseph Losper and Tomio Shota of London-based studio house of baby reimagined long-running Vietnamese Bánh Bánh Brixton as "a single, immersive artwork", turning it into one of the artsiest foodie addresses in London. Guests move through a calm entrance corridor toward an illuminated pink-tiled Vietnamese shrine before arriving in a main dining room inspired by Vietnamese modernism: curved glass-block walls, cool concrete, deep wood tones, and ceiling frescoes hand-painted by Shota over several weeks using iron oxide, metal leaf, sand, and powdered shells set the scene for an unforgettable meal. Wool tapestries and ceramic landscape sculptures extend the material palette. Chef AP Nguyen's menu centers on home rice and mẹt sharing platters. An intricate room divider sourced from an antiques reseller or vintage furniture shop, together with hand-painted tapestries hanging from the ceiling and a palette of contrasting pastels, could help you achieve a similar aesthetic, along with layered, softly glowing lighting.

Book your table at Bánh Bánh Brixton, or discover more restaurants in London.

7. Mitsu. London, UK

10-50 Willow St, London EC2A 4BH

Barcelona-based Astet Studio designed Mitsu — an izakaya and robata restaurant in Shoreditch and one of the best new restaurants to discover in London — around the Japanese concept of utsuroi: gradual change over time. In classic Nipponic style, here, backlit shoji screens, reinterpreted as panels integrated into walls and above dining booths, radiate a soft, sensual red glow. In order to experience it, guests need to walk past the thriving courtyard garden that forms the restaurant's entrance. Adaptive lighting shifts color temperature from day through evening, the red intensifying to evoke Tokyo's neon-lit nightscape as day hours make room for dinner service. The layeredness of Mitsu's interior scheme might look tricky to mimic in your own home setting. But it doesn't have to be as intricate and money-demanding as it seems: simply play with tunable warm-to-cool lighting on a single dimmer circuit, shifting color temperature (not just brightness) to reflect the move from daytime to evening, and start from the tiniest accents, like the mushroom-shaped table lamps, to imbue your space with a bit of Mitsu's transportative essence.

Book your table at Mitsu.

8. JouJou. San Francisco, US

65 Division St, San Francisco, CA 94103, United States

David Barzelay of two-Michelin-star Lazy Bear and partner Colleen Booth describe JouJou's 6,500-square-foot Design District space as "French Riviera but with 1970s party vibes." Jon de la Cruz, the interior designer behind it, crafted multiple interconnected rooms with distinct characters: glass-enclosed bar Menagerie, intimate dining space the Rose Room, and a Calacatta Viola-clad main room dotted with banquettes and booths throughout. Cane-backed bistro chairs, a zinc-topped bar, and dark-veined stone surfaces make for an indulgently moody atmosphere. On the menu, you'll find French brasserie-style towers of shellfish, sole meunière, and tarte tatin. For an at-home LouLou feel, try pairing Swiss mountain chairs as quirky as the mint green ones featured in the eatery with patterned wallpaper, Art Deco lighting, and one-off collectibles, breaking the maximalist tension of the scheme with pared-back tables and surfaces. Or go full whimsy with a kaleidoscopic checkerboard floor in green and purple hues like in the address' main dining room.

Book your table at JouJou

9. Tavola di Masseria. Copenhagen, DK

Flæsketorvet 50, 1711 København, Denmark

The 2026 relaunch of Masseria in Copenhagen's Kødbyen turns the raw industrial bones of the former meatpacking district into the setting for a convivial, flat-price Italian all-day restaurant. The 120-seat interior and 90-seat terrace retain the neighborhood's characteristic exposed brick and structural honesty, letting the architecture carry the atmosphere rather than layering over it. Daily house-made pasta (carbonara, risotto Milanese with Danish veal) and a changing blackboard keep the menu as flexible as the space. At home, resist the urge to finish every surface: exposed brick, concrete or plaster left in their honest state often create more atmosphere than any applied finish. And yes, there is no need to go crazy with palette to make a statement: sometimes, god is in the details, including your monochromatic choices.

Book your table at Tavolo di Masseria, or discover more restaurants in Copenhagen.

10. Uchi DC. Washington DC, US

1700 M St NW, Washington, DC 20036, United States

New York–based Islyn Studio brought its signature "neo-noir urbanism" to Washington, DC, for the latest Uchi outpost from chef Tyson Cole and Hai Hospitality. The concept, in this case, was rooted in two reference points: the nearby New Formalist architecture of Edward Durell Stone (particularly the National Geographic Society headquarters) and the neon-lit, electrifying atmosphere of late-night Tokyo. Two-tone wood paneling replicates the strict vertical rhythm of Stone's facades. Marbled dark-green stone was sculpted to form the main bar, and completed by a globe-like, expansive paper lantern floating right above it. Straight-stack clay tiles wrap columns, while dark stone flooring accompanies guests from the moment they walk in till they are ready to leave. A private dining room features burl-like ceiling patterns echoed in the rug below. For a similarly styled dining room, go with dark-veined green stone and warm wood paneling in a scheme that's grounded, rich, and unambiguously contemporary.

Book your table at Uchi DC.

Heard about KINZ, the new restaurant where outdoors and inside blend into one? We have, and couldn't recommend visiting enough.

Now that you've got the best new restaurants on your agenda, craft your summer 2026 itineraries further with our curated edit of must-know hotel openings, or pack like a true tastemaker with our selection of travel-fit design buys for design-discerning globetrotters.

Got any other style questions or need additional interior advice? Explore our edit of restaurants with standout floors for your kitchen and dining room moodboards, or trust our newsletter as the ultimate agony aunt for all things renovation, gardening, lifestyle, and decor.

For far too many years, I would approach my summer holidays the way I approach many things in my life: in a rush, and with excitement blended with fear. Though, at least in theory, leaving your home to spend a few days off-grid, away from your desk and all KPIs, should spark nothing but joy, I know for a fact that a break in the routine can also bring our stress levels up. That's why I have since decided to face my breaks with a clear plan, starting with what I find non-negotiable to pack.

Making a list of all of the travel essentials you are planning on taking with you is the only way to ensure you get to your destination prepped up for anything — from adventurous excursions to glamorous evening galas. Today, you're in luck, as that's exactly what I am here for, and I have gathered an 18-point check list that will make you feel comfortable and chic without hitting your wallet too hard.

So, ready to explore what you simply can't leave without? From design-conscious practical accessories crafted to make your journey run smoothly and keep you fresh all the way there to the coolest new footwear and loungewear that pass the style check, help yourself to some of the most coveted buys of this summer.

Got the shopping fever? Revisit our curation of travel essentials for design-conscious globetrotters, including:

• The Most Stylish Luggage of 2026

• Livingetc Editors' Summer Packing List

• RIMOWA Granada Verde Collection

• The Best Beach Towels for Summer 2026

Head to our travel pages for all things packing, hotels, and holiday destinations, and subscribe to our newsletter for weekly scoops and style advice.

There is something simply hypnotizing about a beautifully designed pool coruscating under the brightest of summer suns. As an avid swimmer, I can't recall a single hot day of my childhood when I wouldn't have to be forcibly taken out of the water, so keen I was to make the most out of it that my fingers would go all wrinkly. Now I can confidently say that any of the hotel pools I am about to introduce you to would convince anyone to do just the same — and with no regrets whatsoever.

Much like our selection of hotels with pools in London, this edit of spectacular summer destinations gathers addresses where outdoor patios and the pools at their heart are as much protagonists in the design narratives of their stays as their interiors, at times even outshading the rest.

Whether embracing tiles to bring a swimming spot to life, making the magic of the good season accessible year-round by transporting it underground at one of Paris's most coveted new hotels, or reinterpreting the surrounding landscape's natural surfaces into a playful oasis for leisure, each of the spots listed below demonstrates that no great interior is ever complete without an equally inspiring moment outdoors. Could it be time to get back on the garden upgrade you've been putting off for so long? Some advice incoming.

1. Le Sirenuse. Positano, IT

Via Cristoforo Colombo, 30, 84017 Positano SA, Italy

Framed in trailing plants and reflecting the Amalfi Coast's clear blue skies, the pool of family-owned-and-run establishment La Sirenuse has always been a canvas, but its latest incarnation is its most ambitious yet. Back in 2024, Swiss artist Nicolas Party spent a week at the hotel soaking up the atmosphere before translating it into his viral sky-and-sea tiled basin, the most ambitious commission in the hotel's ongoing site-specific art programme — and his first foray into mosaics. Against a palette of abstract blue-green shapes, a golden disc marks the pool's deepest point so that "when you jump in, you're jumping into the sky." Mosaics have been a staple at the property, owned by the Marchesi Sersale family, since the villa was turned into a boutique hotel in 1951. Already in the early 1990s, co-owner Franco Sersale had commissioned a frieze modeled after a Greek-style tiled composition from the second century BC that had caught his eye at Berlin's Pergamon Museum. The tiles gathered by Party's masterpiece were fabricated by Bisazza near Vicenza and then laid by the Fabrizi brothers, Luciano and Marcello, two of Italy's last expert mosaicisti. If you love craft, this is one of the best hotels in the country.

Book your stay at Le Sirenuse.

2. Faena Miami Beach. Miami, FL, US

3201 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33140, United States

Nestled in the former 1947 home of the historic Saxony Hotel, Faena Miami Beach stems from the synergetic collaboration between Argentine hotelier Alana Faena, financial partner Len Blavatnik and dream married duo Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin (of Hollywood British Pullman Celia Carriage fame). The site, known to have hosted the likes of Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe in its Saxony Hotel days, boasts a sprawling, geometrically cut pool that pays homage to the swinging 60s through striking striped deck chairs and seashell columns. Steps away from here, you'll find Damien Hirst's 24-karat gold woolly mammoth skeleton, housed in a glass case on the path to the beach. The whole eight-block Faena District development captures a vision of hospitality as living artwork, positioned to anchor the city's Art Basel ecosystem. More than the grand, dazzling interiors, though, it was the patchworky, red-drenched pool that caught our eye. And if you're off to the Sunshine State, our edit of the best hotels in Miami will have you covered for your stay.

Book your stay at Faena Miami Beach.

3. Agalia Luxury Suites. Ios, GR

Tzamaria, Ios 840 01, Greece

The Agalia Luxury Suites complex is part of the LuxurIOS Island Experience, an ambitious family-run hospitality vision led by creative patriarch Angelos Michalopoulos, whose philosophy holds that "luxury is not what you have, it's about what you feel." The hotel's 178m² main pool, carved in winding stone, terracotta, and wood, sits on the slopes overlooking Ios's port and Chora, with views stretching to Koumbara Beach and the Aegean sunset on the opposite side — a duality that gives the pool its peculiar drama, suspended between two landscapes. The decoration throughout the property echoes the artistic legacy of the ancient civilizations that inhabited the Cyclades, with a soothing palette and exquisite marble-clad bathrooms, and several suites feature their own sculptural private pools. Agalia's sister property, Calilo, also part of the LuxurIOS family, exploded on social media for its heart-shaped stone pools and infinity pools overlooking a private bay, establishing the group as one of the most design-forward hospitality operations in the Greek islands.

Book your stay at Agalia Luxury Suites.

4. Le Grand Mazarin. Paris, FR

42 Rue Mazarine, 75006 Paris, France

Sited inside a grand, 14th-century building on Rue des Archives in the affluent Le Marais district, Le Grand Mazarin amazes guests and wannabe visitors alike with its private indoor swimming pool. Deep in the depths of the property in the hotel's wellness area, this eight-meter marvel comes complete with a separate Jacuzzi and hammam. Look up from its elegant deckchairs to take in the vibrancy of the ceiling fresco painted by artist Jacques Merle, inspired by Jean Cocteau's poetic imagination. The wider hotel, a tried-and-tested Livingetc favorite and one of the best stays in Paris, was designed by Swedish interior architect Martin Brudnizki. It is an ode to the atmosphere of the artistocratic literary salons of the Grand Siècle, and aims to be a space where figures from literature, art, and music could gather. That same intellectual spirit takes over the subterranean pool as an intimate, escapist counterpoint to Paris's bustle above. The building's location in Le Marais was central to the concept: Brudnizki wanted the hotel to feel as though it had always been part of the neighborhood's landscape. Judge for yourself, but for us, he succeeded.

Book your stay at Le Mazarine.

5. Hotel Panamera. Tulum, MX

Carr. Tulum-Boca Paila Km 8.5, Tulum Beach, 77760 Tulum, Q.R., Mexico

Hospitality entrepreneur Derek Klein's Hotel Panamera draws on the globetrotting adventures of the owner to craft environments where Moorish arches, Japanese fabric-draping influences, and vintage Caribbean warmth meet the craftiness of furniture made entirely by local artisans. Blame Tulum's tropical weather, but its centerpiece pool remains the most captivating design statement of the stay. Lined with white and red handmade checkered tiles, this geometrical composition is impossible to escape, and wrapped by striped loungers and vintage parasols creating shade for lingering relaxation. Against the backdrop of Tulum's increasingly maximalist hotel scene, the pool's bold graphic simplicity shows that artisanal and culturally rooted creativity still makes for the most authentic expression of design. If Avola's Braccialieri and Oaxaca's Hotel Humano, two of our favorite hotel openings of summer 2025, were ever to have a child, Hotel Panamera would be the one.

Book your stay at Hotel Panamera.

Revisit out travel trends 2026 report for all the latest hospitality sensations in one place, or read about the hotel gardens we've been dreaming of finding some shade at over the last few days.

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It's not every day that I, an ancient Greece self-professed geek, get to write about The Odyssey here at Livingetc, and while this time it's Christopher Nolan's film adaptation of Homer's epic we are talking about, that doesn't impact my enthusiasm.

Set for release on 17 July, 2026, the anticipated movie features a star-studded cast, including Matt Damon as Odysseus, Tom Holland as his son, Telemachus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, and Robert Pattinson as villainous suitor Antinuous. We'll see Zendaya as goddess Athena, and Charlize Theron as the intoxicating Calypso. Lupita Nyong'o will play both Helen of Troy and her sister, Clytemnestra, while Benny Safdie will portray ruthless Agamemnon. Shot across Morocco, Greece, Italy, Iceland, and Malta, the story is steeped in myth and projected to travel watchers back in time between contended blockades, romantic intrigue, fierce battles, and alluring, mystical journeys.

For some, Nolan's The Odyssey is an opportunity to revisit one of the most influential stories ever recounted in an immersive setting, as "the film was shot and designed to be experienced on the biggest screen possible," as explained by Hathaway. For us, it's the perfect chance to embrace one of this year's biggest travel trends and go 'set-jetting', retracing the steps of Nolan and his crew from North Africa to just south of the Arctic Circle in search of design inspiration — and that's exactly what you can expect to find at the addresses listed below, each rooted in a different filming location from The Odyssey.

1. Riad Caravane. Aït Ben Haddou, MO

Design Destination: Ksar d'Aït Ben Haddou, Ait Ben Haddou, Ait Ben Haddou - Ouarzazate 45000, Morocco

Filming Location: Aït Ben Haddou, Morocco, a UNESCO mud-brick village near Ouarzazate, standing in for Troy at the end of the war in the opening battle sequence of Nolan's The Odyssey

Dotted in earthen adobe architecture, the ksar ("village") of Aït Ben Haddou rises from the banks of the Ounila River along the ancient caravan route that goes from the Sahara to Marrakech, and is flanked by the snowy southern slopes of the High Atlas mountains. Its UNESCO World Heritage-protected honey-amber towers and ancient granaries have made it one of the most filmed locations on the planet. Like many directors before him, including Ridley Scott, Martin Scorsese, and Peter Jackson, Nolan couldn't escape Aït Ben Haddou's allure: his take on The Odyssey opens here, in war-torn Troy, in a captivating sequence before the epic's main journey begins.

Less than five minutes from the ksar you'll find Riad Caravane, a charming guesthouse nestled in the heart of the village's ancient Kasbah. Co-founders Andréa and Hassan first visited the town in 2013, when, having fallen for it, they decided to set up a stay that blended its storied legacy with a modern decor aesthetic. Within a traditional architectural shell, a mosaic of Boucharouite rugs, funky armchairs, tadelakt walls, art-deco lamps, and low tables styled into a tapestry of pattern and color welcomes guests, along with sculptural wooden furniture, crunchy linens, and earthy tones for a sophisticated look. Its five rooms and three suites are your ticket to savor the area's suggestive landscape, thanks to two terraces stretching onto the ksar and further onto the Atlas. (As you're here, don't forget to make note of our guide to Marrakech, one of today's rising design capitals).

Book your stay at Riad Caravane.

2. Le Jardin des Douars. Essaouira, MO

Design Destination: N1, Essaouira, Morocco

Filming Location: Additional Moroccan scenes of The Odyssey have been filmed as coastal and city backdrops for the post-Troy world across Essaouira and Marrakech

Designed by French military architect Théodore Cornut and English architect Ahmed al-Inglizi for Alawid Sultan Mohammed bin Abdallah in 1765, the Atlantic coastal city of Essaouira vibrates with life, its grid-shaped, airy urban plan filled with light, wind, spiced flavours, and music from early in the morning till late at night (trust me, I have been there myself). Its pulsating energy and timelessness, alongside its slow-burning, wide sunsets, convinced Nolan to set some post-Troy world secondary scenes here.

A short 17-minute drive inland from the city rises Le Jardin des Douars, a luxury boutique hotel tucked into the hills above the Oued Ksob river on a seven-and-a-half-acre botanical estate. Built with magnificent curvy shapes using local materials in the strictest Moroccan tradition, the property is home to 19 rooms, six suites, and six private villas thoroughly immersed in thriving bougainvillea and aromatic cypresses, palms, citrus trees, and daisies. Inside, zellige tilework, tadelakt plasterwork, and subtle shades of beige pair natural tones with tactile, handcrafted materials, while fireplaces and Berber blankets warm up the rooms on desert-cool evenings. You bet Odysseus would have loved it here, as does anyone seeking an aesthetic digital detox retreat.

Book your stay at Le Jardin des Douars.

3. Barbouni. Gargalianoi, GR

Design Destination: Gargalianoi 240 01, Greece

Filming Location: The Cyclops Polyphemus sequence of The Odyssey has reportedly been filmed along the Pylos coastline, with shots of the Methoni Castle and Almyrolakkos beach also featured in the film

Centuries have passed since Nestor ruled the southwest Peloponnese from Pylos. Yet its limestone coastline, striking architecture, and cobalt blue bay have endured the passing of time, making Messenia an obvious choice for Nolan's Cyclops sequences in The Odyssey, which were filmed along Voidokilia Beach and inside Nestor's Cave above it, with additional scenes shot at the Methoni Castle. But the historical landmarks punctuating the rugged geography of this region aren't the only worthwhile spots around here.

The restaurant of the Navarino Dunes resort, Barbouni has got to be the most ambitious architectural structure ever realized on a Greek beach. The eatery, envisioned by Athens-based K-Studio co-founders Konstantinos and Dimitris Karampatakis, sits on an elevated wooden platform that lets the sea waves rush beneath. From either angle, it unfolds as an intricate web of natural wooden columns and slabs, with an L-shaped cabin in river sand housing the kitchen, bathrooms, and storage. What caught my eye while researching addresses to include in this The Odyssey-inspired design itinerary, though, was its layered, undulating roof, inspired by the movement of wind and water. Made up of sprawling fabric sheets hanging from the ceiling beams, this canopy lets air and sunshine in throughout the day, lighting and shading the space simultaneously. A masterpiece you can eat in.

Book your table at Barbouni.

4. Salicornia. Favignana, IT

Design Destination: Contrada Ettore e Infersa, snc, 91025 Marsala TP, Italy

Filming Location: The Castle of Santa Caterina on the Sicilian Egadi island of Favignana, known by the Ancient Greeks as "Goat Island", traditionally identified as Polyphemus's island, also plays a part in Nolan's The Odyssey. Actors Matt Damon and Tom Holland have filmed on its rocky coast

Known for its unspoiled natural beauty, Favignana is the largest of the Egadi Islands, a wind-flattened butterfly of yellowish tufa limestone off the western tip of Sicily, known to the ancient Greeks as Aigusa — "Goat Island" — and traditionally identified as the island of Polyphemus the Cyclops in Homer's text. Nolan, of course, had to film here. His crew and cast members Matt Damon and Tom Holland took to the Castle of Santa Caterina, capturing its rocky interior hillside as well as along its volcanic coastal formations, in spring 2025. The island itself is a design statement of a different order: its defining building is the neoclassical Stabilimento Florio, the 19th-century tuna cannery built by the Florio dynasty, which gives Favignana its architectural scale and its character.

Still, the island conceals more design-worthy stops than it reveals at first glance, Salicornia, the intimate restaurant of Dimora Cala del Pozzo, being one of them. Nestled inside a boutique B&B converted from a typical rural farmhouse of the mid-19th century in the western part of the island, a stone's throw from the turquoise cove of Cala del Pozzo, Salicornia is an intimate and refined vegetarian restaurant with few seats, the air smelling of salt, and the poetry of candles casting their shadows on ancient stones. The menu is built on organic vegetables from the estate's own farm and the island's wild herbs, with a philosophy of slow, gentle gestures: the same elemental quality that made this reef of limestone irresistible to Christopher Nolan, and that continuously informs some of the most beautiful hotels in Italy.

Book your table at Salicornia.

5. Hotel Vík í Mýrdal. Vik, IS

Design Hotspot: 870 Vik, Iceland

Filming Location: Hades, the Underworld, was recreated along the dramatic glacial landscape of Iceland's Hjörleifshöfði mountain, with a large ship set built near the harbor

Iceland's South Coast is among the world's most scenic destinations for lovers of the great outdoors, and Nolan returned to it deliberately: having already shot here for both Batman Begins and Interstellar, this time he picked Hjörleifshöfði mountain and the glacial highlands around it to stand in for Hades — the underworld — in The Odyssey, building a large ship set near the dramatic coastal harbor of Landeyjahöfn and letting black sand beaches of volcanic basalt, sea stacks erupting from pewter water, and glacier-capped volcanoes brooding at the horizon render the most haunting chapters of the story.

Located a 58-minute drive south-east of that port, Hotel Vík í Mýrdal calls the southernmost settlement in Iceland its home. Icelandic architect Guðbjörg Magnúsdóttir is the mind behind its contemporary atmosphere, incorporating concrete, basalt, wood, and glass elements inspired by the property's natural surroundings in rooms rooted in the Nordic aesthetic. Here, crafty wood features, gray and moss-green textiles, and minimalist furniture set the tone for a grounding sojourn alongside natural and organic skincare products made from local wild herbs. A glass-faced modernist structure containing clean-lined, light-filled bedrooms, the hotel holds its own against one of the most theatrical natural backdrops in the world. If there's a Hades on Earth, Nolan has got there and enjoyed a coolcation while at it.

Book your stay at Hotel Vík í Mýrdal.

6. Casa Bonavita. Attard, Malta

Design Destination: 147 Triq Sant Anton, Attard ATD 1285, Malta

Filming Location: The picturesque Malta, already starring in epic films Troy and Gladiator, becomes the setting for The Odyssey's Calypso's Cave scenes in Nolan's reinterpretation of Homer's classical poem

A big screen habituée, Malta has been appearing in films as the ancient Mediterranean since the heyday of Hollywood in the 1960s, and counts mentions in Troy, Gladiator, and Game of Thrones, among others. In Nolan's anticipated film The Odyssey, it hosts the Calypso's Cave sequences, where old-world charm and otherworldly ambiences combine to a surreal effect. Still, that's not the only piece of news Malta is a protagonist of this year. Tucked away in Attard, one of the island's historic Three Villages, between aristocratic palazzi and fragrant walled gardens, Casa Bonavita is the newest Maltese hotel opening of 2026 to get design-conscious travelers talking.

Opened in May after a seven-year restoration, the property sits inside an 18th-century Baroque family estate reinvented into a 17-room retreat by Rug Company founders Christopher and Suzanne Sharp. Intentionally grand, the destination reinterprets Malta's quirkiest side and faded grandeur for the contemporary globetrotter. Inside, Sicilian marble, Murano glass chandeliers, bespoke de Gournay wallpaper, and antiques gathered over decades recreate the feeling of a collector's residence, while beautifully preserved vaulted ceilings and flagstone floors root the stay in a timeless atmosphere. Local pottery house Villa Bologna dot the interiors with its characterful ceramics, while a raw Mediterranean garden growing at the hotel's heart imbues the air with heated jasmine, rosemary, and citrus tree fragrance for guests to take in as they enjoy dinner under the palms.

Book your stay at Casa Bonavita.

A Sneak Preview of Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey'

In the mood for more travel advice? Read on to discover everything about the hottest hotel openings of summer 2026, or dive into our design-forward edit of hotel pools in London to keep cool in the heatwave.

Everyone knows just how hard it is to find a hotel in London that's well located and objectively beautiful while somehow remaining relatively affordable (bonus point if a continental morning feast is included in the price). And so, as both an expat and a lifestyle editor based in the Big Smoke, when a stay that ticks all the boxes opens, I can't help but want to go see it for myself. Inaugurated earlier this spring, Mason & Fifth Belsize Park, the third aparthotel complex launched in the city by the lifestyle group, fits the brief — and demonstrates how, from space constraints, can come memorable character.

The property, nestled on a leafy road a short walk south of Hampstead Heath, is perfect for exploring London at your own pace. With just 56 serviced suites, Mason & Fifth Belsize Park has the feel of a grand West London residential building — red-brick facade, large windows, and beautifully preserved, stuccoed tall ceilings — because "the design narrative centered on celebrating its history rather than erasing it," I am told after my visit. Yet, it comes with the perks of one of London's most beautiful hotels, from stunningly curated communal areas, including a fully equipped open kitchen with a daily breakfast buffet, an atmospheric guest lounge dotted with textural collectibles and designs, and a tranquil shared garden, to cozy bedrooms that will make you wish you lived in this North West London neighborhood.

It's no coincidence I said "lived". This buzzy hotspot, which hosts Wine Down Fridays, allowing guests to connect glasses in hand, and grants you unlimited access to the Mason & Fifth facilities in Westbourne Park and Primrose Hill, was realized in partnership with interior design studio Holloway Li to "create a genuine sense of 'home', no matter how long you're staying". Restored by New-works, the address's four-story architectural shell boasts rich timber wood juxtaposed with vibrant artwork and retro-inspired furniture sourced and styled by INTERIOR ADDRESS, and bespoke textiles crafted by House of Quinn. What stuck with me from my sojourn at the chic Airbnb alternative, though, is how it packs comfort, atmosphere, and inspiration in less than 20 square meters. How? With these three simple steps.

1. Make Every Nook King, Literally

"Can I sleep against the wall? I find it so comforting," was the first thing my partner said to me as soon as we settled in our Classic Biggie suite. Without knowing, he had just summed up one of the secrets to Mason & Fifth Belsize Park's bedrooms feeling so cocooning — the strategic and, yes, comforting, use of each of their corners.

Ours came with a queen size bed hidden behind the living-cum-dining room of the studio by a wooden divider that separated the sleeping area from the pale wood, stone, and chrome quirky kitchenette. This stylistic choice granted privacy and ensured the two environments felt, despite the lack of proper walls, as distinct as possible while avoiding filling up any additional space. "We wanted the rooms to feel more like a home than a single multifunctional space," Mason & Fifth's in-house design team explains. "The low-level divider creates a sense of structure without closing the room down."

The rest of the corners in the suite had also been furnished to maximise both aesthetics and function. To the right of our moss green, textural headboard was a small yet beautifully glowing white sconce with a round base in a similar pastel tone, and a mini wood bedside table I used to recharge my phone over night, rest my night read on, and keep my earrings safe.

Hanging on the wall to my right were two abstract canvases that expanded on the color palette of the suite — organic shades ranging from burned orange and brown to teal and gradient greens — making it more personal and intentional than your ordinary hotel retreat.

At the foot of the bed was a clothing rail and console with sliding doors and sculpturally cut handles, meaning all of our bags could be stored neatly without them ever getting in the way. On the other end of the séparée, most corners were taken up by the kitchenette itself — organically shaped, wavy cornice, matte gray finish, and plenty of storage, ideal for foodies who don't want to give up on their cooking when on holiday.

While each corner fulfilled a specific function, none felt overdone decor-wise: essentially cut furniture in monolithic forms made for a quiet statement, and decorative details, like the chocolate bobbin stained wooden mirror placed next to the TV on the widest wall, struck the balance between creativity and timeless comfort. Something you can aim to recreate with the curated buys I have shared below.

2. Play With Inventive Fixtures

It might have been tiny, but the bathroom of our Classic Biggie remains one of my favorite parts of it yet — and no less for its joyful aesthetic. A wiggly mirror cabinet in pale wood and checkered terracotta tilework made this admittedly small room fun to get ready for bed in.

Still, if there's one detail worth noting in relation to space-saving tricks, it's its inward-opening shower door, which prevented any unwanted water spillage while simultaneously ensuring no inch of it went lost to 'door-traffic'.

This wasn't just a strategic inclusion: its accordion structure worked wonderfully with the bathroom's overall aesthetic, where creamy surfaces and tactile finishes set a youthful mood along with bold accessories and forest-inspired scented toiletries.

In larger studios at Mason & Fifth Belsize Park, like their Best in House (captured above), a large yet compactly folded sofa bed and windows carved directly into the loft's slanted alcove walls provide further insights into how humbly sized spaces can be optimized for natural light, hosting, and unwinding.

3. Don't Spread Furniture Out — Go Blissfully Layered

Furnishing a 16-square-meter studio so it doesn't feel overcrowded with clutter is likely the hardest challenge of compact rooms. But anyone seeking space-saving design ideas for tight accommodations will be told the same: less is more.

I could count on one hand the furniture pieces and collectibles styled in my suite at Mason & Fifth Belsize Park, but that made its scheme less interesting. If anything, it led me to pay closer attention to them, which is why I still remember all of them. The secret to a studio that feels roomy, practical, and inspired, then, is knowing how and where to place your buys so that they each stand out while layering in with the rest of the furnishings, starting with lighting.

"The studios have large windows, so it was important to make the most of that asset," Mason & Fifth's in-house design team explains. A combination of sheer and blackout curtains allows guests to enjoy privacy without losing daylight, while still having complete control over the room when they want to rest.

Lighting was equally important. "In smaller spaces, the atmosphere can change dramatically depending on how they're lit," they say. "We layered recessed dimmable lighting with decorative pendants and integrated bedside lights, giving people the flexibility to create different moods throughout the day."

My personal favourites? The only-slightly mismatched wooden set overlooking lush 2 Ornan Road — a rounded table and stool, paired with a more vintage-looking, sturdier chair in a lighter finish and topped by an undulating ceramic vase.

Much of Mason & Fifth Belsize Park's allure stems from its relatable essence. This is down to the hotel's storytelling-led decor choices: "during the renovation, original rolls of hand-printed wallpaper were discovered beneath the floorboards. We framed sections of the paper and displayed them throughout the corridors, creating small moments that connect guests to the building's past," reveals the Mason & Fifth's in-house design team.

Elsewhere, like in the communal areas, a curtain obtained from stitched-together fabric offcuts "functions as both artwork and room divider, while reinforcing the wider idea of giving materials a second life, dividing the Little Snug from the Guest Lounge". Because it's these nonchalant-chic touches that allow a place to feel gracefully lived-in, like your cool friend's apartment you can't wait to be invited back into to celebrate the end of a long week in good company.

Heard about Canal, Mason & Fifth Westbourne Park's trendy new restaurant? Well, we have, and trust us, you should have done, too.

Luckily you're still in time to find out what the eatery has got in store for you, and what the hottest travel trends for 2026 can teach you ahead of your next big holiday.

In for more news? Check out Soho House former CEO and founder Nick Jones' inaugural London hotel venture, St Clement. When in doubt, subscribe to your newsletter for access to the latest news in lifestyle and interiors, all in one place.

That great weather in London is a double-edged sword is no secret. If, over halfway through June, it's simply inevitable for a summer child like me to crave uninterrupted sunshine on the beach, all it takes to regret that wish is to spend a single hot day in the city center, where polluting cars, trudging crowds, and countless restaurants make high temperatures even more extreme.

But who said London can't benefit from the joys of a summer well spent, say, for example, an invigorating swim in a pool? And mind you, we are not talking about your usual lidos.

We know what you're thinking: outdoor pools in London? Why bother? But if my warning to you that the climate is changing everywhere, including in the Big Smoke, isn't enough to convince you that you should be on the lookout for places to refresh this June, these beautiful London hotels with pools will. So grab your favorite bikini, take your flip flops for a spin — summer is here.

The Berkeley

The Berkeley, Wilton Pl, London SW1X 7RL

Nestled at the intersection of the affluent Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Hyde Park, The Berkeley is known for many things: timeless design, Mediterranean-infused culinary feasts, and exclusive parties, for starters. But in summer, there's no aspect of the experience at this London hotel that beats the sun-filled views of its rooftop pool. Redecorated in response to a different mood every year, the 2026 re-edition of the hotspot channels the cerulean blue magic of Capri and the Amalfi coast, with lemon trees, oven-fresh pizza, spritzes, and a fashion beach club vibe. Order your celebratory cocktail of choice, and savor the city from sunset till night. (Note from the editor: only guests are allowed to swim).

Book your stay at The Berkeley.

Jumeirah Carlton Tower

1 Cadogan Pl, London SW1X 9PY

Contrary to what you might expect of a lifestyle editor, whenever I travel, I rarely get tempted by a swim in hotel fitness and spa facilities; in fact, there is often very little I find less tempting. That's largely because most hotel pools are hidden away in the lower grounds of the property, meaning no direct light gets through, giving them a cave-like atmosphere I can happily do without. Jumeirah Carlton Tower's The Peak turns my convictions on their head: instead of being underground, the spa and its naturally lit swimming pool sit beneath a double-height glass ceiling, lined with elegant, draped poolside cabanas a few meters above Cadogan Square. It comes with more benefits than you'd expect: it's one of the largest pools in the city, perfect for both unwinding and exercising, and it's even accessible to non-guests; simply book a spa treatment, and off you... swim!

Book your stay at Jumeirah Carlton Tower.

White City House

2, Television Centre, 101 Wood Ln, London W12 7FR

If there's one lifestyle group that raises the bar for outdoor furniture and pool clubs, it's Soho House. And while picking my favorite pool from their portfolio of private members' clubs in the capital was hard, I am fairly confident White City House's is the one. Housed inside the former BBC Television Centre in west London, the whole complex has a California-cool feeling to it — an aesthetic that, in this case, was inspired by the site's rich mid-century broadcasting heritage, former design director Linda Boronkay explained. Head to the 10th floor, and it's breezy LA at its finest — potted ferns, parasols, and 60s-style floral loungers completing a Palm Springs vintage motel fantasy that feels entirely at odds with, and entirely perfect for, west London. Views stretch from Wembley to The Shard. It's members and overnight hotel guests only, but worth every hoop.

Book your stay at White City House.

art'otel London Battersea Power Station

1 Electric Blvd, Nine Elms, London SW11 8BJ

Named Hotel of the Year 2025 by The Caterer, art'otel Battersea Power Station is the brainchild of designer Jaime Hayon, whose bold, colorful, and playful aesthetic runs through every bedroom and public space, making it feel somewhat of a hybrid between an art hotel and a design gallery. The pool is, quite literally, the cherry on top. The large infinity pool and jacuzzi sit on the 16th floor with 360° views of the Power Station's four iconic chimneys and out across the city — probably the most cinematically charged backdrop of any hotel pool in London. Cocktails and snacks come from the Iberian restaurant JOIA and its rooftop bar, making the whole thing feel less like a wellness amenity and more like a proper event. The pool is heated year-round and exclusive to hotel guests — reason enough to book.

Book your stay at art'otel.

The Savoy

Strand, London WC2R 0EZ

The Savoy's pool is one of London's best-kept secrets, requiring some determination to find. Go up a lift, along a corridor, then climb a steep flight of stairs, and you discover the spa and gym perched atop the roof of the Savoy Theatre — that altitude earns it a double-height pavilion with high windows and rooflights suspended directly over the pool. The heated atrium pool at the centre of the wellness floor is naturally lit and fitted with a jet-stream for resistance swimming, more serious and quietly architectural than most hotel pools. The surroundings are pure Savoy: restrained, classic, and somehow both grand and calm. The rooms were refreshed in 2025 by G.A Group; the pool has always felt this good.

Book your stay at The Savoy.

In the mood for... holidaying? So are we here at Livingetc. And that's why I spent an entire day gathering insights on the very best new hotel openings of 2026 — so that you can skip the browsing, get booked in, and focus on your next itinerary.

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"Berlin is creative, a bit rough around the edges, and all the more interesting for it," London-based interior designer Rachael Gowdridge tells me of the base of her newest hotel project, The Dean Berlin, which she has learned to love over repeated visits throughout its WIP months, as well as thanks to a personal connection in the capital.

"One of my best friends lives in the city," she explains. "Seeing it through her lens gave me a real feel for it beyond the obvious", the suspicion that there is more to see besides the usual itineraries.

Gowdridge, who has inaugurated The Dean Berlin earlier this spring — 81 spirited, color-drenched guest rooms, a collector-worthy lounge stacked with some of the coolest designs of the past decades, and a buzzy ground-floor eatery, Benedict — now looks at it whenever she finds herself in need of new inspiring stimuli.

It's incredibly energizing creatively," she explains. "The architecture, art scene, and independent spirit all feed into how I approach design." And no trip to it is ever complete without a pit stop at these five favorites.

1. "You Can Only Visit on a Guided Tour" — Discover Under-the-Radar Art Hubs

Alexandrinenstraße 118-121, 10969 Berlin, Germany; Reinhardtstraße 20, 10117 Berlin, Germany

My favorite art space in Berlin is König Galerie. It's set inside a former Brutalist church in Kreuzberg, which makes the whole experience quite striking — huge concrete volumes, dramatic light, and these vast exhibition spaces. The program is always strong, but it's really the building that stays with you. Another memorable address in Berlin is the Boros Collection — a private collection of contemporary art housed in a former bunker. You can only visit on a guided tour, which gives it a very intimate feel. Moving through the raw concrete spaces, with contemporary art layered into them, feels completely different to a typical gallery.

2. "The Bar at the Top Is a Highlight" — Get a Multisensory Design Experience at Fotografiska Berlin

Oranienburger Str. 54, 10117 Berlin, Germany

I'm really drawn to Fotografiska Berlin, which sits within the reworked Tacheles building. It's a good example of how Berlin approaches historic structures; nothing feels overdone. The photography is always interesting, but it's also about the atmosphere. The bar at the top is a highlight, with surprisingly calm views across the city. Here, you'll also find a restaurant and a cafe-cum-bakery.

3. "It's Got That Rare Balance of Refinement and Warmth" — Test Drive Favorite Foodie Spots

Giesebrechtstraße 3, 10629 Berlin, Germany; Fasanenstraße 40, 10719 Berlin-Bezirk Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Germany

We discovered Bottega Seppel while working on our hotel project, The Dean Berlin, in Charlottenburg. It quickly became a favourite: the interiors, atmosphere, food, and wine are all exceptional, with that rare balance of refinement and warmth. If the evening runs late, it's worth finishing with a cocktail at The Rum Trader, a tiny, legendary bar nearby that feels wonderfully frozen in time.

4. "The Selection Is Brilliant" — Expand Your Artsy Book Collection

Stadtbahnbogen 593, 10623 Berlin-Bezirk Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Germany

I love browsing the books at Bücherbogen am Savignyplatz. It sits beneath the S-Bahn arches and is one of those places you could easily miss. The selection is brilliant — architecture and design books you don't often come across elsewhere. It's the kind of shop you dip into quickly and end up staying far longer than you meant to.

5. "It Feels Almost Endless" — Take a Break From It All in the Great Outdoors

Tempelhofer Damm, 12101 Berlin, Germany

Tempelhofer Feld is unique. The former airport runway has become this huge open park where people cycle, garden, or just sit and watch the sunset. The scale is what makes it — it feels almost endless, right in the middle of the city. There's something quite freeing about it.

One (Lesser Known) Thing

What people often don't realise is how close Berlin is to nature. The city is surrounded by lakes and woodland, and it's completely normal to head out of the city for a swim or a boat day at the weekend. It gives Berlin a very different pace: you get the intensity of a metropolis, but also a real sense of escape.

Where to Stay in Berlin

The Dean Berlin

IN A SENTENCE: Berlin's newest creative hub, The Dean Berlin, brings the namesake Irish hotel group's laidback-chic sensibility to Charlottenburg with 81 individually decorated rooms wrapped in an unexpectedly cheerful palette, offering travelers a colorful, art-filled antidote to the city's brutalist edges.

DESIGN DOWNLOAD: British designer Rachael Gowdridge's vision marries acidic greens, fire red, seashell pink, mint, and chartreuse with biophilic, earthy browns, all set against patinated plaster walls, original mosaic floors, and painted period paneling.

Curated by Thom Oosterhof under the name Wanderers, sculptural finds — from a Vico Magistretti Telegono Lamp to a biomorphic IKEA piece by Eva and Peter Moritz — sit alongside Memphis-inspired veneered shelving, checkered floors, and velvety, jewel-toned seating, giving the common areas a collector's home feel.

ON THE MENU: Benedict, the hotel's all-day restaurant and café, wraps guests in chartreuse, earthy brown gradients, and pops of pink and deep green — a fittingly playful backdrop for relaxed, all-day dining.

DON'T MISS: The retro-edged bathrooms with their statement color drenching, the cocooning red vestibules that greet guests on arrival to each suite, and rooms with private balconies or outdoor areas where the mint-green accents take center stage.

Château Royal

IN A SENTENCE: Tucked between the government district and Museum Island, just steps from the Brandenburg Gate, Château Royal is the 93-room embodiment of Berlin's cosmopolitan spirit — a hotel where reinterpreted Belle Époque grandeur meets a sprawling collection of contemporary art, all wrapped in the warmth of hosts who feel more like generous, slightly eccentric friends than staff.

DESIGN DOWNLOAD: Behind the careful restoration of the 1850 and 1910 buildings is David Chipperfield Architects, while interior direction from Irina Kromayer, alongside architect Etienne Descloux and designer Katariina Minits, breathes new life into the property's storied bones.

Original details from the city's former golden ages — ornate moldings, parquet, and grand proportions — are reinterpreted rather than preserved in amber, giving every space a lived-in, collected-over-time feel. No two of the 93 rooms and suites are alike, as each was designed by a different artist, with creative direction from Celia Solf tying the eclectic whole together.

ON THE MENU: Restaurant Château Royal serves modern Mediterranean comfort food built around dishes meant to feel like old favorites, while the hotel's connections to Berlin society staples like Grill Royal and Einstein Unter den Linden put some of the city's buzziest tables within easy reach.

DON'T MISS: Site-specific works by over 100 contemporary artists, curated by co-founder Kirsten Landwehr with Krist Gruijthuijsen of the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, woven through the bar, restaurant, corridors, and every guestroom — plus the hotel's own insider guide to Berlin, packed with hidden gems handpicked by the team and their friends.

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Keen for a vacation but still don't know where exactly to head? Dive into our recent hot list of design-worthy new hotel openings 2026 for a worldly edit of must-know stays.

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There are people who pick their holiday destinations based on their sightseeing credentials or continental breakfast buffets. While here at Livingetc, we can appreciate the allure of historical landmarks and the temptation embodied by meticulously sliced cheese and cured ham, our set of priorities when it comes to identifying unmissable new hotel openings puts extraordinary design front and center.

As an ever-growing creative field, hotel design is a year-long affair. But if you, like us, tend to be most fascinated with impromptu getaways when temperatures rise, well, what to say? You've landed in the right place.

Selected for interior design flair and the way in which their rooms push the conversation on local craftsmanship, sense of place, and storytelling into uncharted territory, the new hotel openings for 2026 gathered in this hit list are every design aficionado's midsummer night's dream — and will no doubt make it onto the list of the world's best design hotels.

1. Zannier Île de Bendor. Île de Bendor, FR

Ile de Bendor, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 83150 Bandol, France

If there's a place that brings the magic of summer to mind, it's the French Riviera, the undisputed hotspot to visit in France outside of Paris when temperatures suddenly start rising. And so it is only fair that this list of design-worthy new hotel openings should start with Zannier Île de Bendor, the reinvention of the 17-acre island first dreamed up in 1950 by Pastis pioneer Paul Ricard, which just relaunched last month as a 93-room-and-suite boutique hotel. Nestled on the private idyll of Bendor, this sprawling stay is a collaboration between Hardel Le Bihan Architectes, in-house style experts Zannier Design Studio, who crafted the interiors, and landscape designers Niez Studio.

The vibrancy of the property's outdoors spills inside, where three design styles guarantee a dream sojourn for travelers of all kinds. All arches and stripes, the Delos suites revive the 1960s golden age of the French Riviera. The Soukana guest bedrooms rely on earthy tones and tactile detailing to aid groundedness and relaxation, while the Madrague accommodations breathe new life into traditional fishermen's houses through punchy color, rustic furnishings, and authentic Provençal charm. That variety continues in the dining offering, which includes three eateries guided by Michelin-starred chef Lionel Lévy, four bars and lounges, and Nonna Bazaar, a multi-sensory lifestyle and restaurant concept proving resort-core is yet to pass. Soak in the playfulness of the hotel's handmade murals and artistry. Arrive by private boat. Leave reluctantly.

Book your stay at Zannier Île de Bendor.

2. The Lake Como EDITION. Canedabbia, IT

Via Regina, 41, 22011 Cadenabbia CO, Italy

Edition Hotels opened a resort along the western shores of Lake Como in March 2026, taking over a 19th-century palazzo in the lakeside town of Cadenabbia. Bathing in the group's signature champagne tones, with floor-to-ceiling windows, staggering lighting, and thriving plants bringing its spaces to life, the hotel blends historic charm with contemporary furnishings, along with a floating pool, several dining options, and a modern spa overlooking the lake. It joins Il Sereno and its recently unveiled, collector-worthy Listening Suite as the second contemporary bolthole on the famed Italian lake. Award-winning chef Mauro Colagreco leads the culinary programme. A private dock, a longevity wellness area, and the lago framing every window: this is what quiet maximalism actually looks like. The ultimate highlight? Trust Livingetc and descend to the turquoise-clad spa for an hour in paradise.

Book your stay at the Lake Como EDITION.

3. St. Clement. London, UK

180, the Thames, 12 Temple Pl, Temple, London WC2R 2NF

People have called it the best hotel view in the whole of London. The Livingetc team has fallen for its mid-century modern-cool furnishings before its official opening, which, by the way, will be in September: St. Clement might be one of the British capital's latest new entries, but the superstar team behind it sure knew how to get people talking about it from the very beginning. A new venture by former Soho House CEO Nick Jones, the pioneer of the contemporary private members' club concept, St. Clement makes a discreet retreat for traveled globetrotters interested in savoring the city at their own pace, and has begun to welcome selected 'friends' for a soft launch summer run. The quietly luxurious interiors by Eagle + Hodges pair considered pops of color with refined fabrics, textural stone, and large-scale art pieces, while the generous sizing and fully equipped kitchens and terraces give every sojourn a residential feel.

Treat yourself to Perfumer H bath amenities, enjoy a listening night thanks to the immersive sound of Bang & Olufsen wireless speaker, or make the most of all services offered on-site: from the hyper-seasonal menu of the just-launched Café Clement, helmed by River Café former head chef Danny Bohan, and Bobbi's Bar's luscious cocktails, to the offerings of eatery Lunette and the hotel's invigorating health club, both landing this autumn. While you wait for the 'canvas' to be complete, make time to explore the wider 180 Strand development, whether stopping off at the exhibitions at 180 Studios, for coffee and pastries at Corner Shop, or a stellar meal at West African-infused eatery Ikoyi. This is where one of London's best hotels and London's best collide.

Book your stay at St. Clement.

4. Amanvari. East Cape, MX

Eureka s/n esquina con Sta Maria la Ribera, 23570 East Cape, B.C.S., Mexico

Everyone who has read our Travel Trends for 2026 report knows how big a fan I am of the soothing, theatrical aesthetic of the Aman group. Opening August 1, Amanvari, the portfolio's anticipated Los Cabos debut, raises the standards in indoor-outdoor living by letting the tropical landscape define its tones, textures, and lighting. Forget the non-stop pulse of Mexico City: at just 18 private suites, or casitas, Amanvari is a true boutique stay, and one of the most intimate ones in the region. Each guesthouse here comes complete with a private pool, floor-to-ceiling windows, and uninterrupted sea views across 82 square meters. Washed in sandy shades, they are as contemporary as they feel timeless, and were conceived in sync with their surroundings. There's a spa equipped with a modern temazcal, an open-air yoga pavilion, and countless curated wellness programmes, all steps away from the waves.

Book your stay at Amanvari.

5. Soho House Tokyo. Tokyo, JP

3 Chome-8-35 Minamiaoyama, Minato City, Tokyo 107-0062, Japan

Japan's hook on the design-driven traveler has never been stronger — and Soho House Tokyo, the cult group's 50th House and its first in the country, is the new hotel opening that confirms what the most switched-on globetrotters already know: that Tokyo's pull goes well beyond its landscapes and culinary scene. Instead, blame its nature-conscious, beautifully pared-back approach to interiors, artisanship, and material knowledge for its rapid rise (and rise). Boasting 42 bedrooms, a rooftop, an infinity-style pool, and a wellness studio across four floors, Soho House Tokyo calls the buzzy Aoyama district its home. The interiors, dreamed up by senior designer Domhnall Nolan over five years of on-field research, reinterpret Japanese-style heritage furniture, detailing, and materials through a distinctively British lens. The goal, he told me in a recent interview, was "to blend Japanese minimalist perfectionism with Soho House's more maximal approach to color, pattern, and form." It shows.

Washi paper-clad walls and softly glowing amber-hued ambient lighting envelop visitors in a soothing, golden aura upon entering, while mid-century furniture is paired with Japanese Art Deco ceiling lamps and a vibrant collection of paintings, sculptures, and installations by 40 artists born, based, or trained in Japan. The material storytelling runs deepest in two specific choices: urushi lacquer — a dying art in Japan that Nolan encountered at the Makino Urushi workshop in rural Kyoto — which he wove throughout the property to give each space a jewel-box effect; and sakiori woven blankets and tapestries made from old kimonos, crafted with artisans from Taitō's Public Crafts platform, which are now a key focus of the guest bedrooms. Even the ceiling of the main club space on level 13 rewards those who look up: it's modeled after traditional tatami flooring, not an exact replication but a playful riff on the original materials and proportions. The building itself, designed by Tadao Ando, does the rest. Perhaps there's no need for Soho House alternatives after all.

Book your stay at Soho House Tokyo.

6. The Cooper. Charleston, South Carolina, US

176 Concord St, Charleston, SC 29401, United States

Charleston might not necessarily be a top destination for summer 2026, but a recently completed project by Livingetc-favorite and hotel design trailblazer Alexandra Champalimaud's firm Champalimaud Design could well have you change your mind about it. Inaugurated in March 2026, The Cooper is the city's first luxury waterfront hotel on the peninsula. It boasts 191 pleasantly bright and spacious rooms and a heated infinity-edge pool overlooking the harbor. Inspired by coastal Southern homes, interiors feature a serene neutral palette, wide-plank light oak floors, and classic shiplap wall paneling. Elsewhere in the property, a 7,000-square-foot spa offers cryotherapy loungers, red-light therapy beds, and experiential showers. A private marina with a fleet of luxury vessels available for guest excursions rounds out an address that has quietly made Charleston the most interesting new hotel opening 2026 in the American South this summer.

Book your stay at The Cooper.

7. Ytri. Træna Archipelago, NO

Fløholmen 8, 8770 Træna, Helgeland Coast, Norway

A spring 2026 hotel opening, Ytri is a cinematic island retreat nestled on the Træna archipelago 37 miles off Norway's coast. Born out of a desire to invite travelers to experience "a way of life shaped by the sea and community", its naturally lit, airy spaces do just that. The work of Vardehaugen Architects with warm, minimalist interiors by Bonaparte Interiør, the architecture draws on the old fishing villages along the Norwegian coast — resilient realities shaped by necessity, color, and craftsmanship — with buildings molded by the harsh coastal climate and connected to their surroundings by nature trails formed over thousands of years.

Wrapped in pale wood and fabrics, with wide views of its surroundings, the property comprises 38 rooms and suites, a Northern Lights lounge, a wood-fired sauna at the edge of the Arctic Sea, a seafood restaurant, a yoga and wellness area, a boathouse, and its own helipad. The name comes from Old Norse, meaning "the outermost point". The next stop from here is Greenland, and at Ytri, "the silence becomes luxury". Having just returned from Copenhagen's 3daysofdesign, I can't help but think of Scandi life as a synonym of standout style, food, and hospitality, and look forward to giving Norway and a coolcation a try.

Book your stay at Ytri Island Retreat.

8. W Sardinia. Poltu Quatu, IT

SP59, 07021 Poltu Quatu OT, Italy

Tucked into Poltu Quatu ("hidden port" in the local dialect) between the glamorous Porto Cervo and the spellbinding Baia Sardinia on the island's northeast coast, W Sardinia is the kind of opening that makes you reconsider what a resort can actually be. The work of acclaimed New York studio Meyer Davis, the 157-room property was envisioned "as a curated passage through land, sea, and story". The interiors are shaped by the island's rugged topography through movement, light, and spatial discovery. Rounded forms layered in sand, stone, and sun-washed wood tones, arched, cream-painted ceilings, rattan and wooden furniture in playful, bobbin-turned silhouettes, and turquoise stone accents are woven into everything from the structure of the furniture itself to one-off ceramics, tapestries, and tabletops, each one a direct, unapologetic nod to Sardinia's coruscating sea.

Local artisan contributions take center stage in the scheme: there are ceramic vessels by Assemini-based artist Walter Usai, sourced through multidisciplinary Sardinian studio Pretziada; wave-reminiscent tapestries by Fabrizio Sanna; abstract canvases by painter Cinzia Murgia; and aerial photography of the bay by Giuseppe Chironi. Meyer Davis's most quietly brilliant move yet? Their reinterpretation of ornament as function, from golden pendant sconces that read like drop earrings to cerulean blue, silver, and brass rings embracing the base of lounge tables, the whole place glimmering like a jewelry box left in the sun in return.

Book your stay at W Sardinia.

9. Villa Colette. Cap Ferret, FR

39 Bd de la Plage, 33970 Lège-Cap-Ferret, France

Philippe Starck's latest project in Cap Ferret, "the Hamptons of France", is not what you'd expect. Villa Colette rises on a thin strip of land surrounded on either end by water, overlooking the Arcachon Bay. Enclosed by dramatic pine forests, tidal salt meadows, and windy dunes, this tranquil retreat lies over 650 kilometers away from the city. The 28-room boutique hotel was modeled after a fictional 1930s–50s French actress who, in Starck's own imagination, escapes to a coastal home in Cap Ferret as her career winds down. Her presence, imagined and richly layered, haunts the whole place: shiny crystal tableware, beautifully framed paintings, spring florals, and vividly patterned cushions, rugs, and custom-made tables by STARCK that read as animated artworks.

The palette is a romantic powder pink and pale lemon yellow, the furniture, unusually classical for a Starck project: high-backed, polished-wood, upholstered. From here, you can spend your day out on rattan-heavy terraces, tracing the movement of light as it bounces off mirrored sconces and turns golden. Part coastal French, part Cape Cod, but unmistakably Starck at its core, Villa Colette is a hotel that asks you to stop what you're doing and tune in, like an actress waiting for the next chapter of her life to begin.

Book your stay at Villa Colette.

10. Four Seasons Hotel Mykonos. Mykonos, GR

Karapetis, Mikonos 846 00, Greece

Available for stays beginning June 26, the Four Seasons Hotel Mykonos is the brand's first property on a Greek island. Expect 94 rooms, villas, and suites spread across 650,000 square feet of dramatic land running from coastal cliffs down to the beach. Designed by legendary Greek architect Nicos Valsamakis with interiors by Wimberly Interiors, the architecture pays homage to timeless Cycladic style — whitewashed walls, hidden courtyards, traditional pathways — while a spectacular infinity pool overlooks the Aegean. Positioned on the island's quieter southeastern edge rather than in the thick of its well-documented, touristic chaos: a deliberate, intelligent choice that says everything about the audience this new hotel opening 2026 is actually made for.

Book your stay at Four Seasons Hotel Mykonos.

In the Big Smoke for the summer? Check out our selection of beautiful London hotels with pools.

For more hotels to enjoy the summer sun in, our edit of the most breathtaking hotel gardens or The Odyssey-inspired travel itinerary are both sure to inspire. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world, Sydney studio YSG just unveiled a 'cosmic tropical' treasure at Bali's hidden new hotel Moon Gang.

For further travel and design ideas, subscribe to the Livingetc newsletter, and all the latest will be delivered directly to your inbox, from 2026's hottest new restaurants and hotels to our curated selections of luggage, homeware, and beach towels.

Temperamental is the first word that comes to mind when I look back at this year's edition of 3daysofdesign. This is mostly because of the unexpected rain showers and blue-sky sunshine that alternated throughout my stay in Copenhagen, keeping things interesting and outfits... layered, but not just because of that. Themed Make This Moment Matter, the latest iteration of the city-wide festival encouraged "a collective recalibration from 'more' to 'meaningful,'" explained managing director and CEO Signe Byrdal Terenziani.

In doing so, it confirmed a suspicion I have had for a while: that aesthetics alone are no longer enough to captivate the audience's shrinking attention span, especially with hundreds of activations happening at the same time. Instead, what true great design calls for today is something less obvious and slightly more visceral and unpredictable: emotion.

Making sense of 3daysofdesign 2026 was challenging. Between Georg Jensen's shimmering playground, installed off the brand's flagship on the picturesque Strøget street, Fredericia's electrifying rooftop aperitivos, and the competing listening clubs embracing design's finest sound setups, it took no time to feel like you were missing out. What stuck with me after the trip, then, are the shows whose displayed objects, artworks, and atmospheres managed to make me feel something — the very shows I'll be drawing to turn my home into a space that's grounding, convivial, and sensory by following these three key lessons.

1. Let Light Set the Mood

Emotion, the real protagonist of the latest edition of 3daysofdesign, is theoretically impalpable, and yet, its presence still allowed a selected number of exhibitions to stand out from the rest. The same is true of light and, more precisely, natural light, which, according to Danish artist Christina Augustesen, "is a direct regulator of our nerve system".

"We all smile when the sun is out; we notice the atmosphere changing," she said during the press opening of Daylight Instruments, an installation of semi-transparent sculptures animated by sunshine. Realized in partnership with window experts VELUX and exhibited in their Nordhavn flagship during 3daysofdesign, these abstract compositions featured overlaid colorful lamellas that appeared to blend into one and change shade when observed from different angles.

Subtle shifts in perception can open up the way for greater discoveries. "When we look at art made through other people's eyes, it forces us to focus deeper on what is in front of us," Augustesen said. "It is a reminder that we are part of something bigger, whether it's nature or humankind."

Helle Mardahl Studio's pastel-tinted flagship at Bredgade 17 is exemplary in showing how light can be used to tell a story. Upon stepping inside, visitors were instantly absorbed in a flickering composition of mouth-blown, bubbly golden and rose lamps in varying shapes and sizes, which, reflected by the many mirrors installed in the store, gave life to a fantasy world.

In this 3daysofdesign presentation, nostalgically inspired by Tetris and Candy Crush, pendant lighting wasn't one of the elements on show; it set the mood and tone for the whole exhibition. Past a softly glowing web of chandeliers, people could discover the rest of Helle Mardahl's collection — voluminous, sheeny vases, glasses, plates, and accessories imbued with the same sweet-like aesthetic, styled atop white shelving resembling the display of a candy shop.

But, really, it was the suffused, atmospheric warmth emanated by the Danish designer's signature lamps that made her showroom an unmissable stop for everyone's 3daysofdesign itinerary, proving there's no end to the charm of a mushroom-shaped lantern, and that, in Mardahl's own words, "symmetry, color, and repetition can create experiences that are both joyful and unexpectedly hypnotic."

2. Make Room for Conviviality to Thrive

Furniture and guesthouse experts Vipp's contribution to this year's 3daysofdesign shed away from a showroom format in favor of a deeply interactive setup, fostering dialogue and fun.

Hosted at the brand's HQ in the southeastern end of the city, the experience saw Barcelona-based multidisciplinary studio mesura envision a temporary guesthouse inspired by the Danish Midsommar across a former garage and an open-air courtyard. The highlight? A raised, metal-framed lounge built from sections of the modular Loft sofa and fit for a contemporary utopia.

Sunk into a sea of vibrant plaid textile against a Backrooms-yellow backdrop, this seating area became a literal pool of softness amid Vipp's signature steel, an island for sprawling, lounging, and facing inward toward each other rather than outward toward a screen.

This is the conversation pit reborn: not the sunken 1970s living room cliché, but a contemporary, modular, almost topographic landscape that claims seating is no longer about discrete chairs angled at a TV, but about a shared surface where bodies can encounter and engage in meaningful exchanges. The encircling chrome surface, doubling as both table and perch for the custom Swivel chairs, reinforced the idea — everything orbited this central gathering point.

The legendary Danish jewelry and homeware house Georg Jensen and Piet Hein weren't the only brands to put playfulness at the heart of their participation in 3daysofdesign. At Vipp's Campus, the Swivel chair was reinvented as a seesaw in the courtyard. At the same time, the inclusion of design-forward games throughout the space blurred the lines between design, travel, and social life.

Midsummer hygge here wasn't cozy solitude; the pairing of an oversized, huggable sofa-pit with swings and games suggests togetherness isn't just about proximity anymore — it has to be activated, given a reason to happen. That's the real shift both Vipp and mesura pointed to: people don't just want rooms that look sociable, they want furniture that makes socializing feel inevitable, whether it means rethinking your sofa choices or investing in collectibles that can delight adults and kids alike.

3. Design for All the Senses

One of the greatest aspects of attending one of the most prominent design festivals around the world is that you get to notice how the field is reshaping itself in real time. Sometimes, this change is less obvious, and comes in the juxtaposition of timeless silhouettes and finishes interspersed with unexpected, hyper-contemporary pops of colors, like in the showroom of tapware innovators VOLA.

In other cases, the evolution of the scene is captured by one element of a brand presentation: take, for example, Romo's sentimental ice cream truck, which, parked outside its new showroom in Nordhavn, gave visitors an excuse to linger just a little longer among its walls of striking textile samples, sublime furniture pieces, and draped curtain separees throughout 3daysofdesign.

Or Carl Hansen & Søn's hosting of a mobile workshop led by Mentsen, where surplus wood from the atelier's manufacturing process found new life as poetic floating home accessories. Both exemplify how the interior universe is becoming increasingly preoccupied with how we live now, and what that life leaves behind.

In a world that's more and more online, other initiatives on the Copenhagen festival's calendar reminded us that the most memorable design roots us in the present by simultaneously engaging all the senses. Fritz Hansen's Sound Club leaned fully into this sensory immersion, partnering with Japanese audio pioneer Technics to explore how sound shapes our relationship to furniture, light, and materials.

Across a listening lounge, an analogue listening bar, and the brand's Flagship Store, the installation paired Fritz Hansen seating with the premiere of an original podcast, archive Bauhaus-style tables fitted with limited-edition burgundy KAISER idell lamps and matching Technics turntables, and an exclusive vinyl of new compositions by Kim C (Oviduct) and William de Waal (Willone), all marking the KAISER idell lamp's 90th anniversary.

The cherry on top of the latest edition of 3daysofdesign, though, was Cecilie Bahnsen and Caro Diario's co-hosted picnic, A Table on the Grass. Conceived by studio wes for the Danish fashion designer and Paris-based culinary artist and chef Zélikha Dinga, this en-plain-air setup featured bespoke Cecilie Bahnsen fabrics reworked as wrapped-around, colorful fringing, and a frame of matte silver filled by sculpture-like tomatoes, boiled eggs, cherries, potatoes, and olive oil and salt.

A masterclass in tablescaping for summer, this essentially striking pop-up proved that, in a growingly screen-bound society, the most resonant design doesn't just ask to be seen, but to be talked about, touched, and, why not, even to be eaten. Consider integrating multisensory elements into your interior scheme for a home that stays imprinted in people's minds, and not just on their Instagram feeds.

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What do you get when you bring together an iconic pillar of British luxury and an avant-garde Italian design house? The summer terrace of dreams — that's what you get. It's London's slice of La Dolce Vita, right in the heart of Mayfair, and I'm already plotting how to bring the beauty to my own backyard.

A luxury-lovers' collaboration of dreams, London landmark hotel, The Dorchester, has teamed up with Milanese fashion house, La Double J, to bring life to their Summer Garden. Open until September, this modern garden terrace invites you to leave the rush of the city behind and indulge in the exuberant charm of Italy's southern coast. Floral motifs and eye-catching patterns collide in this luxurious dreamscape, where lush greenery brushes up against the glorious sculptures by American sculptor Lyman Whitaker — a cacophony of the real and surreal; there is a truly magical quality to this joyful terrace.

Inspired by La Double J's design philosophy to 'Raise Your Vibrations', this garden is abuzz with the joyfulness of creative exploration. Combining the spirit of Italian maximalism that is so central to the La Double J brand with the quintessential British refinement you expect from one of London's most notorious hotels, this terrace ushers in a new age of luxury, one that is full of character, color, and celebration.

Explore the Dorchester's Summer Terrace, by La Double J

Although both are undeniable giants in the world of luxury design, La Double J and The Dorchester are not an immediately obvious pairing. One is a luxury landmark of Central London, one of the city's best hotels, rooted in tradition, dating back to the 1930s, and the other is a young, playful brand, combining Italian artistry with a feel-good design style. But, fresh off a four-year renovation process, The Dorchester is shaking things up, embracing a new, inspired take on what modern luxury can look like.

It was this renovation that laid the foundation for this collaboration. As Luca Virgilio, The Dorchester's general manager, explains, "The La Double J summer garden reflects the same attention to detail and craftsmanship seen throughout the wider renovation, the most significant restoration in the hotel’s history. Every element has been thoughtfully considered to integrate seamlessly with the hotel’s renewed identity, shaped by a clear vision for this new chapter."

In the general renovation, the design is intentionally timeless, crafted to see the hotel into a new era, while respecting its past. In this installation, however, there was more room to explore something more playful, due to the gardens' inherently ephemeral nature. "While the renovation is rooted in timeless design, this installation introduces a more seasonal and expressive layer. Created as a summer experience, it brings a sense of playfulness through bold prints, layered textures and sculptural elements, creating a lighter, more dynamic contrast to the hotel’s more structured and enduring spaces," says Luca.

Throughout its history, The Dorchester has remained a favorite of the city's elite, hosting royals and Hollywood stars alike. Similarly, since its formation in 2015, La Double J has gained a loyal following among the luxury-lovers in the know. Together, the two are ushering in a new age of luxury hospitality, celebrating a maximalist, more-is-more attitude that acts as a relief from years of pared-back minimalist design.

The garden is a harmonious combination of the two brands — embodying both La Double J's vision of Italian glamour and The Dorchester's quintessentially British sensibilities. "The La Double J summer garden brings a distinctly Italian sense of warmth, color and expressive design, while still feeling very much at home in Mayfair and in keeping with the spirit of a British summer garden party," explains Luca. "There’s a clear dialogue between the two, from the bold prints and vibrant palette to the relaxed, sociable atmosphere — creating something that feels both lively and elegant, and very natural to the setting."

From the floors to the cushions to the place settings, every element of this infectiously joyful garden is bursting with color and life. Immediately setting the tone for the garden and providing a fantastical foundation to build upon, the patio flooring is decorated in La Double J's signature Napoli Rosa print, a burst of warmth and beauty spreading out beneath your feet. Scalloped-shape tiles in orange, pink, and brown bring the warmth of a golden sunset across the garden floor, reflecting a fearless use of color that continues throughout the design.

No inch has gone unconsidered. Decorated porcelain plates lie across the tables, accompanied by striking vases and colorful glassware. On the seats, the cushions are emblazoned with floral patterns, and the edges are trimmed with orange, fuzzy piping. "The intention was to create a garden that feels vibrant and immersive, while still maintaining the level of detail expected at The Dorchester," says Luca. "Through layered textiles and expressive table settings, the space balances color and movement with a sense of cohesion and that typical Dorchester refinement."

It's not just the table settings that create this immersive experience, though. The entire courtyard garden has been transformed into a summertime storybook, bursting with color and life. Playing a key role in this transformation are Lyman Whitaker's signature floral statues. Also used at La Double J's head offices, for this terrace, the flowers were customized to replicate the colors of Icelandic poppies: "The result is a fantastic creatures garden where the sculptures dance as flowers in movement with the intensity of wind," explains Luca.

"Adding magic to the space and capturing the attention of those who pass or drive by thanks to their height. The other two flowers framing the entrance are large-scale sculptures of Icelandic poppies, specifically made for the project, all made by hand and painted by Viareggio-based artist Luca Bertozzi, known for his works at Carnevale di Viareggio in Italy.”

A careful balance of Italian maximalism and British refinement, it's a space that feels inviting, warm, and never overwhelming.

Get the Look

If you want to dive even deeper into the beautiful design culture of Italian tradition, why not treat yourself to a little getaway? Our roundup of the best hotels in Italy will have you covered — but don't blame us if you want to visit them all.

Elsewhere in London, Lebanese restaurant KINZ and Richmond's most romantic restaurant terrace at Tower House might have just mastered the art of indoor-outdoor dining: what are your thoughts? For the rest of your design inspiration, subscribe to our newsletter.

Saint Paul de Vence is a place steeped in art history. Set up on an idyllic hillside just a 30-minute journey winding up out of Nice, the town holds many stories of now-legendary artists – the likes of Picasso, Chagall, and Matisse – who exchanged paintings for rooms at the now iconic hotel, La Colombe d’Or. The phrase 'if the walls could talk' comes to mind when you walk into this place, which is now an incredible chic spot open for drinks and dinner, so you can stand awestruck with a rosé in hand as you admire the original works.

The town is also home to the modern art collection at Fondation Maeght – and it still draws new artists and gallerists from across the world. It is the perfect home for Toile Blanche, a boutique art-led design hotel that, just like the town, has artwork at its core.

The Leroy Brothers, Gilles, Gregory, and Nicolas, began the hotel in 2004 as a small bed and breakfast, and transformed a 1890s farmhouse into a family-run business. But before becoming hoteliers, they were (and still very much are) artists, working together on contemporary pieces that can be found throughout the hotel.

Since its humble beginnings, Toile Blanche has grown to 22 suites, dotted around the beautiful and sprawling grounds, in a mix of both new buildings and older properties that the brothers have acquired over the years.

Each suite has a unique feel and personal touch, everyone has its own entrance and outside space, and some come with private pools. No two rooms are the same, but all the interiors have the same thread of warmth, the perfect balance of minimalism, while still being inviting.

Pinkish clay tones and terracottas mix with linen, wood, and rattan to create beautiful layers, reflective of the Mediterranean location. There are plenty of artworks in the rooms too — work by the brothers themselves, and pieces carefully selected for the style of the suits.

And the artwork goes beyond just being hung in the rooms. There is also an on-site gallery: Toile Blanche Contemporary. The collection is a mix of artists, and changes regularly. This summer, the hotel has a busy art programme made up of four exhibitions from artists from all over the world — Holly Hendry, Kris, Dewitte, Tom Barman, and John Franzen.

The grounds of the hotel itself are also like an open gallery, a sculpture park for modern art from both local and global artists. But blink, and you might miss them, as the pieces are nestled among the lavender or disguised in the olive trees. This is a place that effortlessly blends modern art and luxury design.

If you are spending the day lounging around the many pools, stop to have a memorable lunch at La Guinguette, which has a beautiful seasonal menu of small plates to be enjoyed under the shade of the burnt orange sun umbrellas. Dinner is a slightly more formal affair at Le Restaurant, where the decor is moodier and more intimate, with the owners’ artwork lining the walls. For breakfast, which is included in the room's price, you pick the spot — on the terrace, by the pool, or in your bed. The menu is fresh, and the options are plentiful.

Toile Blanche may now be a luxury spot, but it hasn't lost its original roots. Artwork is still celebrated, and there's still an intimate family feel to the hotel. You'll likely spot one of the brothers on site, ready to talk art, food, family, and design.

Room rates start at €200 and include breakfast.

Scent and the home space have been intertwined since the dawn of civilization, but as humans evolved, so have the carriers of our favorite types of fragrance.

Currently, a quiet revolution is unfolding right on our shelves, where the humble diffuser — that stalwart of the interiors mood board, reed-and-bottle combo we've all at some point in our life bought and, guiltily, left to dust over the months — is being replaced by something reuniting functionality and style. Something you'll want to look after for the rest of your life.

It is from this encounter between home fragrance and collectible design that the first collaboration between Sophie Ashby of Sister by Studio Ashby and sustainable lifestyle brand Reia's co-founders Celia Foot and Sophie Salisbury emerges: a butter-yellow ceramic talisman that makes you question whether "diffuser" is even the right word anymore.

From a Scent in the Form of a Vessel to a Vessel That Happens to Carry Scent

Call it a scented object. Call it a ritual vessel. Whatever you call it, it represents a broader shift in how we think about fragrance in the domestic sphere — not as a background note, something to neutralize a room or perform cleanliness, but as an atmosphere, a practice, a daily act of intention.

Known for her richly layered, enlivening schemes, Sophie Ashby had been contemplating this idea for years.

"I've been dreaming of creating something beautiful, sculptural, and scented for the home," she says. The dream, notably, wasn't to make a candle, another reed diffuser, or a room spray. It was to make an object — one that happened to carry scent, rather than the other way around.

How Reia and Sister by Studio Ashby Crafted an Object That Extends Beyond Its Function

It's a distinction Reia's co-founders, Celia Foot and Sophie Salisbury, understand intuitively. Since launching in 2021 with a now-cult range of refillable hand and body washes, they've built their brand around the idea that the everyday objects we reach for should be worthy of the reaching.

Those small, repeated acts of a day deserve design that meets the moment. It's no surprise, then, that when the conversation turned to fragrance, they found themselves drawn toward the same orbit as Studio Ashby.

"Our collaboration with Sister by Studio Ashby felt incredibly natural from the beginning because we share such a similar approach to design," Celia reflects. "Both brands are deeply focused on how spaces make people feel."

Behind the Making of Reia and Sister by Studio Ashby's SERRA Scented Talisman

The creative partnership has manifested itself as a floral-imprinted ceramic box that absorbs fragrance oil and releases it slowly into a room. A mechanism that's elemental in its simplicity, but that, winking back at the porousness of early Egyptian, Chinese, and Mediterranean diffusers, imbues a visibly contemporary design with a sense of timelessness.

Heavily textured, architecturally considered, and subtly bold in that particular shade of butter yellow, this Reia x Sister by Studio Ashby debut exists in the tradition of things made to be kept, and, why not, even passed down.

"The box form has this magic combination of sculptural presence and quiet simplicity," says Sophie, "the perfect piece to store treasures or to display on a shelf." Once the scent fades, the object remains. That's the whole point.

This is the new grammar of the scented home: objects that earn their permanence. For years, the interiors world has been wrestling with the guilt of consumption: beautiful things bought, burned through, discarded. The answer, it seems, isn't to buy less but to buy objects whose lives extend beyond their first function.

"We envisioned the talisman as a treasured object rather than a traditional candle vessel," Sophie Salisbury explains, "something tactile that invites interaction." The textural surface isn't decorative whimsy; it's an invitation to slow down and engage.

The fragrance itself — SERRA — is equally resistant to quick definitions. Inspired by "sun-warmed stone, soft earth after heat, open expansive skies, and the sensation of looking up through the canopy of a tree," as Celia tells Livingetc, it is as fresh as it is deep, embodying calm sophistication.

The Reia co-founders and Sophie have together embraced scent as emotional architecture; fragrance not as something you spray and forget about, but as a gesture that slowly transforms the feeling of a room, the mood of an afternoon. Perhaps, then, this is where the distinction between scent-as-ceremonial and scent-as-product lies: the former requires repetition, intention, and a certain willingness to be there for it.

Dripping oil onto a ceramic lid is a small act, but it's a considered one. It asks something of you. In that asking, it gives something back — "it connects us back to nature and creates a quiet sense of presence within the home," Sophie Salisbury adds.

The obviously-a-diffuser diffuser served a purpose: it filled a gap on a shelf, performed its function, got replaced. But the objects we're searching now are asking bigger questions about beauty, longevity, and what it means for something to genuinely belong.

The Reia x Sister by Studio Ashby talisman is one such object: useful and useless, practical and precious, scented and — long after the scent has gone — still completely worth preserving.

Learn more about Reia

See how butter yellow turned 'bad' in A24's new chilling psychological thriller Backrooms, or head to our expert advice and wellness pages for the latest tips on all things scentscaping.

Hangouts aren't simply hangouts for the queer community worldwide: they are platforms for creativity, self-expression, and dialogue designed to make everyone feel welcome, inclusive spaces meant to feel safe and spark conversation. And while that's tangible year-round, this is especially evident during Pride Month.

"There aren't many places for LGBTQ+ people and their peers to gather other than pubs," Domhnall Nolan, senior designer at Soho House, lamented when we spoke to him about the otherworldly Roses of Elagabalus, one of the queer-owned-and-operated London businesses spotlighted in this Pride Month roundup. On that occasion, he referred to the nightlife destination as a place its visitors could cultivate a sense of belonging in — "something different, hopefully encouraging people to start thinking differently about how and where we decide to meet up."

The same is true of the other addresses gathered in this edit of queer platforms to hit up for Pride Month (aka June) and beyond, whether you're after an imaginatively crafted coffee shop to start a new day at, great drinks and better vibes, or sophisticated hotspots to carry on celebrating into the night.

Planning on staying till the next day? Just secure a reservation at one of our favorite London hotels.

1. For a Great Morning Start — TOAD Bakery

44 Peckham Rd, London SE5 8PX

Whether it's Pride Month or an ordinary day in the life of a Londoner, caffeine and some freshly baked goods are always high priority.Rebecca Spaven and Oliver Costello's Camberwell spot on Peckham Road, TOAD Bakery, has carved itself a reputation among coffee lovers and viennoiserie connoisseurs for their unique pastries, long-fermented sourdough, and rotating seasonal menu. Design-wise, the coffee shop's open-plan layout lets the ferment of its kitchen spills out onto the crowd, making for a social, bubbly atmosphere, as do the pop, colorful stools that dot its outdoors. Staples include the Everything Bagel Croissant, ideal for those who, like me, can't say no to a savory treat, a Saffron and Vanilla Teacake for a sweeter, bite-size alternative, and the spicy Yuzu Orange Jaffa Cake. Plus, TOAD Bakery 2.0 is set to land on Deptford Hight Street later in June, making Pride Month in London even more exciting for fellow SE residents. Craving more? Discover how many of our favorite cafes in London you know, or explore wider with our fresher edit of the most beautiful coffee shops in the world.

Learn more about TOAD Bakery.

2. For an Irreverent Hair Trim — FRUITTII London

Unit A, Norfolk House, Brookmill Rd, Deptford SE8 4HL

Having lived near Deptford for the past six years, I must admit I feel a sense of pride in knowing that some of the coolest queer spaces in London call South East London their home. Located in a glassy building on Brookmill Road, hair sculptors Tutti Fruitti and Toni Tits' salon and social lab is one to know for people looking to have a little fun and go bolder, more sculpted, and eccentric with their style. A LGBTQIA+ affirming studio known for its daring hair transformations, FRUITTI London's interiors are as vibrant as its cuts. A "living canvas", the space is covered in rainbow-tinted forms and quirky furniture, serving as a perfect reflections of its values of self-expression, individuality, and its gender-neutral identity. From time to time, they host artist takeovers and, for the undecided, are 'hair roulettes' letting chance decide your next look.

Learn more about FRUITTI London.

3. For an Art-Infused Catchup — BOYS! BOYS! BOYS!

30C Warren St, London W1T 5NF

Multifunctional spaces blending retail and interactive cultural experiences are trending in London, as shown by its lively concept stores, so why have a gallery when you can instead open a queer café, bar, bookshop​, and gallery, all in one, and right in the heart of London? The answer seems obvious, but the rationale behind BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! stretches further than that. Launched in October 2024 by Ghislain Pascal and Tamara Beckwith Veroni of leading photography platform The Little Black Gallery as a physical extension to their editorial concept of the same name, Fitzrovia's BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! puts the spotlight onto queer and gay fine art photography. The work of Alison Henry Design Studio, the interior falls somewhere between a sleek, sexy bar, with marble countertops and velvety stools, an old-style bistro with art-clad gallery walls, and a high-end coffee shop. They serve their namesake French wine (all kinds for all palates), beer, and organic coffee from Colombia, sell plenty of printed matter releases and bespoke merch, and, yes, even host a MEETS programme of thought-provoking conversations featuring photographers, artists, and interior designers.

Learn more about BOYS! BOYS! BOYS.

4. For Atmospheric Pre-Drinks — La Camionera

243 Well St, London E9 6RG

It lesbian bar La Camionera has quickly become one of London's most beloved queer-friendly gathering spots since the opening of its first permanent outpost in May 2024 following a pop-up residency on Broadway Market, and it doesn't take more than a look at its interior to know why it's high on the list of all design-driven socialites. A must-know for people looking to celebrate Pride Month in London in style, this Hackney cantina by co-founders Alex Loveless and Clara Solis infuses the warmth, conviviality, and familial feel of Spanish café culture into the East End. Chocolatey details, chrome furniture, and moody artworks on the walls make La Camionera, a sanctuary for the FLINTA* community, look both futuristic and worldly inspired, with glass pendants thrown into the mix as a sentimental touch.

Dreamed up by Wet Studio and Studio Popelo, the bar's long, narrow layout maximizes space and utilizes custom, hand-painted tiles. A play on Picasso's Minotaur paintings, nodding to Greek gods disguising themselves as bulls to seduce women, these crafty accents hold a subtle wink to the term "bulldyke". It is the sort of place where a drink stretches into several, where pintxos (patatas bravas, Gildas, cornichons, and anchovies, alongside other tapas) come aplenty, and the crowd — gloriously mixed, refreshingly unbothered — reminds you that inclusivity, at its best, doesn't announce itself.

Learn more about La Camionera.

5. For an Electrifying Meal — Bistrotheque

23-27 Wadeson St, London E2 9DR

Opened by David Waddington and Pablo Flack in 2004, East London's Bistrotheque has, for the better part of two decades, occupied a rather singular position in the city's cultural geography — part restaurant, part cabaret stage, part queer institution, all tucked inside a converted Bethnal Green warehouse whose industrial bones have been softened, over the years, into something genuinely inviting. During Pride Month, its dual identity feels especially resonant: a place where a beautifully executed French-inflected menu and a sequinned cabaret act can coexist on the same evening without either feeling like an afterthought. It is, in the truest sense, a room that has always made space for everyone without ever needing a month on the calendar to prove it. Grab a reservation this Pride Month in London for a chance to spot Croco Studio's essentially striking floral arrangements IRL.

Learn more about Bistrotheque.

6. For a Transportative Night Out — Roses of Elagabalus

Ground floor, 578 Kingsland Rd, London E8 4AH

As Pride Month unfolds across London and beyond, few destinations encapsulate its spirit and urgency quite like Roses of Elagabalus. Dalston's golden-hued, labyrinthine queer clubhouse isn't merely a beautifully designed night out, but a direct response to the absence of many places where the LGBTQ+ community gets to unwind, connect, and thrive from evening to night. It is in that gap that Roses of Elagabalus plants something far more deliberate and nourishing: a home. A space where the erotic library, the mirrored powder room, the curtain-shrouded booths of The Counter, and the clandestine hush of the Subrosa cocktail room collectively say, in no uncertain terms, that queer life deserves more than a corner of a pub — it deserves drama, elegance, and a little bit of camp. That regulars are already giving friends guided tours of its rooms, Nolan observes, speaks to something deeper than design appreciation; it is pride in the most literal, embodied sense of the word. In a month that so often risks becoming spectacle over substance, Roses of Elagabalus quietly, gloriously, insists on both.

Learn more about Roses of Elagabalus.

After more suggestions to welcome Pride Month in London? From the city's coolest ice cream parlour, The Dreamery, to the bars rewriting the rules of contemporary hospitality, there is something for everyone.

Want to keep in the loop on all the latest design news? Bookmark our exhibitions archives or join our newsletter for weekly cultural digest updates.

We live in an age of infinite connection and profound loneliness, where screens are omnipresent, while presence is rarely felt. The paradox of our time is that the more plugged in we are, the more cut off we feel — from each other, from our surroundings, from ourselves, and from those who create what we like to collect.

Design, at its best, has always been the antidote to that. And 3daysofdesign, one of the best design festivals in the world, exists precisely for this reason: to bring people back into the room, and get them to engage with the state of craftsmanship, innovation, and creativity as they stand today.

This year's theme, Make This Moment Matter, arrives like a rallying cry for designers and design lovers alike to slow down, look up, and choose meaning over noise. From June 10 to June 12, Copenhagen will again become a living reminder that the things we surround ourselves with tell a story — a vision that's become a motto here at Livingetc.

These are the highlights, the moments, the makers, and the ideas that we expect to linger long after the doors closed; the showcases set to be on everyone's mind for weeks and weeks after the event has come to an end. Because that's what the best design does — it stays with you, and gives you a reason to stay present.

3dayofdesign 2026 Highlights — 5 of the Best Things to See in Copenhagen June 10-12

Get to 'The Heart of Living' With Tekla's Exploration of Patchwork Quilt

When & Where: Kongens Nytorv 1, 1st Floor, Assembly Hall (Festsalen), 1050 Copenhagen K. June 10-12, 10AM-6PM

Tekla returns to Charlottenborg — the former palace-turned-art-institution in the heart of Copenhagen that proved such a fitting backdrop for the brand last year — with The Heart of Living, an exhibition that turns its attention to the tradition and craft of the patchwork quilt.

Displayed in cabin beds, the enclosed wooden sleeping structures used across Sweden until the 19th century, the pieces draw on colours from Tekla's own archive and reference the quiet rigour of 20th-century Swedish design, shown alongside the brand's heirloom-inspired broderie anglaise collection in a pairing that feels as considered as everything the Copenhagen label does. It is, in miniature, a neat encapsulation of what Tekla has always been about: the idea that the objects we sleep under, wrap ourselves in, and reach for day after day are worthy of the same seriousness of intent as any work of high design — made to be lived in, and made to last. The exhibition design is supported by Mentze Ottenstein.

Learn more about Tekla.

Celebrate One of the Greatest Design Icons With Louis Poulsen

Where & When: Kuglegårdsvej 19-23, 1434 Copenhagen. Pop-up café open June 10-12, 10AM-5PM

One hundred years since Poul Henningsen first presented his System PH to the world, Louis Poulsen is marking the occasion in characteristically considered style. Their 3daysofdesign programme is just as iconic as that design: the centerpiece is Into the Shades, a large-scale installation by Copenhagen design-build studio Penny that interprets the PH's legendary layered shade construction through fabric and wood, the gentle movement of the textile echoing both the lamp's soft, diffused illumination and — in a quietly poetic touch — Henningsen's lifelong passion for kites.

Talks run throughout the festival, including an intimate session with Mads Wille, the great-grandson of PH himself, who promises to reveal the man behind the myth: his views on light, liberalism and society, with stories shared publicly for the very first time. Then there is the collaboration that nobody saw coming but everyone will be talking about: the renowned Copenhagen patisserie La Glace taking up residence in Louis Poulsen's Kuglegården courtyard, transforming the brand's Hut into a pop-up café serving their world-famous assortment alongside a Louis Poulsen special edition made exclusively for the festival. As CMO Zorayda Perez Pedersen puts it, the week brings together design heritage, cultural relevance and bold innovation in one place. Plus, baked goods. I mean, what else could you ask for?

Learn more about Louis Poulsen.

Feel at Home With Fredericia: A Chronicle of Danish Design

Where & When: Fredericia Showroom, Løvstræde 1, 5th floor, Copenhagen. Exhibition open June 10-12, 9AM-6PM. Trisse Bar, June 10, 5-7PM. Thursday Bar, June 11, 6-9PM

Few furniture houses can marshal over a century of making into a coherent, emotionally resonant narrative — but Fredericia, it seems, can. The Danish brand arrives at this year's 3daysofdesign with A Chronicle of Danish Design, an exhibition that debuted in Milan Design Week 2026 before landing at the brand's Copenhagen showroom on Løvstræde. It does exactly what its title promises, tracing a continuous thread from the company's earliest works to its most contemporary, through archival material, material studies, and a cast of collaborators that reads like a who's-who of the Nordic canon — Børge Mogensen, Nanna Ditzel, Mogens Koch, Cecilie Manz, Barber Osgerby.

It is the kind of show that rewards slow looking, the sort where a joinery detail or a particular choice of timber begins to feel less like a design decision and more like a family trait, passed quietly down the generations. Those looking for a reason to linger will find two: a Trisse Bar on the 10th, and a Thursday Bar on the 11th — the former marking the relaunch of Nanna Ditzel's Trisse collection, with Fredericia extending an open invitation for "drinks, conversation, and an evening shared with friends of Fredericia celebrating craftsmanship and community." Consider this yours.

Learn more about Fredericia.

Meet the Man Behind the Artist at St. Leo's ¿Jaime, What Are You Doing?

When & Where: St. Leo, Trelleborggade 5, 2150 Nordhavn, Copenhagen. June 10-12, 10AM-6PM

There are exhibitions you admire because they show you new ways into art and creativity, and there are exhibitions you love for their emotional resonance. I suspect ¿Jaime, What Are You Doing? — staged at St. Leo's Nordhavn headquarters across 3daysofdesign — to feel like the latter. Conceived by the celebrated Spanish artist and designer Jaime Hayon as a tribute to his late mother, Raquel Benchimol, the show takes its title from a question she asked him throughout his life: simple, direct, and full of care. That gesture of maternal curiosity becomes the show's emotional spine, with sculptures, furniture, and artworks in glass, ceramic, marble, and bronze selected not for their formal qualities alone, but for their sentimental significance — each accompanied by personal anecdotes handwritten directly onto the plinths. It is, in other words, a show about what we carry: the optimism, the sensitivity, the restless imaginative drive that a mother transmits and that never quite leaves you. St. Leo — the Copenhagen interiors company whose mineral-rich wall finishes and plasters, inspired by the shifting of light and the subtle rhythms of daily life, provide a fittingly tactile and intimate backdrop — will keep its gallery, café, and atelier open to the public throughout the festival week.

Learn more about St. Leo.

Discover Some of Norway's Most Exciting New Makers in Volum 01

Where & When: Other Circle, Vermundsgade 40, 2100 Copenhagen. June 10-13

Timed to coincide with 3daysofdesign, Norwegian platform Volum returns to Copenhagen this June for its second edition, and, if the debut showing last year was anything to go by, it will be well worth seeking out. Volum 01, curated once again by the Norwegian-Italian studio Kråkvik & D'Orazio, takes as its subject the '(extra)ordinary': a meditation on the designed objects that populate our daily lives so thoroughly they risk slipping into invisibility — chairs, lamps, kitchen utensils, bowls — the exhibition asks, with quiet urgency, what it truly means for something to be ordinary today.

Across 14 pieces by some of Norway's most compelling makers, the selection champions material honesty and purposeful craft, from Anna Maria Øfstedal Eng's sculptural tin serving utensils and Tale Berger Hølmebakk's pared-back floor lamp in cast iron, Oregon pine and washi paper, to Nicholas Michalov's genuinely remarkable 'Decay Design' stool — 3D-printed in a bacteria-produced, biodegradable material that slowly decomposes over time, migrating from designed object to something altogether more elemental. For collectors and design enthusiasts alike, it's a persuasive argument that the objects most worthy of attention are not always the showiest, but those that earn their place through years of daily, devotional use. A show for both the eye and the heart.

Learn more about Volum 01.

Where to Stay in Copenhagen — A 3daysofdesign Holiday Home Special

It's not every day that one gets to stay in one of the best hotels in Copenhagen, so when you do get the chance, you might as well savor it till it lasts. Our curation of spiritedly furnished stays, first released on the occasion of last year's 3daysofdesign, has stood the test of time, and still gathers ten of the most exciting city boltholes for a design-conscious Danish escape — including Scandinavian furniture house Vipp's charming guesthouses, the soothing, golden-lit NH Copenhagen Grand Joanne, and the quirky Hotel Bella Grande.

Still, we hear there is a new icon in the capital, with communal areas crafted by prolific London-based studio A-nrd, the duo behind cult Big Smoke establishments including Fonda, Bar Lina, and Canal.

Sitting within Postbyen, Copenhagen's former postal district, currently in the throes of an energetic regeneration, Locke's first Scandinavian outpost called on A-nrd to transform the ground floor into a sequence of social spaces shaped by materials and everyday usability. The brief was a significant one: a vast, monolithic shell of exposed concrete, floor-to-ceiling glazing, and expansive terrazzo that the London studio had to coax into life — and their first hospitality project on the continent, to boot.

Rather than aiming to match the architecture's considerable scale, A-nrd's strategy strived to soften it through crafted furniture, layered zoning, and an earthy palette informed by Copenhagen's architectural landscape. Three core tenets guided the approach: formal clarity, a connection to nature, and a sense of home — with dusty pinks, moss greens, and tranquil blue-grey shades meeting refined lime surfaces and warm oak accents throughout.

The results are quietly assured. A peach-toned stone bar with a live-edge oak countertop pushes back against the exposed steel and concrete, while crescent-shaped banquettes form a sculptural centrepiece beneath softly diffused pendant lighting of A-nrd's own design. The café, meanwhile, pays homage to the understated mastery of Hans Wegner and Børge Mogensen — oak, stone, and cognac-hued leather evoking the timeless ease of a great neighborhood bakery.

As for the bedrooms, envisioned by Grzywinski+Pons, they come bathing in sunshine, blending artisanal warmth and functional simplicity, and wrapped in oak, bright concrete features, and sage green textiles for a comfortably stylish sojourn.

Book your stay at Locke Copenhagen.

Where to Eat in Copenhagen — A 3daysofdesign Guide to the Chicest Foodie Hangouts

Copenhagen's culinary flair precedes it, and it's only right to think of food and drinks as a complementary aspect of your 3daysofdesign itinerary.

To help you distinguish between worthwhile establishments and tourist traps, I have turned to my local intel in the Danish capital and asked them to identify trusted restaurants and bars where aesthetics, standout cocktails and meals, and great vibes are always on offer.

From modern rustic coves serving up the finest seasonal ingredients to tucked-away Asian-infused eateries taking Japan's painstakingly precise gastronomy to Mariehamngade, our edit of the best restaurants in Copenhagen is for those who care as much about the menu as they do about inspiring, out-of-the-box expressions of style.

Use it wisely, get snacking, and see how Scandinavian design is finding a new, bolder edge among the dining tables and outdoor terraces of the city's hottest reservations

As the global capital of organic wine, Copenhagen knows a thing or two about getting drinks just right, and that's one more of the pleasures you should indulge in during 3daysofdesign.

From the hippest breweries in town to the chicest addresses for people watching and a good glas af vin, our 3daysofdesign 2026 Map reunites Copenhagen's finest in one, easily navigable dashboard — whether you're looking to party or carry on exploring.

Save it on your smartphone for a seamless festival experience, or pin it on your mobile for a later Copenhagen visit. Oh, and don't forget to share it with friends.

4. Livingetc 3daysofdesign 2026 Map

Make the city your own with our all-in-one guide to Copenhagen's coolest festival, 3daysofdesign, or revisit our highlights from last year's edition with our deep dive into 3daysofdesign 2025, including three big thoughts that kept interiors editor Emma Breislin up at night after visiting the event last year.

Looking for holiday destinations that can help your mind switch off while cultivating your sense of style? Take time to digest our travel trends 2026 report for insights on the countries driving the conversation in hospitality, art, and decor.

Want to know how the festival actually went? Read our best of 3daysofdesign 2026 piece for fresh takes and insights.

Any child of the Y2K era won't fail to recognize the VHS video game aesthetic that serves as the distinctive trait of Kane Parsons' feature-length directorial debut, Backrooms. A subtle grain envelops the settings that the two protagonists, Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a failed architect and discount furniture store owner, and Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve), his kind-hearted therapist, appear in — suspended-in-time offices, shops, and parking lots — as their silhouettes traverse them hesitatingly.

Unlike the hazy environments depicted in the filmmaker's viral computer-generated web series of the same title, which Parsons first shared on his YouTube channel, Kane Pixels, aged 16, back in 2022, those of Backrooms still look and feel hyper-real.

The plot of Backrooms is fairly straightforward: a divorcee, Clark, makes ends meet by living inside his shop, Cap'n Clark's Ottoman Empire, which he desperately promotes through truly cringey TV ads. He uses the furniture in stock and spaces as his own, until one day Clark finds something in the store — a "place" as he calls it, or better, a never-ending maze of identical-looking, near-butter yellow rooms revealing flashes of alternate worlds, tucked behind an inexplicably permeable wall. The very maze that, as Backrooms progresses, threatens to get both Clark and his therapist swallowed up in a spiraling journey through memory, delusion, and trauma.

What has this yellow color trend got to do with it? According to Karen Haller, the leading international authority in applied color psychology, pretty much everything...

How the Yellow Palette of 'Backrooms' Made the Film's "Mentally Unsettling" Atmosphere

"There's something deeply unnerving about being trapped inside an environment that almost feels normal but never fully settles emotionally," Karen tells me. "The yellow of Backrooms doesn't immediately signal danger. Instead, it creates a lingering psychological discomfort through familiarity and lack of relief, which becomes more unsettling over time."

In a modern home, this color and, more specifically, its buttery nuance, have been having a moment recently because of how "its softness can create a sense of cheeriness and optimism within an interior scheme".

The yellow that clads the weary wallpaper and seemingly ever-expanding walls of Cap'n Clark's Ottoman Empire isn't exactly a butter yellow, though. "Although it's still a light, soft yellow, it lacks the freshness and clarity we'd normally associate with that color," Haller says. "Instead, it feels stale and slightly dirty, which completely changes our emotional response to it."

When researching the canary universe of Backrooms, dreamed up by director Kane Parsons in collaboration with set designer Danny Vermette, countless examples of artworks where yellow doesn't feel menacing but, instead, fantastical and invigorating came to mind — from the obvious, like Van Gogh's Sunflowers (1888) and Klimt's The Kiss (1907/1908), to the niche(r), such as Kandinsky's moving painted rendition of what it feels like to become completely absorbed in live classical music, Impression III (Concert) (1991).

Despite the recent resurgence of yellow kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms, there is an ambivalence to yellow, Karen notes. Its ability to speak to the multiple, contrasting sensations that compose the emotional spectrum is evident in the canvases presented above.

"The specific yellow, the lighting, the context in which the color is used, and how much of it surrounds you all influence how we experience it psychologically," explains the color psychology expert. "In a home, a softer butter yellow balanced with natural light and other colors can feel comforting and uplifting. In Backrooms, being surrounded by this flatter, dirtier yellow under cold blue, fluorescent lighting creates something far more disturbing."

Why the 'Backrooms' Universe Feels Both "Familiar Yet Slightly Uncomfortable"

If anything, the sense of unease triggered by Backrooms' tarnished settings reflects how our relationship with the meaning of yellow has shifted over time, she sustains.

"Historically, and still within many interiors today, softer yellows connect us with warmth, light, and optimism," Karen says. Over the last few decades, "the more muted yellow employed in the film became linked to ageing office spaces, institutional interiors, and nicotine-stained walls."

The Backrooms yellow is the kind of yellow that now feels familiar yet slightly uncomfortable, "because many of us unconsciously connect it with spaces that feel tired, stale, or emotionally draining to spend time in," Karen says.

A 'Slow Burn' Horror Rooted in Memory and Color

From a psychology perspective, the way this yellow has been applied to most surfaces in Backrooms feels mentally unsettling rather than openly frightening. It might look like something you have clearly seen before, but "it's emotionally off, almost like an old office, waiting room or corridor you can't quite place in time and space," she adds. "I'd describe it as stale, suspended, and disorientating, creating the sense that time has stopped while your nervous system remains on edge."

Throughout the movie, which also stars Lukita Maxwell, Avan Jogia, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, and Robert Brobroczkyi as part of the store staff and the many, creepy entities stuck inside the labyrinth, "the repeated use of this yellow across walls, ceilings, and démodé patterns creates a sense of monotony, which can make viewers feel trapped, disoriented and overstimulated at the same time."

The brain, Karen says, naturally looks for variation, rhythm, and visual relief within a space, so when the same muted yellow continues throughout the environment under cold neon lighting, it can become difficult to judge distance, direction, or even how large the space really is. "That's why the environment can feel claustrophobic despite appearing expansive, because the brain loses its normal sense of orientation within the space," the color psychology expert explains.

From an interior design perspective, the color-drenching effect intensifies this, letting the yellow practically consume the entire space. "The walls, ceilings, flooring, and lighting merge into one continuous experience, removing the visual contrast and variation our brains naturally look for," Haller continues.

"That immersion creates a space that feels psychologically inescapable, which fits perfectly with the film's themes of horror, trauma, and obsession."

As the latest A24 hit takes to movie theaters around the globe starting this week, the dilemma remains the same: will Clark and Mary find their way out of the Backrooms? Or instead, will we, too, remain caught in the thick web of modern anxiety, existential dread, and alienation that anchors the plot?

Kane Parsons' Backrooms is out now in the UK and globally

Contemporary life's mundanity is a hot subject for cinema and TV in 2026, or so reveal some of our greatest film stories, from a restaurant inspired by the dystopian thriller Severance to new-age spy series Ponies and fellow A24 release The Drama. Dive into our archives to discover how set designers and interior moguls are turning to decor to inject the ordinary with a sense of escapism, nostalgia, and awe.

Gardens aren't necessarily the first amenity one thinks of when booking a sojourn. But as the ongoing heatwave causes most of Europe to cope with unusually high temperatures, we expect the appeal of these leafy lungs to grow in demand in the coming months.

People reserving a suite in any of the traditionally sought-after summer destinations will want to keep an eye out for cool-ing patches of greenery this year. Luckily for us all, some of the world's most beautiful gardens are tucked inside just as spectacular hotels, from Italy and France to Morocco, South Africa, and the US.

They might not be real 'coolcations', but each of the seven design hotel gardens listed below captures the beauty that lies in immersing ourselves in nature — and more. Crafted by award-winning landscape designers into botanical heavens, spiraling mazes, and lush pathways, they both anticipate and complete what awaits visitors within.

La Mamounia. Marrakesh, MO

Avenue Bab Jdid, Marrakesh

That the world-famous gardens of La Mamounia were erected in the 18th century, decades before the site was converted into a hotel, proves that outdoor living sits at the heart of this Marrakesh gem. Spanning 18 acres, this One Thousand and One paradise was given by the Alaouite Sultan Mohammed Ben Abdallah as a wedding gift to his son, Prince Moulay Mamoun, a slice of Moroccan heritage bearing fruit to this day. Among ancient olive trees, citrus groves, rose-lined alleys, and burbling fountains, guests of the hotel are invited to discover the stay's most magical side yet. Expect Majorelle-blue accents and jewel-toned tilework in an atmosphere crafted to help you unwind, be present, and connect, thanks to a range of pop-up dinners and events. For more Marrakesh tips, revisit our spotlight on alternative design capitals.

Book your stay at La Mamounia.

Casa Newton. Pienza, IT

SC del Borghetto, Pienza

The greatest part of covering some of the world's most exciting hotel design openings is stumbling upon properties you didn't even know existed, but that feel like they have always been there. Wrapped in the rolling countryside of Tuscany's Val d'Orcia, Casa Newton is one of them. Dating from 1846 and built by namesake architect, Gervasio Newton, this working farm and guesthouse (or agriturismo) distils central Italy's charm across boldly inspiring interior design, hyper-local dining powered by its vegetable gardens and ingredients sourced from across the region, and Fabbrica Pienza, the property's on-site organic winery. Run by owner and architect Antonie Bertherat-Kioes and her husband, Philippe Bertherat, when seen from above, this 150-hectare wine and olive estate looks like a whimsical maze. Casa Newton itself has nine rooms and two garden suites, and pairs a mid-century aesthetic with stunningly choreographed exteriors and mouthwatering food served up at the stay's restaurant, Il Cervo.

Book your stay at Casa Newton.

The Newt in Somerset. Bruton, UK

Hadspen, A359, Bruton

Ask anyone for a list of the best farm getaways in the UK, and The Newt in Somerset will be in there. Known for its quirky-cool interiors and exclusive brand collaborations (see our coverage of their Burberry summer 2025 takeover, The British at Play, and Nikawi gardening tools collection), The Newt in Somerset unfolds as a marvel of intersecting orchards, gardens, and ornamental fountains for a total of 383 acres. It's as imbued with history (part of it rises above and revives remains of British-Romano settlements uncovered on-site) as it is devoted to sustainable horticulture and culinary arts. Unique sculptures and installations dot its grounds. Among them, the sinuous, snake-like Viper walkway and mesmerizing Parabola walled garden stand out: playing with texture and shape, these immersive highlights elevate gardening to an art form. In Bruton for the weekend? Complete your itinerary with a stay at Osip, another enthralling working farm and British hideaway.

Book your stay at The Newt in Somerset.

Mount Nelson, a Belmond Hotel. Cape Town, SA

76 Orange St, Gardens, Cape Town

South African fashion designer and all-around tastemaker Thebe Magugu recently gave Belmond's Mount Nelson Hotel two artful highlights with the launch of the Thebe Magugu Suite and House. But the craft-led interior of this beloved five-star address wouldn't be the same without the cues it borrows from its trailing exterior. Growing at the foot of Table Mountain, the property's nine-acre estate is a colorful escape from the city's hustle and bustle. Ancient trees and rolling lawns expand around two heated swimming pools, decorated with ever-so-trendy striped outdoor furniture. Also home to the hotel's legendary Afternoon Tea experience, hosted amid palm trees in the outdoor terrace, and speakeasy The Red Room, the exterior of Mount Nelson Hotel is where its integrated vision of hospitality — culture, cuisine, and sustainability — comes to fruition. (Bonus tip: waste from on-site eateries gets transformed into 'bug' tea).

Book your stay at Mount Nelson.

Hotel de Russie. Rome, IT

Via del Babuino, 9, 00187 Roma

There are hotels in Rome you dream of staying at at least once in your life, and hotels you'd want to spend your lifetime at: Hotel de Russie is part of the latter club. Hidden in plain sight in the beating heart of Rome where Piazza del Popolo, the Spanish Steps, and fashion destination Via dei Condotti intersect, this picturesque five-star hotel is a favorite of Italian-born-and-bred travelers and globetrotters alike. Part of the renowned Rocco Forte Hotels group, it's not just timelessly chic on the inside: its 19th-century, Giuseppe Valadier-designed Secret Garden is a dreamlike composition of terraced greenery, ancient trees, and shimmering fountains. Notorious past guests of this Roman institution include Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau, who, upon sleeping at the property in 1917, described it as "paradise on earth". Old cypress and citrus trees turn the courtyard into an aromatic oasis. Feeling hungry? Head to the chef Fulvio Pierangelini-helmed, panoramic Le Jardin de Russie and Stravinskij Bar for delicacies to savor in style.

Book your stay at Hotel de Russie.

Hotel Bel-Air. Los Angeles, CA, US

701 Stone Canyon Rd, Los Angeles

One of the most iconic hotels in Los Angeles, Hotel Bel-Air is mostly known as the go-to hotspot for A-listers like Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Audrey Hepburn, as well as having served as the location of Marilyn Monroe's final Vogue magazine shoot. And while its grand Champalimaud Design-crafted interiors are well worth a mention, so are the spectacular 12-acre private gardens transforming its 1946 mid-century architecture and canyon setting into a peaceful retreat. Here, you'll find cinematic, palm tree-lined pathways wrapped in bougainvillea, ficus, and orange blossoms, on-site restaurant Wolfgang Puck, and the most charming, swan-inhabited pond, all within a short distance from the iconic Rodeo Drive.

Book your stay at Hotel Bel-Air.

Capelongue, a Beaumier Hotel. Bonnieux, Provence, FR

Les Claparèdes, 550 Chem. des Cabanes, 84480 Bonnieux

Anyone still searching for places to visit in France outside Paris for a summer holiday should have Beaumier Hotels' Capelongue in their books. Perched above the lush, hilly Claparèdes plateau, this five-star, 57-room-and-suite hotel caught my eye with its playful contemporary rustic aesthetic. Cypresses, lavender, and olive groves envelop the property, while layered, Mediterranean-style gardens sculpted into organic forms add movement to its grounds. There are pools, retro-inspired outdoor furniture, and plenty of experiences and workshops available both on-site and all around the massif of Luberon, including olive and wine tastings, scenic hikes, and intuitive painting classes held out in the property's dense vegetation.

Book your stay at Capelongue.

Get the Hotel Garden Look

After hotels with great pools in London, instead? We've got you covered, still.

For more refreshing retreats, revisit our design-driven edit of farm stays in the UK, where immersive vegetation keeps temperatures in check, or head to our full travel trends 2026 report for your latest insights into on-the-rise destinations.

Alternatively, discover the things that will make your own garden feel like the grounds of a luxury hotel.

They might span multiple US states and vary in genre, but if there's one thing that keeps the homes, furniture designs, and sculptural pieces garnered by Sarah Sherman Samuel: The Intersection of Art and Design — the Michigan-based powerhouse's latest book — it's their ability to immediately envelop you in a strangely familiar and uplifting sense of warmth.

"I believe that as you create your home, your home has a hand in creating you," the interior and furniture designer and artist writes in the opening pages of the new interior design book, which was released last month.

The quote is more than a poetic passage: for Samuel, whose multidisciplinary studio SSS Design promotes the belief that "a home should be a true reflection of its inhabitants", the relationship between people and their domestic environment is reciprocal. Our stylistic choices might influence how a space looks, but, ultimately, it's the way a place makes us feel that we'll remember most, as she recounts below.

What's One Thing You Can't Shake Off Your Mind Recently?

"I've been thinking a lot about the idea of designing for emotional resonance rather than designing around a singular style or trend. In today's interior design landscape, we're surrounded by endless imagery and instant inspiration, which can sometimes lead to spaces that look beautiful but don't necessarily feel personal or emotionally connected.

"I think people are increasingly craving interiors that feel grounding, layered, and deeply human. For me, emotional resonance comes from the relationship between material, atmosphere, memory, and storytelling. It's the feeling a space leaves you with, more than the immediate visual impression. That can come through texture, natural light, scale, patina, softness, or even the tension between old and new."

What is the Benefit of This Approach to Interiors?

"Designing for feeling shifts the focus away from creating a 'perfect' room and toward creating one that feels lived in, personal, and lasting. I think the most compelling interiors are the ones that reveal themselves slowly. They aren't overly polished or overly themed. Instead, they create mood and connection through layering and restraint.

"Practically, that can mean prioritizing tactile materials, thoughtful lighting, natural variation, vintage pieces with history, meaningful art, or architectural moments that create rhythm and intimacy. I love it when I discover small touches that share a bit of someone's story. A framed written note by a loved one, hand-painted murals that include details from a childhood, or a color incorporated from a certain memory.

"I also love customizing pieces that aren't typically customized to add a layer of thoughtfulness to a space. Working with a metalworker to create a custom door handle with motifs that are reflective of the family, or commissioning an artist to hand-paint inside jokes on tiles for a bathroom, or embroidering a bedcover with nature elements from the homeowner's favorite landscape. All these types of creative details are what ultimately give a space depth and feeling."

How Does This Vision of Design Translate Into Your Projects?

"Across my interiors, furniture, and ceramic work, I'm always looking for ways to create that sense of emotional connection through materiality and atmosphere. In many of my projects, I use hand-applied finishes like limewash or plaster because they bring softness and movement that changes throughout the day, like they have a life of their own.

"I'm also drawn to materials that feel grounded and substantial, like travertine, walnut, marble, and ceramic, but I often balance that weight with softer gestures, curved forms, textiles, or sculptural details. My recent collection Weight & Wonder explored that tension directly: how solid materials can still feel light, expressive, and emotional. Even in my ceramic practice, the appeal is tied to this idea. Clay records the hand in real time. It holds imperfection and process in a way that feels incredibly human and honest to me."

What's the Greatest Lesson This Type of Scheme Holds?

"I think the main takeaway is that the best interiors are rarely the ones chasing trends: they're the ones that make you feel something. That might mean slowing down and thinking more intentionally about texture, light, materiality, and the emotional tone of a space rather than just its visual impact. It can also mean allowing for imperfection, collecting pieces over time, and creating contrast between refinement and rawness, and really celebrating the human hand in creating.

"I hope people remember that design has the ability to shape how we feel in our everyday lives. A home should not only function beautifully; it should create a sense of connection, comfort, memory, and resonance."

For more interior design approaches sure to breathe new life into your home, revisit our recent conversation with Nurture by Nature's Kate Swanson, or head to our emerging designers pages to expand your inspiration across furniture-making and sculptural arts.

Because, as demonstrated by the latest edition of London Craft Week, handmade furniture is back in.

Vibrating swathes of color left there either by accident or intention — there is something about drawings-filled walls that instantly evokes the mischievous playfulness of childhood, when creative flair needed not be contained and, before we knew it, ended up everywhere to the mixed reactions of our parents.

Unveiled last month at the Laura Gonzalez-designed hotel Casa Monti Roma, The Art Suite by artist Michael McGregor extends that irreverent energy to the layered interiors of one of its 36 guest bedrooms. And I promise you, it will change your view of sketched walls forever.

A first-of-its-kind activation for the hotel, which launched in May 2024 and grew to become one of the best hotels in Rome for lovers of layered interiors (and for its truly spectacular rooftop), The Art Suite sees McGregor reinvent its spaces into a canvas for his contagiously uplifting crayon-and-marker vignettes. The result, explains the property's team, is "a place to sleep, dream, and collect, where contemporary art meets Roman hospitality."

Inside the Art Suite at Casa Monti Roma — A Wall Drawing Fantasy

Anyone who gets to stay at Casa Monti Roma knows how much of a role the marble busts, stucco reliefs, and intricate sculptures styled throughout this bolthole play in defining the guest experience, alongside a maximalist play of contrasting tiled surfaces and fabrics.

Situated just a few minutes away from the Colosseum in the charming, liveable Rione Monti neighborhood, the 5-star luxury hotel prides itself on reinterpreting the Eternal City's storied past for the contemporary dweller with a nod to its legacy of arts patronage. A six-month artist residency collaboration, The Art Suite — nestled in suite 203 — carries that tradition forward through "a living, immersive work of art".

At Casa Monti Roma, "aesthetics, emotion, and culture shape every moment," explains the hotel team. They certainly do in The Art Suite, where McGregor — an avid globetrotter whose drawings often appear for the first time on hotel stationery during his travels, and who has called Mexico City, Los Angeles, Paris, London, and Italy home before most recently settling in Athens — lends his animated touch to anything from paper works and paintings to bespoke furniture, curtains, and ceramics.

Michael McGregor's "ROMA AMOR" and Living Artwork as the Antidote to Boring White Rooms

Now, it doesn't take more than a glance at Gonzalez's jewel box interiors for Casa Monti Roma to understand why McGregor's vivid scenes feel so naturally at home in them. But to make this partnership even more enticing is how it shows the life that colorful figurative artworks can bring into the home, particularly in the form of wall drawing. This is a diametrically opposite take to what off-white 2026 Color of the Year Cloud Dancer by Pantone suggests, or the need for a return to neutrally colored, essential walls.

McGregor's inspiration for this takeover came from an earlier stay at Casa Monti Roma, where, sketchbook in hand, he made the timeless silhouettes of landmarks like the Roman Forum and the city's terracotta palaces his own.

A drawing collection recasting the human and otherworldly protagonists of Rome's imperial past, mythology, and heritage through a bold, dynamic lens, ROMA AMOR, the limited-edition book guests of The Art Suite receive as part of their sojourn, allows them to take the vibrancy of that experience home. And it isn't the only amenity the bedroom comes complete with to let you do so.

From a limited-edition backgammon set to artist-designed tableware, custom textiles, and sculptures, everything you see in The Art Suite — yes, including the suite itself — can be purchased. It is a tempting, unexpected plot twist that, allowing people to experience living with a piece before acquiring it, explains the Casa Monti Roma team, facilitates the first encounter between collectors and their prospective collectibles. Plus, it proves that resort-core is alive and kicking.

Don't miss your chance to sleep inside a living canvas. Book your stay in The Art Suite at Casa Monti, available until October 15

Before You Go: How to Style the 'Artist Residence' Look at Home

1. If You Can't Draw It, Hang It

Not all of us can be as skilled in wall drawing as McGregor is. But don't worry: just because you won't author the murals and scenes adorning your home walls, it doesn't mean you shouldn't get a chance to get in on the fun of this artist residence-inspired look. Pick your favorite from our edit of wall art living room ideas with a Mediterranean pulse below.

2. Bring Some Unexpected Spark

No matter how good a wall drawing is, it wouldn't look so without the right kind of lighting. That's why, once you've settled on the wall art pieces you'd like to showcase in your living room or bedroom, the next step to get closer to the atmosphere of The Art Suite is finding some equally imaginative lamps and shades. Browse on.

3. Layer It All With Handpainted Textiles

If there's one thing that McGregor's activation at Casa Monti Roma successfully showed, it's that in an ingengiously designed maximalist setting where more is more, a vibrant wall drawing interior finds a life of its own when paired with similarly eccentric textiles. So bring on the fabrics!

Revisit a recent review of Nice's Hôtel du Couvent, one of McGregor's art inspirations, or refresh your travel essentials with a must-have kit for style-obsessed, serial globetrotters.

What better way to see the world than through the eyes of our favorite tastemakers? In Hidden Trails, we look at the places that feel most like home to our community of design insiders — wherever those might be — to help you uncover what their cities have in store for you.

"Lima is a city where pre-Columbian, colonial, and popular contemporary migrant cultures coexist and collide in a dense, chaotic, and deeply creative tension — a clash and celebration of diversity," RF Studio's founding creative director Rafael Freyre tells me of his hometown and artistic base.

His richly tactile exploration of craft, heritage, and the natural environment sees Freyre and his collaborators translate the region's nuanced textures and organic hues into one-off furniture pieces, abstract sculptures, and spaces that dissolve the boundary between inside and the outdoors.

A connection to Lima's ecosystems serves as the beating heart of RF Studio, along with a desire to preserve and honor them through its work. It's a relationship that started early on: the designer recalls his childhood as "deeply tied to Lima's geography" — the seaside district of Magdalena del Mar, facing the Pacific Ocean, and the desert edge.

"This environment shaped my sensitivity to material, light, and landscape, as well as to its 'hybrid' condition," Freyre explains. Just like his production, which spans art, product design, and interior architecture for restaurants and hotels, among others, Lima manifests in different forms, too, "through a mix of rural and urban cultures, street markets, migration communities, and craft traditions that continue to influence my work".

Below, Freyre shows us around the sights and workshops of artistry that make Lima one of today's most exciting rising design capitals, where a history-dense past continues to define the look, feel, and techniques of Andean style.

The Best Things to Do in Lima, Peru

Chart Lima's Manifold Cultural Layers on an Art Trail

Museo de Arte de Lima, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Lima, AMANO, Pre-Colombian Textile Museum

Both the Museo de Arte de Lima and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Lima offer a compelling overview of Peru's artistic layers. The MALI connects pre-Columbian, colonial, and modern traditions in a single narrative, while MAC focuses on contemporary practices — installations, video, and performance. Together, they reveal the depth and continuity of Peruvian culture, from ancestral forms to experimental expressions.

The home to one of the most refined textile collections in the world, Museo AMANO reveals the skillfulness of pre-Columbian weaving — its techniques, symbols, and material intelligence. The precision and sensitivity of these pieces offer a deep understanding of Andean cultures, where textiles become language, identity, and a form of knowledge transmission. Quipus are a must-see.

See "Territory, Ecology, and Ritual" Converge at Two of the Americas' Oldest Architectural Complexes

Bandurria, Caral

Located a few hours north of Lima, these are among the oldest settlements and architectural complexes in the Americas. Bandurria sits between wetlands and the Pacific Ocean, while Caral reveals a highly sophisticated urban system. Both reflect an early understanding of territory, ecology, and ritual — architectures that feel archaic yet timeless, rooted in landscape and cosmology.

Embark on a Gastronomic Journey at Two of Lima's Coolest Food Think Tanks

Central Restaurante, Kjolle

More than restaurants, Central and Kjolle are research-driven experiences exploring Peru's ecosystems through food. Each dish reflects altitude, territory, and biodiversity, turning the meal into a narrative journey. They operate as laboratories where gastronomy, science, and culture intersect, redefining our understanding of ingredients and their connection to place.

Meet Peru's Master Artisans at Lima's Platform for Craftsmanship

Ruraq Maki

More than a shop, Ruraq Maki is a fair, a unique platform bringing together master artisans from across Peru. It's a living archive of techniques, materials, and cultural knowledge. Here, craftsmanship is presented with care and sophistication, where objects carry both artistic value and deep connections to territory and tradition.

Feel the Pulse of Peruvian Nature Along Its Wind-Swept Coast

Costa Verde, La Herradura Beach

A continuous edge between city, desert, and ocean, the Costa Verde is both landscape and memory, shaped by Pacific light and horizon. Growing up nearby, it became a space of connection with the body and nature. La Herradura is a hidden treasure — ideal for surfing and experiencing the rhythm of the sea.

One (Lesser Known) Thing to Know

Lima reveals another dimension at night. Beyond its daytime intensity, neighborhoods like the historic center and Barranco become spaces of experimentation — live music, salsa, bars, and underground art scenes. There's a raw, improvisational energy where different social worlds intersect through rhythm, movement, and shared atmosphere.

Where to Stay in Lima

We've rounded up two of the best hotels to stay in Lima if you care about interiors just as much as you're into the city's breathtaking views.

SOUMA Hotel

IN A SENTENCE An unexpected oasis of calm towering over the buzzy Malecón de Miraflores esplanade, SOUMA Hotel reinterprets Lima's raw natural beauty through considered and sophisticated spaces that let its ocean views set the atmosphere.

DESIGN DOWNLOAD Here, 214 earthily tinted rooms and suites are bathed in sunshine through generous floor-to-ceiling windows, while tactile wood and fabric details, suffused lighting, and sculptural forms add movement and character in schemes punctuated by trailing plants and curated artworks.

ON THE MENU Three worldly inspired culinary experiences are on offer at SOUMA Hotel: from the panoramic rooftop terrace restaurant 27 Tapas, where local ingredients serve as the beating heart of a Spanish-Peruvian feast made to share, and the grounding Ortega & Huamán, cooking up fresh Mediterranean meals for guests to enjoy under a leafy canopy, to Kimo, where the meticulous precision and artistry of Nikkei's cuisine meets the bold flavors of Lima in a moody-chic eatery. Head to the lobby bar for lighter fare and comforting American bites.

DON'T MISS The breathtaking views travelers will get to soak in from SOUMA Hotel’s rooftop infinity pool — a spectacle worth flying to the opposite side of the world for.

Book your room at SOUMA Hotel.

Fausto

IN A SENTENCE A characterful, beautifully restored 1920s guesthouse with only five individually crafted rooms, Fausto is the home-like alternative for travelers wanting to discover Lima at their own pace without renouncing the allure and attention to the details of a traditional hotel.

DESIGN DOWNLOAD An eclectic, modern farmhouse style imbues the address with a life of its own. Intricate textiles revive lived-in wooden floors and antique furniture, comfy beds are framed by artwork, colorful furnishings and lighting fixtures, while the fully equipped kitchen's open pantry makes for unexpected chats and a nonchalant way to start your day right.

ON THE MENU The in-house, all-day restaurant delivers Peruvian bites meant to be shared and enjoyed like you'd do in the comfort of your own living room, from freshly baked sweets and savory snacks to seasonal fruits, charcuterie bits, and refreshing drinks. While the Honesty Bar lets you linger in the pleasure of an evening well spent by granting guests access to wine, spirits, and soft drinks at your convenience.

DON'T MISS Everything the Miraflores district has to offer — from salty breeze-filled ocean views to lush greenery and cultural attractions — at your fingertips throughout your sojourn, and the leafy, tiled inner courtyard of the hideout, oozing with rustic Andean charm.

Book your room at Fausto.

Holiday Delights

Packed with color, pattern, and texture, this selection of Peru-inspired buys will bring some vibrancy into your wardrobe and home setting.

Wrote down all the coolest things to see and do in Lima but still craving for more trip inspiration? Revisit our travel trends 2026 report to discover all of this year's hottest destinations.

Gone are the days when sport was seen as one of the last frontiers for the style-obsessed. As the invigorating energy of contemporary design continues to infiltrate the cultural space, from travel and gastronomy to (more recently) the wellness landscape, even gyms and fitness equipment are getting the aesthetic treatment, giving us another excuse to log off our screens and engage in some good old exercise.

Among the latest collections to simultaneously wink at fashion, the home space, and interior design, the Hate Wellness Dior line, created by Cordelia de Castellane, stands out for its timeless palette, instantly recognizable Cannage motif, and ambition to take our workout to the next level.

Described as "a tribute to personal fulfillment", it was conceived around three core themes: gentle physical exercise, mindfulness, and sleep. From crafty elastic bands and textured yoga bricks and mats to sinuous rings and sculptural weights, this blue, ivory, and gold thread edit is the ultimate inspiration for your next wellness room project. It might not be good for your wallet (not every piece of it, at least), but it surely is for your mind, body, and fitness setup.

Available at Dior boutiques, online, as well as at the maison's signature spas, they'll turn every gym session and beach stroll into a fashion moment. Shop our favorite items below, or discover the full Haute Wellness Dior collection in store.

More Wellness-Inspired Designs

In the market for aesthetic weights & co? Don't miss your chance to step up your home gym game, and keep browsing below.

Your one-click destination to the latest design, wellness, and lifestyle news and ideas, the Livingetc newsletter is still waiting for you to join our community of subscribers. Become part of our network today to start discovering.

From the outside, the function of the new Sophie Breitmeyer flagship at 36 Elizabeth Street is simply unmistakable: under all-caps golden signage, three wooden cabinets with see-through glass hold just as many bust forms adorned with the British jewelry designer's timeless, sophisticated creations, gently glimmering at passersby beyond a charcoal gray façade. Inside, though, a whole other story awaits, one that finds the beauty and preciousness in the everyday.

"36 Elizabeth Street was never meant to be your run-of-the-mill jewelry store, full of chrome cabinets, harsh lighting, and glittering jewels," she tells me of the just-launched address over email. Instead, the idea behind the space is "to welcome you to a home away from home, a place where you become a part of the Sophie Breitmeyer family," the jewelry designer adds. The jewelry itself remains, of course, at its core, but it's the slow-paced ritual that sees visitors take their pick from the collection available in store that the atmosphere of the flagship seeks to bring to the fore.

"Our clients are celebrating life's big and little moments through jewelry, and the space we inhabit is a reflection of both of these concepts," Sophie says. Mixing residential and retail elements into a one-of-a-kind London concept store for lovers of not jewelry alone, but also art, printed matter, and decor, Sophie Breitmeyer at 36 Elizabeth Street marks designer Christian Bense's foray into the commercial design scene.

The work of a studio renowned for infusing a sense of place into homes, the new Sophie Breitmeyer destination emerged from the belief that "buying jewelry is more than just a transaction," Christian explains. "It forms a milestone moment in so many people's lives." The result, then, "isn't just about the jewelry," he says. "But it's also about the feeling."

Inside Sophie Breitmeyer's New Home — A Jewelry Shop Defined by Familiarity, Comfort, and Emotion

Creating a "home away from home" atmosphere isn't an uncommon brief; just look at the wardrobe-inspired, salon look of modern menswear brand LESTRANGE's The Apartment. Doing it inventively, on the other hand, requires real skill. Christian tackled the commission drawing from the cocooningly welcoming and layered essence of his practice's residential projects, where curated artworks, selected historical references, and intentional pops of color together capture the way of life of the owners.

"Retail design puts experience at the forefront, so it was great to explore that for a change," he says. While the space is a store, the cues they took to design it were very much informed by both residential and restaurant design; a "hybrid brief" that made the work feel simultaneously new and consolidated for Christian and his team.

That hybrid model is reflected in the scheme. "We needed the space to function as a multi-purpose shop that catered to ready-to-wear shopable pieces, as well as areas for consultations and bespoke meetings, so ensuring that we were able to provide for all these spaces without either feeling constrained was a real focus for us when we started the design," Christian explains. "We also wanted the store to feel familiar and comfortable."

The Devil Is in the Details — Or in Unique Textures and Built-In Joinery

Christian Bense felt like a natural choice for Sophie: the London-based studio and her atelier marry the contemporary and the traditional "through color, structure, and layering," she explains. At the new Sophie Breitmeyer flagship, this is visibly, as well as tangibly, evident: "Christian has brought new life to the space with his clever use of built-in joinery, the detailing on the walls, and his incorporation of rich colors and textures".

From the moment visitors come in, they are absorbed in a delicate choreography. Abstract and still life art pieces float mid-air, hung on an unexpected, industrial-style picture rail, a range of coffee table books and culture and design tomes revive the wood with their stacked-up spines, while beautiful, organic ceramic forms, flowers, plants, and plush fabrics invite customers to engage the eye and the touch just a little longer.

Depending on their ultimate aim — buying, browsing, or simply getting inspired — those who step inside will inevitably find themselves interacting with the space differently, be it sitting in one of the store's velvety armchairs while receiving advice on the best Breitmeyer styles, flicking through the many volumes stored in-house, or marveling at the jewelry elegantly displayed inside the cabinets.

A Place That "Slows One Down" — How Sophie Breitmeyer's New Flagship Anchors People in Space Through Design

"At its core, Sophie's work is about craft," Christian explains. "There is a process to this, be it in the initial conversation or the time spent to make the piece, so to have a store which feels like a home slows one down — we want customers to feel relaxed and at ease."

A lot of this calming, grounding side of the flagship's design came down to the right choice of lighting. "The shop feels more like an apartment, so we binned the idea of overly sterile bright lights or shopfitting devoid of personality," continues the designer. Instead, "we made sure we ticked the boxes so the jewels were literally shown in the best light, but we wanted to take the 'utilitarianism' out of the design, something that is so common in other department-store-like jewelers."

So, what's the one take-home lesson visitors and readers alike should treasure from the new Sophie Breitmeyer store that's sure to make their rooms feel more inspiring, bespoke, and precious? "Once you've catered for the immediate practical need, don't let that need further dictate the design," Christian suggests. "Once you have scratched the itch, so to speak, spend the rest of your time and energy on the feeling and the remaining elements. There is a calm and comfort to Sophie, and what she does, so it was great to try and bottle that into this store."

Learn more about Sophie Breitmeyer, or shop an edit inspired by its new flagship below.

Speaking of things more similar to homes than to retail or hospitality concepts, St Clement is the new must-know, powered by Nick Jones, former CEO and founder of Soho House. However, the residential vibe is taking over most new London design destinations.

How to keep track of them all? Head to our lifestyle archives for a thorough low-down on all things living, storytelling, and design.

The confectionery-colored blush pink of The Grand Budapest Hotel is a dream-like shade that once seemed like it could only exist in cinema. For a time, the pastel world of Wes Anderson could only be experienced through a screen, watched from the comfort of a plush sofa on a slow Sunday morning. Yet that world has begun to seep beyond the frame, satisfying a wider cultural impulse, the desire not simply to observe films, but to inhabit them.

In the age of 'set-jetting', where itineraries are increasingly influenced by the silver screen, architecture, hospitality, and storytelling are becoming inseparable disciplines, as we found in our latest travel trends report. Hotels are no longer purely functional or destinations in themselves, but stories where every room feels like another chapter. Nowhere is this more elegantly executed than in the collaboration between W Hotels and the Design Museum, a partnership that reframes hospitality as an immersive cinematic sequence.

This growing fascination with inhabitable film worlds sits within a wider cultural shift toward highly aestheticized interiors and narrative-driven design: something Wes Anderson himself pioneered by letting the spaces in his movies tell the story through a distinctively Wes Anderson-esque style.

At the heart of this new initiative, titled The Director's Route by W Hotels, is the unique vision of Wes Anderson. A filmmaker whose worlds have perpetually brought together set design and interior architecture.

What began at the Design Museum with Wes Anderson: The Archives, the director's first major retrospective in London, and one of the best design exhibitions to catch in the city for a few more weeks, now spills beyond museum walls into lived experience.

Original props, costumes, and graphic artifacts are not just exhibits but thoughtfully integrated into the hotel experience, informing a trilogy of hotels across Europe at W London, W Prague, and W Budapest.

If Anderson's films are known for their satisfying symmetry, curated color palettes, and intricate details, The Director's Route translates these characteristics into an inhabitable space.

Across all three cities, storytelling becomes collectible, like a box set of Wes Anderson movies. Guests will encounter Wes-inspired suites, food and beverage, and even the menus are designed by graphic designer Annie Atkins, whose work has helped define Anderson's on-screen visual identity.

The hotels are embellished with thoughtful archival details: Library Cards to be stamped like passports for drinks and Polaroid cameras left around to encourage guests to document themselves within the cinematic story.

Unsurprisingly, in Budapest, the emulation of The Grand Budapest Hotel feels especially alive. The city's ornamental grandeur provides a natural extension of Anderson's fictional republics and meticulously constructed spaces. Ultimately, hotel design is no longer purely decorative, but a fully constructed story.

The rise of immersive hospitality reflects a broader cultural desire not just to watch films but to inhabit them, as cinema further merges with the travel industry. The Director's Route offers the chance to step into the frame, proving that real life can be composed with the same intentional beauty as cinema.

Revisit our analysis of the color scheme that made The Phoenician Scheme a must-watch for all interior enthusiasts, or take a piece of Wes Anderson's whimsy home with you with the curated edit of coffee table books and accessories gathered below.

While you are here, browse the filming locations of Christopher Nolan's forthcoming film, The Odyssey, for some truly unmissable design discoveries.

Go Wes Anderson-esque, at Home

In a recent editorial meeting, our editor, Hugh Metcalf, my colleagues, and I found ourselves wondering: what's the real aim of a design week, if it doesn't directly serve the community it's held within? We were discussing the latest edition of Milan Design Week, which ran April 20-26 and was attended by — when not directly hosted in collaboration with — an ever-increasing number of luxury fashion brands, with storms of influencers spotted at most initiatives sometimes even outweighing both designers and local attendees in number.

As London Craft Week continues through Sunday, May 17, rapidly followed by Clerkenwell Design Week (May 19-21), the same dilemma returns to haunt us, this time in the British capital. The difference, though, is that this time the answer seems to come straight from the source: London Craft Week wants to preserve human craftsmanship for makers and those who get to enjoy its fruits for decades to come, proving that one-off, handmade furniture can still be the secret to a home that's inspiring and familiar; a home that, grounded in personal gestures and stories, never grows old.

Clerkenwell is "home to more creative businesses and architects per square mile than anywhere else on the planet," write the organizers of London's anticipated festival, and that alone makes Clerkenwell Design Week an unmissable appointment for budding designers and established studios alike. Because, more than anything else, design exhibitions like these are "places of exchange and dialogue between people — those within the industry, as well as the wider audience," Spanish designer Tomás Alonso tells me over email. They are an occasion to find out what's new or resurfacing in the zeitgeist before anyone else, and why you should care.

A Look at the Inner Workings of Homeware — Why London's Design Weeks Matter

For Clerkenwell Design Week 2026, Alonso imagined El Salón, a group presentation showcasing new work from nine leading Spanish brands as a multifaceted yet cohesive tapestry, installed within the storied architecture of St. John's Gate's Chapter Hall for Interiors from Spain in collaboration with Disegno.

A minimal set design of organic fabrics was chosen to let "the rich diversity of contemporary Spanish design shine", redirecting the attention to the material of the homewares, the lighting and ceiling fixtures, and the accessories on view, and the manufacturing processes behind them.

In the same way that the display juxtaposes the innovative approach of the spotlighted studios, which include Yonoh, Mario Ruiz, and Huguet alongside Alonso's namesake practice, with the location's Victorian-era Gothic ambiance, and prompts viewers to consider how craftsmanship has evolved over the centuries, "this exchange is key to understanding if we are moving in the right direction and to growing new opportunities," he says of the interplay between design insiders and amateurs that initiatives like London Craft Week and Clerkenwell Design Week facilitate.

Studio Brocky's founder, Max Brockbank, embraces design fairs and other collateral events "as a reminder that there are still people blowing glass, casting metal, and spinning wool, and that those skills carry generations of knowledge that can't be replaced by a prompt," he shares.

Rather than simply becoming a celebration of the latest technological advancements in the field, or worse, fixating on how AI is taking over it, London Craft Week and Clerkenwell Design Week together show that "craft is inherently local; it's shaped by place, by tradition, and by the fact that every pair of hands produces something no other pair could," Brockbank says.

The artisanal creations at the heart of both appointments turn this very belief into objects and furniture which, unlike anything else, you'll want to cherish till they come undone.

The Antidote to the Age of Design Lookalikes? Furniture That Bears the Sign of Its Mastermind

Driven by the conviction that "interiors should hum with a subtle tension, like the first chord that sets a song's tone", Studio Brocky debuted last autumn with a cinematic, retro-futuristic collection unveiled inside London's iconic Battersea Power Station. During London Craft Week, the brand is bringing a selection of A Space Odyssey-like, hand-blown glass and cast metal furnishings — "pieces meant to endure, be touched, admired, and remembered" — to New Forms, a buzzy listening bar and creative space off King's Road.

"Everything is made in Britain," Brockbank explains. "I grew up around steelworkers in the North East: producing here is a way of investing in that ecosystem and keeping those skills in a contemporary conversation."

For its launch last year, Studio Brocky released a homeware line of lamps, seating, and coffee tables characterized by sinuous, monolithic forms assembled into functional artworks, nodding to the essential, structural rawness of Brutalism but enlivened by a 1970s sensibility.

The selection of designs on display this week expands that approach: "there's always been a friction in the work between industrial and glamorous, something that feels both grounded and otherworldly," says Brockbank. "Each piece is a sculpture, but it's designed to be lived with, not looked at from a distance."

Visually, Studio Brocky elevates everyday living to an art form. But don't be fooled by its good looks: these furniture items were actually designed to be used. "The conversations that happen around physical objects in a real room are irreplaceable," shares the house's mastermind.

"At New Forms, the work lives alongside the rhythm of the space, encountered over coffee by day, or in a vinyl session on a Friday night. That's deliberate: these pieces are precious and deserve care, but they shouldn't be lived with preciously. Placing them in dialogue with music and the very culture that helps inspire the work strips away the formality and lets people engage on their own terms." Because "craft," Brockbank adds, "belongs in life, not behind glass."

A Centuries-Spanning History of Making at Play — How Artisanal Furniture Brings the Past Into the Modern Age

In the midst of the AI frenzy, it doesn't take long to forget that human artisanry is something that has evolved and has been perfected for centuries. Something that continues to inform the way we live and who we are today. Appointments like London Craft Week and Clerkenwell Design Week force us to tune into the British capital's craftsmanship legacy, as it manifests among its busy alleys.

"London is such a cosmopolitan city, with a rich history steeped in craft," Oxfordshire-based ceramicist Emma Louise Payne tells me. "Evidence of this history can be seen in our street names — from Goldsmiths Row, Threadneedle Street (needle makers), Cannon Street (formerly Candlewick Street for candle making) to Bread Street, London was a hub of making in its origins."

As we become more digital and detached from the artisans of the objects we love, design weeks allow us to celebrate those who keep these traditions alive. They capture how small batch-produced homeware can help us reclaim a more tangible, and genuinely connected lifestyle, by showing us the faces, hands, and stories that helped shape what now sits in our apartment, and keep us away from the poor quality, polluting practices, and waste of stuff produced on a mass scale.

Throughout London Craft Week, Payne will be playing host to Seven Crafted Stories, an ongoing group showcases reuniting contributions from seven makers working with leather, wood, metal, glass, weaving, and ceramics across, at Atelier Seventy-Six, the West London townhouse she's transformed into a gathering and exhibition space for lovers of all things art, design, and creativity.

The presentation spans the house's different rooms and levels: Norfolk-based studio OTZI reflects on the emotional nature of homeware with a heirloom furniture line complete with a curation of objets d'art crafted from British hard wood and leather. Richard Goldsworthy embraces the textures and grain of wood and cast pewter in home accessories that abstract the beauty of nature. While queer textile artist Davey Powell inserts an uplifting, playful note into Atelier Seventy-Six's interior through his irreverent, colorful handwoven quilts.

Payne's Prie-Bien collection are is one of the highlights of this immersive display. It "reinterprets religious and devotional objects for the contemporary home, transforming historical forms into spaces for everyday ritual, rest, and introspection, and exploring how spirituality, self-care, and contemplation can exist outside formal religion and within daily life," she explains.

Cast from slab-built ceramic stoneware with reclaimed materials, including antique church furnishings and kneelers, the line allows obsolete items to take on renewed meaning.

Here, "a shrine to oneself becomes a mirror for the entranceway, a place for keys, arrival, and self-reflection, while a bedside table becomes a small altar for sleep, rest, and disconnecting from the fast digital world," Payne says. "I'm interested in how these objects can quietly encourage moments of pause and care within ordinary routines."

In an hyper-mediated, ever-moving society, the ceramicist's reinterpretation of sacred furnishings gives faith — intended as a space other than that of production, instead dedicated to personal growth and research and regeneration — a different, more universal appeal.

"Where the True Value of Craft Lies" — How Design Makes Room for Community

Payne isn't the only one to view London Craft Week as a brief moment of separation from the chaos of the outer world. A moment that, through dialogue, lets us forge deeper bonds with one another. "Moments like London Craft Week and Clerkenwell Design Week feel especially meaningful in an increasingly fast-paced cultural landscape," says TOAST's Head of Home Judith Harris.

While technology continues to advance, she sees the desire for objects that feel personal, tactile, and unique as ever-present. "Careful craft and design offer something deeply human, and initiatives like London Craft Week help preserve traditional skills while also highlighting new voices, materials, and perspectives."

That's a mission that the beloved sustainable fashion and homeware brand pursues personally. London Craft Week coincides with the announcement of the house's New Makers 2026 programme: now in its eight edition, the initiative "supports emerging makers through close mentorship and a platform to develop and share their work, with all profits returned to the maker," Harris explains.

The latest cohort includes multidisciplinary artist and ceramicist Hannah Watts, Estonia-based jeweller Egle Silka, material innovator Jacob Marks, known for his sculptural exploration of renewable and biodegradable pine resin, San Francisco-based ceramicist Linnan Ye, and Yuichi Romita, a potter uniting Japanese-style ceramic heritage with contemporary Scandinavian influence. For Harris, "each maker reflects a shared interest in craftsmanship, longevity, and the expressive qualities of raw materials."

"To me, London Craft Week represents the chance to engage with the material world in a deeper and far more holistic way, not just marveling at a flat video or photograph on a screen — which may or may not be AI-generated — but appreciating the true tactility and materiality of objects," Jacob Marks, part of the 2026 TOAST New Makers cohort, tells me. "Even more valuable is the chance to speak to the makers behind them, and learn about the techniques and relationships that have allowed each piece to be brought to life, which, to me, is where the true value of craft lies."

Comprising three pine resin pieces currently on view at TOAST's Shoreditch store, The Explorations in Pine Resin is a series of functional designs (vessels, handles, and a lamp) "born out of over four years experimenting with the material, trying to understand its unique properties and qualities, and how it can be revived and reimagined after being widely utilized around the world throughout history".

The resin line these three creations stemmed from was first exhibited during last year's London Design Festival. After that, Marks was invited to develop new commissions from the same material, including works for the spectacle companies Monc's new store on Monmouth Street. "To me, this illustrates just how important physical displays are," he concludes. "Ultimately, we are all social beings, and so the value of real-world conversations and connections is not one to be undermined!"

Discover the full London Craft Week and Clerkenwell Design Week calendars, or shop TOAST's New Makers 2026 collection.

Did London Craft Week get you wondering about more craftsmanship-led appointments coming up this year? As the design week season reaches its peak, don't miss out on the most exciting events from Copenhagen's 3daysofdesign festival, and take notes on our insider-backed insights into the city's finest food and beverage.

Stay in London to find out why the city's coolest new design destinations are embracing a more domestic, grounded aesthetic over flashy retail design.

Join our community of tastemakers and receive our newsletters weekly to hear about the latest in style, travel, and design before everyone else.

That Italy-inspired tableware is having a moment this year is undeniable, but not everyone manages to replicate the artisanal flair of Il Bel Paese with the same results.

Luckily for you, I can tell a handmade plate from a widely manufactured one when I see one, which is why I must admit that the launch of Big Mamma's e-shop and debut crockery collection actually took me by surprise.

The brand behind some of London's most coveted and cinematic Italian restaurants, from Carlotta and Circolo Polare to the more recent, 1970s-infused Barbarella, Big Mamma might not necessarily stick to the essential simplicity Italy is known for in its culinary offering (or so thinks an Italian native).

Still, what it nailed this time around, with the release of this spirited tableware set, is bringing the joyfulness and vibrancy of the country's gastronomic tradition and cult of togetherness to the dining tables of Londoners — and everyone else's wherever they are in the world.

From today, May 13, the collection is available to shop directly via a dedicated e-shop on the group's website. Crafted in collaboration with four Italian ceramic artisans, the limited-edition drop "brings together the craftsmanship of Alemana and Trinacria in Sicily, and Nataloni and Fuma in Umbria," explained the Big Mamma team.

These are the kind of pieces every Italian family has seen passing, being used, and being passed on to the next generation of foodies at some point in their life, regardless of any accidental cracks and imperfections. The type of tableware you'll want to cherish and style on your most anticipated dinner nights with friends and loved ones.

There you go: now you won't even need to snap a reservation at one of its trendy eateries to bathe in authentic Italian extravaganza. Act fast till they last, and buon appetito!

Sign up to the Big Mamma newsletter to access the full collection, or browse our favorite crockery pieces from it below.

We have been taught that the layout of a space, and particularly that of a home, will irremediably define our decor choices. But what if that didn't have to be the case? Kate Swanson, the founding designer of Burlington-based gallery and practice Nurture by Nature, looks to the curation she puts into showcasing makers and artists' work as the main inspiration for her interior design projects, letting the objects and artifacts she uncovers through the former directly inspire the latter.

"I treat each exhibition as a spatial composition rather than a presentation. Constructing relationships between objects and people," she tells me. A burgeoning designer and gallery owner, she does the same when conceiving domestic environments, because "that's where the work becomes more human, more alive."

The group showcases that she organizes on-site seek, like her home and hospitality commissions, resist "the idea that everything needs to be visible, legible, or immediately understood," Swanson adds. "Instead, they ask you to notice slowly, and to grow familiar with them over time, like something that reveals itself the longer you're in a relationship with it."

You know when you meet a person, and you feel immediately drawn to them, but the friendship, the bond that connects you to them, only develops with patience and care? She asks. Well, "that same thinking carries into interiors," Swanson affirms. "Not everything needs to speak at once. In fact, it's usually stronger when it doesn't."

What's One Vision of Interior Design You Feel Especially Strongly About Right Now?

"My work is grounded in a gallery-led approach to interiors. The gallery is a Vermont-based design space featuring contemporary craft and collectible work by artists and makers, presented through curated exhibitions and an evolving roster available for bespoke commissions. It functions as both a point of discovery and a point of origin for the work.

"Rather than beginning with layout or decoration, interiors start with people and objects, makers, a clear point of view, and pieces that carry presence. The work is first curated and presented through the gallery, where it is either collected or becomes the foundation for a bespoke commission. From there, the space builds outward."

What Are Some of the Perks of Embracing That Approach Within the Home Space?

"Through the gallery, I'm continually developing and nurturing relationships with artists and fabricators. Those relationships aren't adjacent to the work; they are the work. When I bring a piece into a project, it's about who made it, how it was made, and the human presence it carries into the space.

"I care deeply about this because we're living in a moment where so much of our environment is disconnected from the people who created it. There's a loss of material awareness and human connection. Makers are often treated as vendors when, in reality, they are creative collaborators. The gallery re-establishes that connection, creating a direct exchange and shaping interiors that feel considered rather than consumed.

"When applied within the domestic environment, this vision of interiors allows the home to become more like a collection — something that is built over time and evolves constantly, not assembled all at once. Within this framework, each piece holds weight, reflects a relationship, and nothing is there by accident."

Concretely, How Can a Gallery-Led Approach Enrich Your Interior Scheme?

"It improves interiors by shifting the focus from influence to authorship, or more simply, the people behind the objects, the maker, their process, and their point of view. In a design landscape shaped by constant visual repetition and digital saturation, it's easy for spaces to become assembled from references rather than rooted in anything real.

"I'm less interested in asking 'what is this made of?' and more interested in 'who made this, and who are they?' That shift brings humanity back into the process. It also creates a deeper connection between the object and the person living with it, which makes for a more meaningful and lasting part of the experience of the space."

What Urge Does Your Work Seek to Fulfill By Putting Individual Pieces and People First?

"A gallery-led approach to interiors feels increasingly relevant in a design landscape shaped by over-influence and constant visual repetition. When everything is accessible, referenceable, and instantly replicable, spaces can lose their sense of authorship and human connection.

"By grounding interiors in relationships with makers and objects that carry a material and a personal identity, the work resists that flattening. I focus on bespoke and custom pieces developed in direct collaboration with makers, so they feel embedded in the space rather than applied to it. In doing so, the result becomes less about assembling a look and more about composing something collected, specific, and rooted in real people, real making, and intentional design decisions."

What, Instead, Would You Recommend Avoiding to Keep a Room or House Inspiring?

"What's worth staying away from is over-influenced design, where decisions are driven by familiarity rather than intention, resulting in interiors that feel interchangeable and disconnected from the person living there.

"A more considered approach is to slow down, work with fewer, more meaningful pieces, and build through direct interactions with makers. When done well, a space doesn't feel designed so much as it feels placed, as if it has always existed that way."

"Curation" Is a Word I See, More and More Frequently, Everywhere — But Is It, Really?

"A lot of what's considered collectible design or craft right now has become highly visible, almost stylized in how it's used. What interests me is approaching those pieces less as statements and more as something that can exist quietly within a space. We're in a moment where so much can be sourced, referenced, and replicated instantly. When everything is curated online, interiors can start to feel assembled rather than authored. What I'm more interested in is building spaces through relationships, with makers, with materials, and with the objects themselves.

"Growing up in rural Vermont, I was surrounded by a landscape that never felt composed, but always felt right. The pull of Lake Champlain, the way trees grow in response to light, how nothing calls attention to itself, and yet everything feels intentional. That perspective stays with me.

"It becomes less about presenting an object and more about allowing it to belong within a space. When approached that way, even well-known work feels different, and the people living with it are able to connect more deeply to the meaning, the maker, and the story behind it."

What's the Ultimate Goal of Your Design and Gallery Practice? What Can People 'Steal' From It That's Worth Bringing Into Their Home?

"Practically, it's about asking better questions. Not just what something is made of, but who made it. It's about slowing down, editing with precision, and allowing fewer, more intentional pieces to set the direction.

"At a larger scale, it's about rethinking the structure of how interiors come together. I'm building a roster of makers that I work with as true collaborators, so that each space is shaped through authorship, relationship, and material understanding, not assembled from a menu of options. Ultimately, the goal is to create interiors that feel connected to the people who made them and the people who live within them. The strongest spaces don't look designed; they feel planted and grown. Like they’ve always been that way."

Browse our latest stories on emerging designers to explore how a new generation of tastemakers is redefining the meaning, look, and feel of home today, starting with the rise of the 'time-poor' aesthetic.

Need an example? Learn how art collectors and interior designers Friedrich and Johanna Gräfling are bringing their curatorial eye to residential and multidisciplinary spaces alike.

Or subscribe to our newsletter for more style-driven advice delivered to you weekly.

Just off London's Exmouth Market, on Rosebery Avenue, sits Morchella — a refined resto-wine bar that plates up a mouth-watering menu (with pairings to match). And while the edibles pique my interest, it's the quaint and rather clever cutlery drawers that slide out of dining tables that instantly inspire.

Especially for small apartment dining rooms that wish to preserve design at all costs, without relegating storage to an afterthought, this built-in concept is genius. Dating back to the French farmhouse style from the 1800s, this design finds a new home in contemporary renditions that fit modern dining vignettes.

So, if you have a small dining space, here's why this type of table deserves a place in your home — and how to use it efficiently.

Why Built-In Dining Table Storage Works

There's something about these beautiful tables at Morchella that elevates the dining experience. First seen in its elder European sibling restaurant, Perilla by Matthew Emmerson and Ben Marks, this seemingly simple inclusion significantly improves the flow of the space.

"When we opened Perilla, we always wanted to incorporate cutlery into or onto the tables to avoid service intruding on a guest's experience and improve the functionality of the restaurant," says Matthew.

"A now closed restaurant in Copenhagen called Relae inspired some of the original designs, which we worked on with Tim Parker of Parker Designs. This has since become a signature of ours, which has translated to Morchella, after its opening in 2024."

As someone who values design that effortlessly blends aesthetics and livability, it's no wonder these storage dining tables have been living in my mind rent-free.

Crafted specially for these amazing London restaurants, it's among the best dining room ideas I've come across for small living spaces. At the restaurant, you won't need to scramble for attention to refresh your cutlery with your course. Or, if you accidentally drop your fork — we've all been there.

But when you translate this design into a home setting, it makes life even easier. Especially when you're hosting a dinner party and a covert drawer slides out with gorgeous cutlery ready to pick into plates.

Speaking to the design of the inserts, Tim tells me that it creates a gorgeous cut back aesthetic to the table top, with only glassware laid on the surface. "And there's a gorgeous charm to the running of the meal. You start with the inlaid menu on top of the cutlery drawer, then work your way through the cutlery as the meal progresses," he notes.

"The concept was so successful at Perilla that Matthew and Ben decided to continue it at Morchella. We redesigned the cutlery insert with HiMACs, a solid surface material traditionally used for kitchen worktops. Through which the terrazzo colors lend the inserts a unique finish."

Most storage dining tables that aren't made to order typically feature a minimalistic drawer. And if you want to recreate the look from these restaurants, then an add-on like this clean 5-Slot Cutlery Tray from ProCook is a great way to do so.

And if your dining table has more than one drawer, you can also use it to host napkins, a table runner, or even a little brush set to make tidying up a breeze. If you're as enamored by this simple yet nuanced design idea, then I've found some dining tables that deliver.

If you want to see for yourself why I'm so taken by these cutlery drawers, then I recommend popping over to Morchella or Perilla for a lovely meal served with a side of design inspiration.

For a deeper look at what's hot in this hosting space, here's a guide to our dining room trends for the year. And subscribe to the Livingetc newsletter for a what's what in the world of interiors (including recommendations for the best restaurants in London).

Somewhere between the enduring romance and charm of Sakura ("the cherry blossom season"), the natural spring-powered, immersive thermal experience of onsen, and a growing community of designers, artisans, and makers looking back to the country's storied heritage to expand its creative reach further, Japan has gained fresh appeal for globetrotters interested in sights, traditions, and artistry packed with plenty of offline authenticity.

Officially inaugurated last month, the launch of Soho House Tokyo, which marks the cult group's expansion into Japan, confirms what we at Livingetc have been saying for a long time: that the hypnotic, although bittersweet, portrayal given of the city by Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation isn't the sole thing to blame for the metropolis' growing popularity. Nor are Japan's spellbinding landscapes and culinary delights the only reasons for its rise and rise: its nature-conscious, beautifully pared-back approach to interiors, the arts, and craftsmanship more generally is what convinces creatively inclined and homeware-obsessed travelers alike to flock to its leafy villages and metropolises.

A de facto burgeoning design capital, Tokyo will likely appear on most of your most stylish friends' hot lists. Thanks to Soho House Tokyo, now they won't even think about it twice when it comes to picking where they'll be sleeping. Note down our predictions: this will become the premium example to draw from for a home environment that feels as rooted in an appreciation for the past and peaceful as it is daring, unexpected, and forward-thinking.

Enter Soho House Tokyo, Where "East Meets West" — And Past, Present, and Future Merge

Boasting 42 bedrooms, a rooftop, an infinity-style pool, and a wellness studio across four floors, and including two exclusive dining destinations, Soho House Tokyo calls the buzzy Aoyama district, near the lush Omotesando — known as the 'Champs Élysées of Tokyo' — its home. It is the 50th House of the pioneering private members' club concept to open in some of the most exciting destinations across the globe.

Dreamed up by the portfolio's in-house design team under the leadership of senior designer Domhnall Nolan, the creator of London's surreally cinematic queer clubhouse Roses of Elagabalus, the address keeps the cosmopolitan feel of all Soho House retreats at its heart by reinterpreting Japanese-style heritage furniture, detailing, and materials through a distinctively British lens.

Upon entering, guests' Japanese fantasy turns into reality: washi paper-clad walls and softly glowing, amber-hued ambient lighting instantly envelop visitors in a soothing, golden aura, while the fashion addicted among us can find joy in Soho House Tokyo's bespoke retail experience — expect a curated selection of vinyl records available to purchase, alongside a UNIQLO-powered vending machine that helps you collect the minimal-chic aesthetic widely sported by locals for when you're back in your city.

These are just a handful of the interior inclusions that make Soho House Tokyo's geography and time-traveling aesthetic tangible in its layout: finding a way to lean into Japan's rich culture and artisanal arts and craft, alongside the high-tech futurism that's synonymous with the city itself, was important for the London-founded lifestyle brand, the team explains.

The finished project raises the bar for homes and hospitality destinations that can't just settle for one — present or past, traditional or modern, minimal or maximalist — but instead fuse these contrasting worlds into an inspiring, cohesive look that embraces style beyond trends by...

1. Balancing "Japan's Minimalist Perfectionism with Soho House's Maximal Approach to Color, Pattern, and Form"

"One of the most important things when designing Soho House Tokyo was that it had to have a sensitivity and respect to Japan's longstanding visual culture," Nolan shares over email. Being Soho House Tokyo the first Soho House in Japan, "it needed to be very special," he adds.

From the get-go, Nolan knew the idea was "to blend that notable Japanese minimalist perfectionism with Soho House's more maximal approach to color, pattern, and form", three of the signature traits of the Soho Home look. British eccentricity is cautiously hinted at in the eye-catching patterned cabinetry of the lounging areas, and the tight tilework, recurring wood elements, and the vibrant palette of the stay's Asian-infused, country-chic bedrooms and suites.

Checkered fabrics and quirky vintage finds sourced from all over Europe are integrated seamlessly into the largest accommodations available on-site, bridging the club's Western roots with the Oriental sensibility of its hosting capital.

2. Bringing Material Knowledge and Craft to the Foreground

Looking around, you'll spot the mid-century furniture that's an undiscussed must of every Soho House paired with Japanese Art Deco ceiling lamps, and a vibrant collection of paintings, sculptures, and installations developed by 40 artists born, based, or trained in Japan, as well as by creatives belonging to the Japanese diaspora.

Even in the case of the artworks, though, which dot anything from the club's main F&B destinations — the House Kitchen and the House Brasserie — and bar to the lift lobby, the library, and the most unexpected nooks throughout the property, it's the tactile, organic materials that lend them a backdrop that makes each piece stand out.

Nolan stumbled upon a plethora of motifs and patterns while visiting artisan workshops across Japan in the research phase of the project, which took five years to complete, some of which he successfully wove into the final Soho House Tokyo design. I ask him to explain which feels most emblematic of the address's fusion of Western and Eastern traditions.

Japanese traditional urushi lacquer, which relies on natural resin to give surfaces a glossy, precious effect, appears to be the one: "I was lucky enough to visit Makino Urushi in rural Kyoto to see their workshop and see the possibilities of what they can do with this type of finish," the designer says, adding that, in the country, it's widely used in small tableware and jewelry items.

He made it one of the recurring features that guides guests across the different environments of Soho House Tokyo, giving each a 'jewel box' effect. "A dying art in Japan, it felt really important to showcase it to as many people in Soho House Tokyo as possible and capture the artistic potential that lies in it," Nolan explains.

They also worked with artisans from Taitō's Public Crafts, a platform dedicated to the reintroduction and preservation of heritage materials from Japan, to make Sakiori woven blankets and tapestries using old kimonos — "a storied technique that, although not typically implemented in this context, I knew I had to bring into the scheme, where it's now a key focus of the guest bedrooms". Both show how, rather than looking lived or even passé, when inserted carefully, ancestral elements can imbue your space with soul, character, and movement.

3. Using Light and Color to Make Rooms Feel "Warm, Eclectic, and Reverent"

Soho House Tokyo's genre-defying vibe takes the quirkiness and exuberance of maximalism and the peaceful essence of Japan's Wabi-sabi principles and merges them into one. While antique pieces and shimmering surfaces may be easier to spot across the club, there's one element that every hospitality design says shouldn't be overlooked in projects of this kind, along with choosing an appropriate palette: light.

"Soho House Tokyo carries the vibrancy of Soho House's signature ambient lighting (achieved, in this case, using predominantly bespoke Japanese washi paper fixtures)," Nolan explains. The ambiance is informed by the designer's extensive digging into Japanese artistry, where he found muted earthy colors, soft lighting, and handmade details to be prominent across decades.

Demonstrating how European and British vintage furniture can be juxtaposed with Japanese decor for a scheme that feels inherently daring, "Soho House Tokyo is warm, reverent, and eclectic," the designer adds.

One under-the-radar you should be on the lookout for? "The ceiling of the main club space on level 13 is modeled after Japanese traditional Tatami flooring," he reveals. "Although it's not an exact replication, it looks at the original materials and proportions and plays with them, resulting in a wonderful blend of an unconventional design detail."

Discover Soho House Tokyo.

Got the private members' club look and now want to get on with the social perks? See inside the Soho House alternatives currently redefining exclusivity and community in the British capital and beyond, beat the heatwave with our edit of design-worthy hotels with pools in London, or head to our lifestyle pages for a thought-provoking exploration of travel, leisure, and culture.

One of the most beloved destinations for high-end shopping aficionados in London, Liberty needs no real introduction. Its Tudor Revival-style hallways won't necessarily feature in your summer 2026 bucket lists, but trust me when I say that the brand's newly launched Marrakech Edit is enough of a reason to add a pit stop on Great Marlborough Street in your itineraries in the coming weeks — or, actually, as soon as you can.

To celebrate the return of the good season, Liberty, one of our favorite home decor brands, has turned its gaze to the buzzing-with-life streets of Marrakech, gathering some of the city's leading artisan workshops and Morocco-based design studios into an eye-catching curation of textiles, rugs, accessories, and ceramics.

Packed with the uplifting energy of a day spent outdoors with your loved ones, the selection introduces you to a cohort of "contemporary creatives crafting modern icons inspired by Moroccan design," the Liberty team explains. Among them are a handful of Livingetc favorites, including MORO, which appeared as a Marrakech must-see in our spotlight on rising design capitals, and the Belgian-founded LRNCE.

Informed by the northern African country's centuries-old heritage and traditions, Liberty's Marrakech Edit is your fast track to feeling the Moroccan sun, wherever you are. Crafted to last by hand, the pieces gathered in it will make a striking appearance when styled within the tablescapes of your summer soirées. So act now, as we suspect they'll sell out fast.