Ideal Home Show - Olympia 2022
I chose to visit the Ideal Home Show at Olympia because I like to keep abreast of new trends in interiors. My husband and I are currently undergoing some renovations at our family home and, although I do a lot of research online, I do like to see things in the flesh too. This is the reason that a lot of our customers visit us here at Affordable Granite too. Unlike buying through a large kitchen shed or online, here you can view large slabs and speak face to face to get best advice for the stone worktops for your kitchen project.
The first thing I noticed at Ideal Homes, was how geared it was to Instagramers and selfie-takers. Although I dabble in Instagram, I am not really your selfie kind of girl, but for those that were, there was plenty of opportunity, including a “Love Island” scene and a “I’m a Celebrity “ bush-tucker trials shack!
If you have ever been to the show, you will know that it is pretty large and there are also sometimes big queues to enter some of the show areas so I can’t possibly mention everything. One of the big features of the show were these Conker style living pods.
Our first proper stop at the show was at the Architectural Glazing stand 1st Folding Sliding Doors. Like a lot of our customers who are doing extensions, we were looking at sliding doors, bi-folds and lantern roof light. They had an electric opening roof lantern on their stand; I hadn’t seen one of those before, so that was interesting.
The first kitchen display that we visited was Kuchen whose wood and black kitchen was bang on trend with what we are seeing in the marketplace. The Dekton Laurent, with its warmer-toned veining and matt textured finish, is a superb compliment to the contemporary dark wood units. We have just installed a kitchen in this material ourselves and think it looks superb.
Next, we visited the kitchen Shoppe who had a beautiful blue-grey shaker kitchen on display with black accessories and dark concrete-look feature island, with the most amazing bicycle pedal bar-stools.
The Anthony Mullan Furniture company had opted for an opulent dark green cabinet with white quartz worktops and traditional mantel feature over the hob area.
One of the most exciting displays in the kitchen area was the TPB induction technology demonstration. They use an innovative multi-layered worktop surface with a customisable system for induction cooking. As well as it being completely bespoke to a person’s cook top needs, the induction zones are almost invisible giving a seamless look to the island. We are NOT able to offer these at present but have included it in our blog because we like people to know what is out there and like to give non-biased information. It doesn’t quite fit with our current company model as there is a 6-week lead time from templating to installation of the product and they are not really at the Affordable end of the market YET but who knows ……
One of the good things about visiting the Ideal Home Show is that I can see trends in interiors in general, not just kitchens; with more people having open-plan living spaces, it is important that the different areas gel together in a cohesive overall scheme. I love the blush pink of these knocker back chairs and statement square table by MiHomeUK.
There is always a lot of artwork available to buy at the show. It was nice to see a lot of colour; I particularly liked this beautiful multicoloured elephant by 1.wall.com
At Affordable Granite we make quite a lot of traditional granite hearths for fires and woodburners and more recently we have also been asked to make some more modern style hearths for what my husband calls the “fishtank” style fires. Flames of Richmond had a great display with a modern electric fire on a block style hearth which is shown here made of quartz. (Quartz reconstituted stone materials are not suitable for all types of fire)
The choice of food for lunch from the food hall was incredible, almost overwhelming as it was so busy and there was so much variety of smells.
The garden area was one of the best parts of the show. We ourselves at Affordable Granite have seen an increase in people investing more time and money into their gardens and outside living areas. We were really excited to see a large display of the suns lifestyle pergolas as we had been thinking about one for our home.
There was every kind of hot tub you could think of and cabin or pergola to put it in. There were also the thatched cottage style garden gazebos which I am always drawn to as well as more modern style pods.
The Wood Crafters had an amazing display of their moveable workstations. The workstations are a combination of wood and granite so incredibly not only look fantastic but are also durable as well as practical; they can be moved around and also have electric for wine coolers, lighting etc
Upstairs at the show there was plethora of well-being and accessories stalls and of course, this year’s most amazing must-have super-mop. There was so much at the show that you can’t possibly mention everyone, but I did particularly like these simple elegant holders for granular wax candles and these funky family frames.
My husband didn’t want me to buy any super-mops or cleaning products, but I did manage to get a worktop bin for all my used tea-bags.
We finished our time at the show with a traditional cream tea from the English tea room. A tiring but interesting day.
We are Affordable Granite, the leading granite and quartz worktop supplier in Surrey, East and West Sussex and across the South East. Our main business is granite and quartz, but we also occasionally install kitchen and bathroom worktops in quartzite and marble. We want to be the best in the business for customer service and advice to anyone who is doing up their kitchen – and do that we need to be up to date with wider trends. Call us for a quotation on 01293 863992 or by email on sales@affordablegranite.co.uk.
© Images from Naomi King/Affordable Granite
