100% Design and great ideas at the London Design Festival

THE annual London Design Festival opened this week, and if there’s a place to feed your tortured design soul this is the place to go.

Each year the number of events is growing, and with London being a huge city with events spread across it, finding your way around without missing what you really want to see needs planning, knowing what’s open to the general public, and opening times.

There are a few must-sees in interesting places with plenty of pit-stops for coffee and the much needed glass of something chilled at the end of a long day of walking. Exhibition visiting drains our energy reserves so do pace yourself for traipsing around some, and I stress some, of these. Of the more than 80 events here are my favourites:

100% Design at Earl’s Court costs £15 to enter, but take a friend and it’s two for the price of one. This is where you’ll see the new trends for 2014 in kitchens, bathrooms and interiors in general, with astonishing and huge variety. This year there’s a chance to see everything from hand-appliqué cushions to a special section on the ‘farm kitchen’ for growing food; a delicate walk-through paper sculpture, and a digital home spa super-shower.

Staying on the western side of town, take in the beautiful and cerebral V&A museum in Kensington. At any time it’s a feast for the eyes and soul, with a beautiful courtyard where you can sit on Harry Bertoia chairs at Eero Saarinen tables to sip your Earl Grey while gazing at a mesmerising water feature.

Here you’ll pick up your free festival booklet and map, and can cast your eyes up to a chandelier with 280 glass pendant lamps blown into spheres, and an installation where designers have magnified favourite treasures using giant Swarovski lenses. The ubiquitous Tom Dixon — when he’s not making new lighting — is “blowing up” a detailed model of a famous London monument.

For design brainy types there’s a very serious and worthy programme of talks, debates and workshops on subjects from graphics to nature. It’s serious but educational stuff.

Design Junction is set in a grungy, West End venue where you can avoid the entry fee if you are a Visa card holder, or you pre-register online. In fact, with most of these shows, pre-registering online gets you in without a charge. Here you’ll find the smaller labels, design co-operatives and websites that don’t have shops, and an opportunity to see some designers making on-site in what they’re calling Flash Factories.

Finally, let’s share an insider secret: there are deals to be had and special offers. Download a promotional card from www.designjunction.co.uk, and you can, for example, buy five Arne Jacobsen stacking chairs and get one free, or an Egg chair, getting the footstool free. Not bad.

London Design Festival runs until Sept 25. www.londondesignfestival.com

* Next week we’re warming up for winter with solid fuel stoves