Bye-bye beige: vibrant colour and nature motifs stage an interiors takeover at London Design Week 2019

London Design Week 2019, opening on Sunday at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, is the hottest spring ticket for interiors — and it’s mostly free.

All the latest trends will fill the centre’s three airy, glass-roofed domes and the spread of fabrics, wallpapers, furniture, lighting, floorings, baths, tiles and more promises to be glorious this year.

The show is “trade only” for the first three days, so just for professionals. But from Wednesday to Friday next week, March 13-15, everyone is welcome.

There is no fee for entry and free rides in Mercedes minibuses to and from Sloane Square. There are on-the-house refreshments, including tea and cake, and even a Norwegian breakfast at bed makers Jensen. Guided talks and walks are also free.

So hit the Harbour. Home to 120 showrooms and over 600 of the world’s most prestigious brands, they’re expecting about 15,000 visitors, and an ambitious plan for expansion is well under way.

Colours are bright, bright, bright — pink is ever more vivid, while cobalt blues evoke a perfect summer sky above verdant greens, all bathed in sunshine yellow.

Patterns are pictorial, featuring façades and bookcases, birds, country views and a room of magnolia blooms by decorator Ben Pentreath.

Society decorator Nina Campbell is also “at home” with many tales to tell. So here’s a rare chance to surf the trends, meet design stars — and generally sort those dilemmas of décor.

Specially dressed, the showroom windows have classic photos of Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Twiggy, Bianca Jagger, Michael Caine et al, paired with stylish, modern stuff.

Beneath the North, Centre and South Domes are a staggering 81 showrooms over four floors. The adjacent Design Centre East now has a further five floors offering 39 more.

See how a fabric drapes, bone up on tassels and braids and master those tricky pattern repeats. Get tips for making curtains, sort out those pesky poles and tracks, hang that paper perfectly and scoop up samples for your mood boards.

Be a “design tourist” and visit the brands from overseas — numerous American outfits exude exclusivity. Their grandparents’ generation invented interior design at the start of the last century, powered by the original influencer Elsie de Wolfe, author in 1913 of The House in Good Taste.

“Beige, my colour!” said Wolfe of the Parthenon…or so they say. But blowing beige out of the water are US carpets, hand-cast and forged door handles, lighting, exquisitely crafted furniture and leather.

Germany, France and Italy are also richly represented, while newly arrived is Irish furniture and also a rug-maker from Belgium.

Visit dcch.co.uk or call 020 7225 9166 for dates and times of all London Design Week events at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, SW10.

Trade preview: March 10-12

All welcome: March 13-15, 10am-6pm; daily discovery tours at 2.30pm.

March 13: wallpaper whiz Kit Miles holds court; KLC School of Design will expand your creativity. Wendy Cushing shares trimmings expertise. Live demos at Jason D’Souza.

March 14: meet fabric explorer Helen Cormack at Tissus d’Hélène, for handprint and screenprints. Try a ceramics workshop at Christopher Peacock. Acclaimed interior designer Kit Kemp reveals her new book, 6pm-7pm. Tickets £10.

March 15: see the “extinct animals” by quirky Dutch brand Moooi in the showroom of their Belgian printer, Arte.