So after 3 days exhibiting at Interiors LDN, and it being several of the team's birthdays, we thought we deserved a little treat and headed up to Chelsea to see what was new.
Whilst the weather may not have been too friendly for the time of year, we did manage to duck and dive our way through the showers, making ample use of the fantastically serviced covered catering areas and the enormous Grand Pavillion for shelter. Strangely, Chelsea feels smaller than we all anticipated yet there was a definite feast for our eyes and those of us keen on details could have easily spent days taking in all there was to see.
It was lovely to see so many of the feature gardens supporting various charities, and the ideas behind a number of them very appropriate for todays modern world. I particularly liked the East Malling Research Centre's demonstration of a tree root system for educational purposes. Sunken spaces were also a common thread among several of the gardens, the idea of creating your own hidden space really appeals, especially for privacy in such a compacted urban living world. Among other highlights were without doubt Pattaya City and Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden from Thailand. Their impressive installation took a team of 15 people, over five 12hour days to create and place more than 50,000 orchids alone. The effort and thought behind it defintiely deserved their gold award and surely they will have a challenge to be even bigger and better next year. The NAFAS Floral Design tent was also a real treat, to see the talent that grows among the societies across the country was superb with many inspirational ideas being taken away by the team. I think the 'press release' interpretations were by far the most inventive.
We weren't expecting quite so much retail but the quality of all stall holders was admirable – very many creatively talented people had their products and designs on show and I think the showstopper for us all were the driftwood sculptures by James Doran-Webb.
Finishing the day in the artisan gardens with the sounds of an excellent Frank Sinatra tribute echoing across Ranelagh Gardens was the perfect artistic round-up. We all had a great day and now looking forward putting all those creative ideas into practice not just at work but also at home!