Interior Design News: June 2026

A short round-up of what moved in the interior design world between late May and 11 June 2026. If you are planning a project or about to hire a designer, these are the items worth a few minutes: official material price data that affects your build budget, a designer showhouse you can actually walk around, and fresh evidence of where UK home design taste is heading this summer.

Paint prices up 6.1%, cement down 4.5% in the latest official figures

The government published its monthly building materials commentary on 3 June. The headline: the materials price index for all construction work rose 3.2% in the year to April 2026. Underneath that average, aqueous paint climbed 6.1% and fabricated structural steel 8.5%, while cement fell 4.5% and concrete reinforcing bars dropped 5.2%. For anyone budgeting a decoration-heavy project, rising paint costs feed straight into your quote, so it pays to get prices fixed early. Our London renovation cost calculator can help you frame the wider budget. Full detail in the official commentary on GOV.UK.

WOW!house 2026 opens at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour

The annual designer showhouse opened on 2 June and runs until 2 July at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour. Now in its fifth year, it features 22 full-sized rooms and outdoor spaces created by more than 21 designers working with international brands, with guided tours included and designer talks throughout the month. If you are weighing up whether to hire an interior designer in London, an hour walking real, finished rooms is one of the fastest ways to work out whose style fits yours before you commission anyone. Entry is by timed ticket, Monday to Saturday. Details and booking on the Design Centre Chelsea Harbour site.

Houzz names the UK’s emerging summer design trends

Houzz released its 2026 UK Emerging Summer Trends Report on 9 June, based on year-on-year search growth. The standouts: searches for moveable kitchen islands were up 838%, appliance garages 453%, alcove bookcases 760% and meditation rooms 330%, with strong growth in wallpapered ceilings and darker, moodier living rooms. Trend reports are not a shopping list, but they are a useful signal of what designers will be asked for, and where demand (and lead times) may tighten. Coverage of the full ten trends is at Insight DIY.

New UK kitchen and bathroom projects show where fees are going

Trade title kbbreview published its June project round-up on 8 June, featuring four completed residential schemes: a hotel-inspired guest shower room in marble and brushed bronze, a period cottage kitchen in off-black cabinetry, a pink-tiled bathroom with a freestanding bath, and a Scandi-Japandi kitchen with a hidden utility room behind bespoke timber panelling. Real completed projects like these are a better guide to what your money buys than mood boards; compare them against the fee models in our guide to interior designer costs in London. See the projects at kbbreview.