Interior Design News: July 2026

The fallout from Magnet’s store closures is still driving the trade, and a rival is now openly chasing its customers. Alongside that, a bathroom brand is betting on physical showrooms and a Scottish retailer has set out how AI changes the designer’s job rather than ending it. Here is what moved between 3 and 9 July 2026.

Wren goes after worried Magnet customers

On 9 July, Wren Kitchens put up a dedicated page aimed squarely at Magnet customers unsettled by the closure of 15 stores under Magnet’s company voluntary arrangement. The offer has three parts: a free design consultation where you can bring an existing Magnet quote, a pledge to honour a deposit contribution worth 10 per cent of the Wren kitchen price for anyone who lost a deposit cancelling a Magnet order, and a claim that its kitchens run 26 to 51 per cent cheaper than Magnet on selected ranges. Magnet says existing orders are protected and will move to the nearest remaining branch, so nobody should cancel in a panic. The sensible move if you are caught in the middle is to get any transfer arrangement in writing, keep every deposit receipt, and treat the headline discount claims as range-specific rather than a blanket saving. If you are weighing a national chain against an independent route, our guide to interior designer costs in London sets out what each option actually buys. The story is on kbbreview.

VitrA opens a run of UK Experience Centres

Bathroom brand VitrA confirmed on 9 July that it is opening five Experience Centres across the UK this year, targeting the South East, Midlands, North West and Scotland, with the first already trading at AS Fenner in Huntingdon since 29 June. These are showroom partnerships with independent retailers, built to display full collections such as Glora and Sareta and the V-Care smart toilet range in room settings rather than as boxed products on a shelf. The point for anyone planning a bathroom is simple: taps, sanitaryware and finishes are hard to judge from a website, and a decision made on a screen is the one most likely to disappoint once it is fitted. It is worth building a showroom visit into your timeline before you sign anything off. Our breakdown of interior design cost per room shows where sanitaryware and fittings sit in a bathroom budget. The announcement is on kbbreview.

Kitchens International boss: AI changes the designer’s job, it does not end it

Also on 9 July, Graham Johnston, owner of the Scottish retailer Kitchens International, gave a blunt read on artificial intelligence in design: “It’s not coming, it’s here,” but “AI will not replace people in creative thinking.” His argument is that customers increasingly turn up with AI-generated concept images and expect them built exactly as pictured, which makes the designer more valuable, not less, because someone has to turn a render into something that is buildable, compliant and structurally sound. For anyone hiring, the takeaway is that a polished AI mood board is a starting point, not a plan, and the expertise you are paying a designer for is the judgement that sits between the picture and the finished room. Our guide to hiring an interior designer in London covers the questions worth asking before you commit. The full interview is on kbbreview.