Back for a second year, The House Directory LIVE brought a vibrant, creative energy to the mezzanine at The Decorative Fair in Battersea Park. Throughout the week, visitors were treated to a curated series of talks, workshops and live demonstrations that championed craft, design and collaboration in all its forms.

Wednesday’s talk, All Things Considered, hosted by author Emilio Pimentel-Reid, featured an inspiring lineup including Michal Silver, creative director at Christopher Farr, Holly Howe, co-creative director of Howe London and internationally renowned interior designer Natalia Miyar. The panel spoke about crafting interiors that feel both deeply personal and joyfully expressive, each championing their own unique approach but with a shared passion for homes that reflect identity as much as style.

On Thursday, the conversation turned to collaboration, with Better Together, a session hosted by award-winning interior designer Anouska Lancaster. Amy Eld, owner of vintage and sustainable homewares site Rock the Heirloom and Sarah Davenport, founder of online homeware store That Rebel House offered valuable insights on joining forces creatively and commercially. Their friendship and open approach to working together presented a blueprint for emerging designers, showing how a shared vision can be a powerful driver of success.

The week also celebrated craft in all its forms. Makers in Residence spotlighted traditional skills in a contemporary context. This culminated in a thoughtful Friday talk with French beadwork artist Holly Parr of Beaded Blooms, blacksmith Ian Thackery and cabinet maker Thibaut Degenne. Led by The House Directory CEO Angel Tan, the discussion explored how heritage techniques inform, enrich and coexist with contemporary creative practices.

At the weekend, the Makers Market brought yet more fun, with a brilliant mix of artisans including upholsterers, bookbinders, knife makers and textile artists. Visitors could try their hand at loom weaving or mending at the GREEN GRADS’ Mending Hub, a hands-on reminder that sustainability begins with extending a product’s life.

Overall, the GREEN GRADS were a standout presence at this year’s Fair. Founded in 2021 by design editor and curator Barbara Chandler, and now co-directed by Michael Czerwinski, the pioneering platform champions emerging UK talent dedicated to building a greener future. With over 200 graduates listed on their website and a growing presence at major design events, GREEN GRADS celebrates innovation and sustainability in all its forms. Find out more at greengrads.co.uk and follow them at @greengradsuk.

“These are our eco-crafters with ideas to heal the planet,” says Barbara Chandler. “Accomplished makers of many kinds, all committed to sustainability and the environment, albeit in different ways.”

Izzy Kelly
Izzy Kelly’s Fallen Furniture project challenges the UK’s reliance on timber imports and highlights the shocking waste of felled urban trees. Her collection is crafted from wood donated by local tree surgeons, all saved from chipping or burning and sourced within a two-mile radius of Kingston University. The logs are transported entirely on foot to reduce emissions. Each multipurpose stool or table is shaped by the character of the timber itself and engraved with What3Words global location system for provenance. At the fair, Izzy showed her collection and demonstrated basic woodworking techniques.
@izzykellydesign

Jaime Curá
Textile artist Jaime Curá transforms waste fabrics into pieces full of colour and narrative. Having studied BA Textiles and Surface Design, at The Northern School of Art, her creations include floor cushions made from reclaimed furnishing fabrics, wall art crafted using selvedge wool sourced from Skye Weavers in Scotland, fabric ‘vases’ inspired by Japanese crafts and garments, also made from offcuts. At the Fair, Jaime demonstrated applique and embroidery using waste yarns, fabrics and haberdashery, inviting visitors to join in.
@cura.jl

Kurt Alexander
Ceramicist Kurt Alexander’s dramatic vessels evoke the textures and colours of coral reefs, a tribute to the endangered ecosystems damaged by climate change and warming seas. His environmentally conscious methods include pit-firing with no kiln, experimenting with wild clays and factory waste and alternative glazes free from mined resources. Kurt brought his moulding, modelling and slip-casting expertise to the Fair, sharing techniques for truly sustainable ceramics.
@kurt_alexander_art

Sara Howard
Twenty nine million tonnes of excavation waste is sent to UK landfills each year. Central Saint Martin’s graduate Sara Howard’s Golden Earth Studio, founded in 2023, addresses that issue by collecting excavated clay from London construction sites and passing it on to a diverse group of creatives who transform the reclaimed material into fine art and functional homeware. At the Fair, she shares the project which won the first GREEN GRADS Earth Award in 2021. Subsequently she implemented her ideas with global brand Kevala Ceramics in Bali, creating handmade tableware made from the country’s waste.
@sara__howard

Simon Redstone
Established willow weaver and Staffordshire University graduate Simon Redstone blends heritage skill with contemporary design, working exclusively with sustainable coppiced materials. Coming from a family of weavers, he brings an understanding of this natural material and enjoys pushing its sculptural possibilities. At the Fair, Simon demonstrated his techniques, highlighting willow as both a beautiful and sustainable material.
@simon_redstone_

Sofia Barbé
Using needle-felting, Sofia Barbe crafts large-scale wall hangings and sculptures from natural materials such as carded wool, jute, recycled wool felt, flax, coconut coir and more, often with a base of scrap wood, coir liners, jute matting or recycled Herdwick wool. Her work celebrates spontaneity and play and is inspired by childhood memories and nature. At the Fair, she invited visitors to help shape a collaborative artwork, one needle-punch at a time.
@sofiabarbe_

Lucy Ralph and Jade Durling
Having held numerous demos and workshops, Lucy and Jade ran the Repair Hub at the Fair, teaching visitors visible darning and patchwork as well as decorative embroidery and Japanese mending techniques. With a strong anti-fast fashion ethos, they encouraged intuitive repair rather than waste. From embroidery to cushion-making, their workshops turned otherwise unloved textiles into beautiful, useable items.
@lucytrousers @jadesews

Yahvi Duggal
Through Peel Studio, weaver and Royal College of Art graduate Yahvi Duggal explores biomaterials, transforming organic food and kitchen waste into woven wall hangings. Eggshells and banana skins collected from local London cafes become fibres and decorative elements in her large-scale wall-hangings, and drawing from her experience as a natural dye expert in India, she combines ancient skills with modern experimentation. At the Fair, she shared share her biomaterial recipes and experiments with dyes from food waste as well as her weaving skills.
@_peelstudio

Flod
With an initial goal to create an environmentally friendly product, to get involved with local charities and improve the quality of green spaces, Dominic Lewis and Max Sudbury launched Flod. Founded during lockdown, the company makes planters from Jesmonite and recycled glass collected from Sheffield’s rivers and waterways, with drainage trays made from river plastics such as bottle caps and milk cartons. At the Makers Market, they offered these innovative, eco-conscious pots that bring new life to both homes and habitats.
@flod.uk

Helena Powell
Helena Powell weaves colour-rich textiles inspired by her homes in Suffolk and Glasgow. Determined to minimise environmental impact, she uses deadstock yarn, and digital printing and dyes in small batches. Her products, which include scarves, tea towels, bookmarks and artworks come with full provenance, including the weight of yarns saved from landfill and the quantities of water and dye used. At the Fair, she invited visitors to weave their own small keepsakes.
@helenapowell_textiles

Laura Wigham
Laura Wigham’s Wild North collection celebrates the north of England and Scotland’s dramatic, ancient and remote landscapes through lino cuts, greetings cards, cushions and paintings. All materials are organic, natural, biodegradable or upcycled/recycled, and are chosen to minimise environmental harm. At the Fair, she created a collaborative collage, from waste materials, inviting visitors to join in. @wildnorth.studio

From the inspiring talks to the hands-on demonstrations, The House Directory LIVE brought a dynamic and engaging new layer to The Decorative Fair, offering visitors inspiration as well as a connection to the ideas, people and processes shaping design today. To find out more about of all the inspiring companies, makers and contributors who were part of the event, take a look at last month’s blog here.