Last weekend a few of us visited the Top Drawer, Home and Craft exhibition at Earl’s Court. It’s the first time that a Craft section had been part of the show, so it was interesting to see how the dynamic of the exhibition might change and how the shows would now be split up!
What I immediately liked was that the entrance split off into three, allowing you to come back to a central point to then enter one of the other shows. Firstly, we entered into Craft which had a small, boutique type feel to it, with smaller unique stands and exhibitors. There were a lot of new individuals (at their first show) and it had a nice intimate feel to it. The show had only been open 10 minutes, and it was very busy.
We then moved onto Top Drawer which was great. Lots of new ideas and products, plenty of diversity too. The stationery section was packed as always, there were plenty of ceramic and pottery stands alongside lots of new and exciting home decor and accessory ideas, we even saw some different products using Cork which interested us a lot as you can imagine. What I really liked about the show is how they had sectioned it out and given it a lot more space, to encompass Spotted, and new exhibitors in their own areas more central to make sure they got good footfall. I must say it felt a lot more professional too than the show we exhibited at, all the stands were pre-built with white frames so they all looked uniformed and the different space made it feel more modern.
Home was full of much bigger businesses and exhibition stands, but it had some nice individuals selling lovely home interior accessories such as lovely nordic inspired lights and plaited wool stools. Two of our favorite stands were there too, Parlane and Culinary Concepts; so many wonderful items that I’d love to have in my house, if I had room!!
Did you visit this show? What did you think? Overall we were really impressed, and it gave us food for thought as I start to design my new look stand for our next exhibition which is at the Harrogate Home and Gift Fair in July. I’ll start to share some of my ideas as I pull visuals together, but looking forward to taking a new approach to the stand by featuring key pieces from the range and showcasing my placemats and coasters as gift sets.
