Some of the private spaces in Milan are utterly incredible (like time capsules of a bygone design era), so when one opens up for the festival, you jump at the chance to take a peek inside. Villa Borsani: Casa Libera!, is a special exhibition curated by Ambra Medda in collaboration with the Archivio Osvaldo Borsani which will take place during Salone del Mobile in Milan.

Osvaldo Borsani was a visionary figure of Italian twentieth-century design; an architect, designer, and entrepreneur who transformed his father’s furniture atelier into an international brand. An unprecedented chance for the international design community to glimpse the private world of an influential yet unsung figure of design history.

Could this be the new Villa Necchi?

This is set to be a hit new space for the festival and the buzz around it is already growing massive. How cool then, that london designer and all round lovely bloke, Samuel Wilkinson, is showing a new series LED lights for Beem Studio, called Smile. How happy are they!

We have interviewed Sam on the blog and will be uploading that very soon so you can find out more about his process and the past work of his you are sure to recognise. For now, let’s enjoy the anticipation of this new collection that already looks set to be a classic game changer. Much like the new Ventura Future space itself.

This year we are guests of Salone Del Mobile, the main show in Milan for the festival and one that will blow your mind with its sheer size and scope. It’s year of the kitchen (or Eurocucina as they call it) and as we have our minds firmly on renovating our own kitchen we are keen to take in the flavour of the design scene as we whizz down those epic aisles. If your see us there we may be a blur as we have our trainers at the ready with lots of ground to cover.

We are also looking forward to seeing artist, Charlotte Taylor making an impact with her bold imagined interior images on the Tacchini stand; Dan Schofield (our designer buddy who you may have seen in our Lovely pod last month) who is showing new work as part of Salone Satelite; Jamie Hayon whose new frame chair for Expormin is a delight  (everything he does is).

You know our new found passion for Veganism (see our Lovely Pod from last month on the blog where we used a new vegan leather on this chair) so when we heard there was a whole exhibition dedicated to vegan design, we were thrilled. Becoming vegan over the past 12 months has brought us so much happiness and we think it is the future. Obviously, the design world is beginning to think so too. Bring it on.

We are hoping it won’t be too abstract or conceptual and will actually give us some new ideas and suppliers for our interior design work, but even if it is high concept it is still a major step in the right direction and so cool to see veganism go mainstream.

Cristina Celestino has been quietly making a name as the one to watch, with stunning work for Fendi and at the show last year (see our interview with her in our Design Crush blog series). This year her Tram Corallo will be moving through the streets of Brera (the most glamourous of design districts) giving the chance to climb onboard and experience the old familiar trams of Milan in a new way. The colour palette is already our idea of heaven and with Rubelli onboard for broad stripes and floral fabrics, we know this is going to be a highlight.

Snarkitecture have been making waves for us over the past 3 years (first catching our eyes with their ethereal installation for COS and then last year with their Calico collaboration) so no wonder we are keen to see what they have to show the world of design this year. Caesarstone always go all out too and with preview images that remind us strangely of David Bowie fondalling crystal balls in Labyrinth, how could we not be onboard.

Oh India, what can we say. You are killing us with this new bathroom launch for Bisazza. First your deliver killer interiors like Sketch (has anyone not yet instagrammed it?) and now you are moving into bathroom design.

Colourful bathroom suites have been making a comeback for the past 2 years but this is next level. When we finally get to see this in the flesh there will be lots of stroking and cooing going on.

Two favourites from our travels across the pond bringing us new work in lighting and wallpaper for their joint show, Beyond the Deep. Set to be beautiful.

We have long expressed our love of the work of Calico and now you can get to know Lindsey Adelman, the star of the lighting design scene that is so hot right now in New York.

Yes Pinch, the brand we love to love. This new Elan wardrobe is taking the old (colours of milan) and making it new with their fresh use of bare wood and simple line.

This piece is an instant win for us. That is a wardrobe we want to get into.

Fashion brand (one of our go to’s for our Milan wardrobe) has firmly established itself as the number one installation to experience at Milan Design Festival and they consistently deliver high impact concepts. This year they have teamed up with the Californian-born, site specific contemporary artist, Philip K Smith III for an installation called, Open Sky. 

We are sure this will be a stunner if the artists previous work and our past experiences of the COS installations are anything to go by.

It is set to be an exciting year and it really needs to be. The world needs a revolution right now because we are in trouble. Let’s nurture that intense affection we have for the past, but let’s look to the future to find new ways of living better.

Disco Gufram (last year Atelier Biagetti was a highlight so with them in charge, we can’t wait)

Hay x WeWork x Sonos (always good to see pop design brand, Hay, giving it large for Live/work space)

WonderGlass (those Bouroullec videos of glass forming on insta will finally come to show)

Seeds (featuring work by our lovely pals, BCXSY)

Lee Broom (doing London proud with a Minimalist presentation of new lighting designs)

Vitra Typecasting (the design giants take on one of our favourite venues, La Pelotta)