London furniture shopping guide: the best design in the city

Steel and glass building serving as showroom for Boffi De Padova, a London furniture shopping destination

(Image credit: press)

last updated 29 March 2023

Digital shopping is great. But nothing beats the hands-on, tactile delight of perusing the best furniture showrooms in person. To make the most of what’s on offer in the British capital, follow this district by district guide to London furniture shopping, and window shopping.

Design Centre Chelsea Harbour

Visionnaire, London furniture shopping showroom in Chelsea Harbour, with muted colour palettes and a large marble dining table with chairs — Visionnaire, Chelsea Harbour

This is your one-stop shop for all things interiors. The ultimate London furniture shopping destination for interior designers, Design Centre Chelsea Harbour includes 120 design showrooms, and a visit to its bright, domed spaces promises great interior design inspiration and resources.

The offering includes sophisticated Italian design by the likes of Gallotti & Radice, Visionnaire and Flexform (opens in new tab), a wide textile selection by the best in the business, among them Kvadrat, Dedar and Romo, and bathroom inspiration from leading brands such as Victoria + Albert baths (opens in new tab).

South Kensington

London furniture shopping can't be complete without some showroom-hopping in South Kensington, and more so with new openings in spring 2021. Boffi and De Padova have taken over a three-floor building in the area (72-74 Sloane Avenue) for their new loft-style showroom combining Boffi kitchens and De Padova furniture (including its minimalist collection created in collaboration with Japanese brand Time & Style (opens in new tab)), presented through immersive interiors.

Living room interior with pink and white furniture and geometric rug by Giorgetti in its London showroom — Giorgetti

Long-time design residents of the area also include Molteni & C (245-249 Brompton Road), whose showroom was opened in 2019 and designed by Vincent Van Duysen, B&B Italia (250 Brompton Road), also offering lighting by Flos and Louis Poulsen, Cassina (238 Brompton Road), Kartell (223 Brompton Rd) and Meridiani (10 Thurloe Place).

A bit further south are new showrooms by kitchen brand Officine Gullo (62 - 64 Fulham Road) and Giorgetti (54-58 Fulham Road). Completing the rich furniture shopping offering in the area are Italian design companies Poliform (278 King's Road) and Lema (183 King's Road).

Fitzrovia

The interior of the Minotti London furniture shopping showroom — Minotti London

This area is based around Tottenham Court Road, home to several showrooms and furniture stores, most notably the multi brand destination Heal’s (196 Tottenham Ct Rd), with a vast offering of furniture, lighting and objects over three floors. Also on Tottenham Court Road are Calligaris, Natuzzi, BoConcept and West Elm.

In the heart of the city is Minotti's space (77 Margaret Street) offering the brand's sophisticated collections by the likes of Nendo and Marcio Kogan (opens in new tab), while UniFor (12-16 Fitzroy Street), part of the Molteni & C family, presents a full portfolio of office furniture design by the likes of Aldo Rossi (opens in new tab) and OMA.

A bit further east, on Wigmore street, there is a concentration of kitchen showrooms: Gaggenau, V-Zug, Bulthaup, Boffi, Siematic and newcomer Arclinea are all a stone's throw from each other.

Clerkenwell

Five colourful chairs in wood and wicker by Carl Hansen and Son — Carl Hansen & Søn

Contract furniture haven Clerkenwell includes immersive furniture shopping destinations such as Carl Hansen & Søn (16 Bowling Green Lane), Cappellini (150 St John Street) and Arper (11 Clerkenwell Road) and Iris Ceramica (61-67 Old Street), as well as multibrand store Viaduct (1-10 Summers Street) selling pieces by a wide range of contemporary brands and designers.

Among the latest openings in the area is outdoor furniture specialist Kettal (115-16 Dufferin Street).

Shoreditch

Brick facade of SCP furniture shop London — SCP

Moving east, the last leg of this London furniture shopping journey takes us to Shoreditch, where independent design showrooms offer an eclectic overview of contemporary creativity: SCP (135-139 Curtain Road) is perhaps the most exciting Shoreditch location, with its own furniture designed by the likes of Philippe Malouin and Michael Young, along with a wide selection of lighting and furniture brands, as well as objects and design curiosities.

Jasper Morrison’s own shop is a quick stroll away (24b Kingsland Road), selling a curated selection of objects by the British designer as well as his eclectic finds. Scandinavian design expert Skandium has also opened its latest location nearby (14 Bacon Street), selling one of London's best selections of furniture, accessories and objects from Nordic brands and designers.

The latest arrival in the area is Vitra (32 Rivington St), who took over the area's old Tramshed to showcase its contemporary and historical collections.

London furniture shopping: best independent stores across the city

Interior of Aram Store in London with arched window — Aram Store

Also worth mentioning are several independent shops that have helped make London an exciting design destination. Among these are Islington's Twentytwentyone (274/275 Upper Street), Aram Store in Covent Garden (10 Drury Lane) and Tom Dixon's own design universe in King’s Cross’ Coal Drops Yard (4-10 Bagley Walk), who recently expanded to host Porro's London showroom. In Marylebone, The Conran Shop (55 Marylebone High St) is an iconic London design destination selling furniture and design objects as well as books, accessories and gifts.

Rosa Bertoli was born in Udine, Italy, and now lives in London. Since 2014, she has been the Design Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees design content for the print and online editions, as well as special editorial projects. Through her role at Wallpaper*, she has written extensively about all areas of design. Rosa has been speaker and moderator for various design talks and conferences including London Craft Week, Maison & Objet, The Italian Cultural Institute (London), Clippings, Zaha Hadid Design, Kartell and Frieze Art Fair. Rosa has been on judging panels for the Chart Architecture Award, the Dutch Design Awards and the DesignGuild Marks. She has written for numerous English and Italian language publications, and worked as a content and communication consultant for fashion and design brands.