The Ideal Home Show (formerly named the Ideal Home Exhibition) is an annual event at the Olympia London Exhibition Centre, which brings together architecture, technology, furniture, and decorations- everything that you need to create ‘the ideal home’.
The Ideal Home Show is an often overlooked British institution- receiving 1.5 million visitors at its peak in 1957, surviving 2 World Wars, and continually adapting to the age throughout its 100-year+ run! It was established in 1908 by the Daily Mail as a publicity tool for the newspaper and as a way to increase advertising revenue, since then it has only grown and has had a huge influence on our everyday lives, whether we realise it or not.
History Of The Ideal Home Show
It took over 3000 men an entire week to construct the first 1908 Ideal Home Exhibition, which was opened by the then Lord Mayor of London, Sir George Wyatt Truscott. Entire streets were built, containing red-roofed cottages, brown bungalows, brightly coloured pavilions, and landscaped gardens, all of which the exhibition’s 160,000 visitors could puruse. Household rooms were also on display, the contents of which were all available to purchase.
After World War 1, during the British housebuilding boom of the 1920s and 1930s, exhibition attendance continued to grow. Mortgages were becoming more accessible and home-owning more common, therefore people attended the show to sample the latest housing fashions.
In the 1920s several European royals designed gardens for the Ideal Home Exhibition, which were lit by special gas lamps so visitors could truly experience the colours and beauty of the flowers. In the 1930s, the exhibition acted as the premiere for many new technologies, with product demonstrations for the vacuum cleaner, electric kettle, toaster and the Teasmade all debuting here. You don’t need me to tell you what an impact these products made on the everyday lives of the British population.
The show was suspended during World War 2 but resumed in 1947 where it continued to keep up to date with the latest trends. For example, in 1953, during the Queen’s Coronation year, the exhibition featured a two-thirds scale copy of the state coach. In fact, the Royal Family have always had a strong connection with the Ideal Home Show, with Queen Elizabeth II visiting 11 times throughout her reign.
The Ideal House Competition was also run for many years as part of the wider show, helping designers/builders to secure sales of their houses. The winning house designs would be constructed at the Olympia London as part of the exhibition, and as a result, they would often be permanently built across the country.
In the 1960s, the Douglas Aircraft company designed the exhibit, ‘A Home In Space’, a life-size model of a space station. It has been credited as an important step towards the successful creation of real fully-functioning space stations.
Despite the rise in DIY stores, home furnishing magazines, and televisions providing alternative entertainment, the show still received a high number of visitors throughout the following decades. The 1970s saw chromosome and smoked glass trends, and the 1980s corner baths and conservatories.
Novelty exhibits have also been built to maintain public interest. For example, in 1997 an indoor rainforest was constructed at the show, where visitors could experience a tropical downpour from the comfort and shelter of a treehouse. Additionally, in 2008, to mark the show’s 100 year anniversary, ‘Centenary Street’ was built which displayed housing highlights from the previous century. That same year the show was sold from the Daily Mail to its current owners, multi-award-winning media company Media 10.
Nowadays the show continues to bring together everything you need to create your ideal home: with hundreds of exhibitors, full-scale show homes, talks from experts, the latest technology, and more! The show also features celebrity guests such as Laurence Llewlyn-Bowen, Martin Lewis, Lisa Faulkner, Dr Ranj, and Antony Cotton. Individual brands and businesses can contact the Ideal Home Show to exhibit at the iconic show, which currently attracts over 200,000 visitors annually.
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Sources Used For This Article-
https://www.idealhomeshow.co.uk/about-us
https://encyclopedia.design/2021/10/28/ideal-home-exhibition-est-1908-aspirational-british-design/
