Well when June came around I was so excited to finally be off to DesignEX with my design buddy who I had convinced needed to join me. The lure of beautiful new design ideas, time to shop, a boutique hotel and all under the heading BUSINESS TRIP seemed all too good to be true for us design girls.

We had already decided we would make the most of every spare minute and spent the flight planning what/where/how and when we would fit everything into our 4 days. Located in Market Street the QT Hotel was the perfect location and we jumped for joy when we opened the doors to our room with it’s opulent decor, fluffy sheepskins, moody lighting and a Nespresso machine, what more could a girl want?

DesignEX started on the Wednesday so we headed to Darling Harbour by foot as it was only a 10 minute walk and with 24 degrees we weren’t complaining. We opted for a Ferry ride being such a nice day to view the city.

The day went fast as we took in all that was on show with lovely exhibitors happy talk passionately about their product. We even meet up with some suppliers and designers from New Zealand which is nice when you are away. We managed to finish in one day rather than two as the show wasn’t as big as previous years. Still, we loved what we saw especially in lighting and new design or innovations. My absolute highlight was meeting Gavin and Warwick from Designer Boys Australia (previous winners of The Block and now successful business owners).

With a good nights sleep, a walk through Hyde Park and a nourishing breakfast we were refreshed and ready for another day of exploring. The team at Cosentino NZ had invited us to a breakfast presentation in Alexandria. Not one to turn down an event we headed off to meet up with more NZ Kitchen and Interior Designers to see the showroom and hear more about an exciting new product about to be launched in NZ very soon. Will let you know about this amazing product in a future blog.  Alexandria proved to be a jewel of a find. There were about half a dozen wholesale suppliers in the street alone – we were in design heaven!  Welcomed into showrooms we were privileged to meet helpful people and see some really gorgeous product. I will let you know when I am filling the container………..

I won’t bore you with the shopping but all I can say is as usual it didn’t disappoint. Planning a trip to Sydney and need any tips, drop me a line as I have a great list of where to: eat, drink, sleep and shop.

Yours in design

Mrs Jones x