Last week DCTUK flew the nest out of Liverpool and headed down south into the heart and home of all things design, Clerkenwell. This buzzing London district holds the biggest international design festival and little old us spied the hottest new trends, topics and products from the biggest carpet tile manufacturers!

First stop, Paragon.

The lovely Ron showed us around and chatted to us about the latest products in the Paragon showroom. Inspiration Mesh was definitely an eye catcher. It’s unique modern pattern makes the edges of the carpet tile virtually impossible to see where the squares meet, and the colour pallet is fantastic for modern workplaces.

Vapour was also a show stopper because of the impact it had on the room, your eyes immediately where drawn to the floor. The cloud like design is mesmerising. And of course Total Contrast was there, a firm favourite.

Next up, EGE - The cool and edgy one that everybody’s secretly jealous of.

We arrived at the EGE showroom just in time for Tom Dixon’s talk about his inspiration behind his new collection, Industrial Landscapes. Dixon reinterprets the rough, everyday surfaces of London. He took inspiration from something you wouldn’t look twice at and turned it into a beautiful design, genius! Take a look at his collection here.

Third stop of the trip was Modulyss.

We got to see all the shimmer and effects of the new Delight collection from Modulyss and it’s visually stunning. And no, I'm not just saying that because they gave me a free, little bottle of promotional gin! My personal favourite was Dusk, it draws inspiration from the final flashes of colour in the sky after the sun has set. Oh, and keep your eyes peeled for Fluid&, the soon-to-be-launched collection is an addition to the &-collection because it’s definitely a show stopper.

Forbo was next on our list.

If you walked past Forbo's showroom and had no idea what was going on, you would have seen a figure in the window that looked like something out of Game of Thrones. The university students of Brighton transformed Forbo floor coverings into fashion masterpieces using carpet tiles like Cloudscape and Marmoleum, how incredible do they look?!

Next, we visited Desso.

We chatted to Michael Gillespie about how Desso are thinking about sustainability within their product portfolio. He explains how Desso are a cradle to cradle manufacturer, so every product they make has a sustainability story to achieve gold status. We got to see Linon beautifully laid down in all its glory and some illustrations from WK.Space which was dotted all around the Desso and Tarkett showroom!

Milliken was our sixth stop of the day.

What a showroom they have. From the first main room you walk into, to the hallways and bathrooms, the flooring is always the centre of attention. Most of the recent Milliken collections are showcased beautifully in rug format, and if you’re wondering how to create a rug out of carpet tiles, check out our blog post here. Seeing carpet tile collections like Comfortable Concrete 2.0 displayed on the wall makes you appreciate how much thought and detail goes into creating these idyllic pieces.

Our final stop - Interface!

We were hot, bothered and shattered by the time we reached the Interface showroom but instantly felt uplifted when greeted by the team. After receiving a refreshing drink, we had a wander round to see what was happening in the Interface space.

Oliver Heath, an industry expert in the field of sustainable architectural and interior design, discussed the benefits of biophlic design and his favourite design choices with us. And Interface's Regional Director, Matt Hall, chatted to us about climate change and the steps Interface are taking to help reverse climate change.

To all of you wanting a design led, affordable collection, Matt recommended their completed Works collection. Dash, Hype, Geometry and Flow are carpet tiles and Fluid Freestyle and Balance are carpet planks. So that’s 7 affordable, coordinated Interface carpet tiles and planks - you can’t beat that. If you’d like to know more about this collection, read our blog post here or give us a call on 0345 222 1544.

I have to mention the amazing flower ceiling Interface had in their showroom too, because, well, look at it.

If you’d like to see more CDW highlights, you can head on over to our instagram or watch our Youtube video, we asked questions nobody else was asking!