WestEdge Design Fair Returns to Santa Monica With a Spotlight on Emerging Design Talent

October 15th, 2026 by thehollywoodhome

WestEdge Design Fair Returns to Santa Monica With a Spotlight on Emerging Design Talent

Los Angeles design enthusiasts have plenty to look forward to this fall as the annual WestEdge Design Fair returns to Barker Hangar in Santa Monica for its 11th edition, October 29–31. Bringing together more than 150 premium brands, established and emerging designers, architects, makers, and industry leaders, the three-day event offers a look at the ideas, materials, and creative talent shaping the future of residential and commercial design.

This year’s fair introduces several new experiences, including Rising Design™, an immersive competition giving six emerging Southern California interior designers the opportunity to transform blank spaces into original interiors. Also returning are the popular WestEdgeXTERIORS outdoor living showcase, the Connoisseurs’ Club, and a full schedule of conversations exploring everything from wellness and materials to rebuilding and resilient design. For homeowners, design professionals, and anyone who appreciates thoughtful architecture and interiors, WestEdge offers a chance to discover new talent, explore innovative products, and connect with the people shaping how we live.

Rising Design™: Six Designers, Six Blank Spaces

One of the most anticipated additions to this year’s fair is Rising Design™, a new initiative created by WestEdge co-founder Megan Reilly and designer and Home Renovation School founder Julee Ireland. The program aims to give emerging designers a platform to showcase their work, build relationships with leading brands, and connect with an audience beyond their existing circles.

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For its inaugural challenge, six Southern California designers will each transform a 10-by-10-foot space into a personal vision of restoration, comfort, and recharge. The brief leaves plenty of room for interpretation. A designer might create a meditation room, an artist’s studio, a private retreat, or a space imagined for a particular client. Each begins with a story about who the room is for and how that person wants to feel, then translates that idea into just 100 square feet of color, pattern, materials, and function.

The constraints are part of the creative challenge. Each designer receives a $500 stipend, three 10-foot walls, a curated selection of products, and one personal item from home. At least 60 percent of each space must be finished in Sherwin-Williams paint, including a Continuity Color. Ireland will guide the designers throughout the process, while an expert jury evaluates the finished rooms on concept, creativity, design, execution, and overall impact. Fair attendees will also have a say, with a People’s Choice Award determined by public voting.

Meet the Six Rising Designers

The inaugural group brings together six designers at different stages of their careers, each with a distinct perspective on interiors.

Amanda Lauren (@itsamandalauren) is a design writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Real Simple, Better Homes & Gardens, and Real Homes. She also works as a virtual designer through Intro and will bring her classic, traditional sensibility to a physical space.
Janet Shaw (@janetshawdesigns) committed to becoming an interior designer in January 2024 and made her WestEdge debut as a ReBuild Room designer in 2025. She returns this year with more experience and a new opportunity to showcase her work.
Neeve Salamat (@neeve_salamat) holds an architecture degree from SCI-Arc and has more than four years of professional experience. Having grown up watching HGTV’s Design Star, she now gets to take on a design challenge of her own.
Noyemi Hofer (@studionoyemi) launched her studio after training at UCLA Extension and working alongside other designers. Drawn to older homes, vintage furniture, and antiques, she approaches each project with an appreciation for the character of the building itself, observing that every project has two clients: the homeowner and the home.
Roberto Guzman (@sstudioroberto) is a fourth-year interior design student at Woodbury University, where he serves as president of the IIDA Campus Center. He also brings three years of freelance residential experience and a growing interest in hospitality and experiential design.
Tisha Hyman (@saltanddashdesign) is the founder and principal designer of Salt & Dash Design. Her work combines modern elements, vintage character, rich textures, and unexpected details to create interiors that feel warm, elevated, and personal.

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Behind the Scenes: A Design Competition in Real Time

Rising Design extends beyond the finished rooms. A 10-episode short-form video series follows the designers from their first sketches and shopping trips through sourcing challenges, creative breakthroughs, setbacks, and final installations. The series will premiere across Instagram, YouTube, and WestEdgeDesignFair.com, giving audiences a closer look at the decisions and personalities behind each finished space.

The completed rooms will be revealed during WestEdge’s Opening Night on Thursday, October 29. An expert jury will select the 2026 Rising Designer Award winner, while attendees vote for the People’s Choice Award.

The stakes extend well beyond recognition. The Rising Designer Award comes with a prize package valued at more than $10,000, including a trip to the 2026 World Architecture Festival courtesy of GROHE SPA, with airfare and hotel, a Sherwin-Williams Designer Prize Package, a one-year Houzz Pro subscription, and lifetime membership to Home Renovation School. The People’s Choice Award includes a prize package valued at $2,500, featuring a trip to Modernism Week 2027 in Palm Springs and a one-year Home Renovation School membership.

Founding partners include Sherwin-Williams Design+, the program’s exclusive paint partner, GROHE SPA, and Apartment Therapy, with additional support from House of CODA, Mathis Home, Livette’s, Houzz Pro, and Home Renovation School.

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ReBUILD Connect Zone: Resources for Los Angeles Homeowners

As Los Angeles continues its recovery from the 2025 wildfires, WestEdge is expanding its partnership with Team Palisades through the ReBUILD Connect Zone. The dedicated resource hub is designed to help homeowners navigating the rebuilding process connect with architects, designers, builders, and trusted brands.

The space will offer access to expert guidance, fire-conscious products, and resilient building solutions, alongside daily programming and one-on-one consultations. For homeowners rebuilding after the fires, the goal is to provide practical information and professional connections to help create homes that are safer, stronger, and better prepared for the future.

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The Connoisseurs’ Club: Design Meets Well-Being

Returning with a new concept for 2026, the Connoisseurs’ Club will explore the relationship between interior design and healthy living. Curated by Summer Jensen, founder and principal designer of Hawk & Co., this hospitality-focused environment takes a biophilic, wellness-minded approach to the spaces where we live, work, and recharge.

Expect thoughtfully curated products, conversations, tastings, and gatherings centered on a more considered approach to everyday environments. The experience reflects a growing interest in interiors that address not only aesthetics and function, but also how our surroundings contribute to well-being.

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WestEdgeXTERIORS: Outdoor Living Takes Center Stage

WestEdgeXTERIORS returns as an expanded open-air destination dedicated to outdoor living. The showcase brings together the latest in outdoor furnishings, kitchens, fire features, shading, lighting, and entertaining, offering inspiration for everything from a compact terrace to a fully appointed backyard.

With its emphasis on the relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces, the showcase is particularly relevant to Southern California, where the climate makes outdoor rooms an integral part of residential design. Visitors can explore products and ideas for creating outdoor environments that work as naturally for entertaining as they do for everyday life.

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MADE and the Art of Independent Design

For those drawn to original objects and independent makers, MADE presents a curated collection of limited-production, custom, and one-of-a-kind furniture, lighting, sculpture, and accessories. The showcase offers an opportunity to discover work made with intention, meet the broader world of independent design, and find distinctive pieces for the home.

The fair will also host the IIDA x WestEdge Awards, recognizing excellence in booth and product design. Design professionals from the International Interior Design Association will evaluate entries onsite, with winners announced during Opening Night.

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The Main Stage: Conversations Shaping the Future of Design

Presented by Pacific Sales Kitchen & Home and produced in partnership with Convo By Design, the WestEdge Main Stage will bring together designers, architects, makers, and other industry voices for a series of conversations about the ideas shaping the built environment.

The 2026 program will cover rebuilding and resilience, wellness, materials, business, and the evolving ways we live and work. Following the fair, conversations will continue through the Convo By Design podcast, extending the program beyond Santa Monica and the three-day event.

Professional organizations and design communities, including AAPIDA, ALMA, ASID, IIDA, NKBA, AIA, NEWH, WILD, The Golden Hour Society, Pacific Design Center, and the ArtCenter College of Design alumni community, will also host networking and educational programs throughout the fair.

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Opening Night: October 29

WestEdge kicks off Thursday, October 29, with its venue-wide Opening Night Party, expected to welcome approximately 2,500 members of California’s design community and beyond. Running from 6 to 10 p.m., the evening offers cocktails, bites, early access to the fair, and the first look at the six Rising Design rooms.

The celebration also supports Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles’s ReBUILD LA Recovery Fund, continuing WestEdge’s commitment to the region and its design community.

Plan Your Visit

WestEdge Design Fair takes place October 29–31, 2026, at Barker Hangar, 3021 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica.

Opening Night Party: Thursday, October 29, 6–10 p.m.
Fair hours: Friday and Saturday, October 30–31, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Friday–Saturday tickets: $25 in advance or $30 onsite.
Opening Night tickets: $135 in advance; $150 after October 6.
VIP All-Access: $175.
Trade, students, and press: Complimentary admission with preregistration by October 23.

For tickets, registration, and additional information, visit westedgedesignfair.com.

Whether you’re planning a renovation, looking for original pieces for your home, following the next generation of interior design talent, or simply interested in the ideas shaping contemporary living, WestEdge offers three spectacular days of discovery in the heart of Santa Monica. It’s a rare opportunity to discover these six designers at the beginning of their careers, before their names become fixtures in the design world and their work commands the attention, and prices, of being some of the most sought-after names in the business.

Hope to see you all at the WestEdge Design Fair, October 29th – 31st!

Jacqueline Tager | DRE# 1476997
jacqueline.tager@sothebyshomes.com | (323) 697-3040
Sotheby’s International Realty – Los Feliz Brokerage
1801 N Hillhurst Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90027

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