House of Design has been in existence 1996. From 1997 through 2000, House of Design organised, in collaboration with Galerie KIS in Amsterdam a number of exhibitions in Zuidlaren, but House of Design was aiming for more personal contact with the public and designers.

In 2007, House of Design organised, in collaboration with Paulien Excursions, Design & Architecture routes, including during Wonen&Co de beurs. These were in great demand, and people would love to visit more designers.. The idea or an Open Design Day took form then.

In 2008 and 2009 , House of Design organised the Open Design Dag. All designers in the city and the province of Groningen opened up their workshops, ateliers, studios and shops to the public. Interested persons from all over the Netherlands came to have a look. This was fully financed by private means and contributions from designers.
In 2010, it became a weekend of Design in Groningen, with the theme ‘sustainability’.
On Friday a Sustainable Design Pressure Cooker; on Saturday a seminar: ‘Duurzaam Design loont!’ (Sustainable Design Pays Off!) and on Sunday an Open Design Day with a green route. The programmes on Friday and Saturday were financed by private means, a contribution from Syntens, companies and seminar participants. Sunday was financed by private means, contributions from designers, sponsoring from Wonen&Co and Vos Interieur, and a grant from the Kunstraad (Arts Council).

In 2011, the weekend was expanded with the Thursday, and the event is now simply known as ‘Design in Groningen’. House of Design asked Vos Interieur, Academie Minerva and the Groinger Museam to join. More parties are involved with the financing, which allows us to make the programme even more interesting and multi-faceted.

2012 was a very busy year, and a number of independent projects took place, that were strewn as little crumbs leading upwards to DesignXPO. These crumbs where somehow connected with the theme Biobased*. An example of these crumbs was the exhibition during Open Ebbinge 2012 at the Ebbingekwartier.

As of 2013, the yearly recurring event Design in Groningen will be held under the name of DesignXPO. This choice was made because the old term no longer covered the event. The province of Fryslan has also announced it would love to organise the DesignXPO event in Leeuwarden with House of Design taking the initiative. And this is what we will be doing in November 29 and 30, 2013.

Therefore, as of 2013, the name of Design in Groningen has been changed into DesignXPO