Picture walls are really popular at the moment – collecting various photos, artwork and images together, bringing focus to a wall. A really cheap and easy idea to bring pattern and colour onto a wall is to frame wallpaper.
Either use old wallpaper left overs, possibly from friends / family, or order samples direct from the retailer [ these are usually free or at a small cost ].
Maybe there is a strong wallpaper you have used in one room and you want to use what’s left in a different way in another room.
Last month we featured Tiger [ nice price ], and we still can’t get enough of the Danish brand. Continuing with their new Spring collection we see the addition of planters and pots in pastel shades. Choose from zinc buckets and plant pots, ceramic hanging planters and plastic corrugated flower pots [ starting from £2 ]. Great for indoors and out.
New favourite brand to the home interiors market is the cool Scandi-monochrome-minimally styled Go Aesthetic with their small well curated range of tableware, soft furnishings and home accessories.
‘…UK based online store focusing on great contemporary design and style. We stock a whole selection of independent designers, including Fine Little Day, Ester & Erik, Buddy & Bear, Coco Lapine, and many more.’
Monochrome fans will be well provided for with the variety of black and white patterned and grey tone items. Every trend box is ticked with designs in marble, patterns of geometric, repeat print and the hand-painted look, plus gorgeous prints of the natural world and storage solutions for kids and adults.
Definitely a new brand to keep an eye on and they already have a great little sale section to grab some of their great homewares at reduced prices!
Get creative on the 22nd or 23rd May by joining ceramic artists Fliff Carr and Matilda Moreton at Town House, Spitalfields, making unique floral decorated plates inspired by 18th century botanical prints.
Learn how to create impressions in clay and apply colour, as well as using a variety of textured floral fabrics, lace and rubber stamps to decorate.
Sessions last 45 minutes and cost £10, including all materials and firing [ Extra cost for plates to be sent to you, but you can collect free of charge two weeks later ].
The Potting Shed
Townhouse
5 Fournier Street
Spitalfields
E16QE
Another great trend for spring/summer is Exotic. A bright and vibrant trend full of print and texture. The main elements will come from the soft furnishings – floral and heavily patterned cushions, throws and rugs. Pile up cushions for depth on sofas and beds, with a statement rug as a focus in the middle of the room.
Accessories like bowls, vases and statement lighting help pull this look together. [ Check out West Elm ]
Wooden furniture, especially bamboo sit in this eastern influenced trend. Low units and tables work best in medium and dark woods.
Colours to consider are green, orange and purple with accents of gold and bronze, with texture coming from woven baskets and ceramics.
For a more unconventional idea, a more quirky design idea, we’ve looked into wow-factor ideas for staircases that go further than carpet or plain wood.
A great idea if you have spare tester pots of wood paint or off cuts of wallpaper – there are an abundance of examples across the net, especially Pinterest, for brilliant designs for your staircase using either paint or paper.
Your hallway is important design statement about the rest of the home, being it is the first room visitors see – so why not make a bold look?
We looked around and were inspired by the many ideas for bright colour choices, clashing patterns, blending pantones, using typography, saying something about the rest of the home, all giving a great feel and welcome to introduce ‘your home’. Colours and pattern can be used to liven up a space or brighten a hallway or even each tread could tell a story!
patterned wallpaper on stairs
We found some great inspiring features from Brit&Co, Country Living and a how-to from DIYDoctor.
The important thing to start with is a well prepped set of stairs. It’s essential to sand down to a smooth finish, removing any nails, sharp points and excess old paint, and give a good clean to ensure a good surface to work on. Treads should be primed next, to give a good layer for the chosen paint to go on to. Priming can also help even if using wallpaper as it can help to make a smoother surface under the paper. It is key to apply a few thin layers, fully dried in between to create a solid, long lasting finish with paint and with wallpaper the same with clear varnish.
Look online for inspiration, and as it’s a small area – know that it’ll be easy to change in the future if you fancy a different look!
With a lot of the major home brands currently having Spring Sales, now is the perfect time to hunt out some bargains to freshen up your home for the new season.
Having central London on our doorstep we have visited and found some great finds from four of the big names – Habitat, West Elm, Dwell and Heals. [ Fortunately all next to each other on Tottenham Court Road ]
Habitat – up to 30% off furniture, accessories and soft furnishing, plus 50% off selected lighting. So much to choose from. [ lamp pictured was £50 / now £25 and storage jar was £20 / now £10 ]
West Elm – massive discounts on cushions and kitchenware and for a limited time 60% off selected furniture. [ cushions pictured were £19 / now £4.95 and coloured glasses were £24 / now 4.95 ]
Dwell – up to 70% off on furniture, lighting and accessories. Large selection to choose from. [ walnut side board pictured was £499 / now £249 and wooden pendant light was £89 / now £45 ]
Heals – up to 30% off furniture and lighting with 50% off selected rugs. They also have a great selection of Newgate clocks at 15% off. Limited time only. [ clock pictured was £65 / now £55 ]
Get to your nearest store or shop online before they end.
The power and impact of large scale art in a room is great. Make a statement or bring a strong colour or theme to a room with a huge print. It’s generally a fairly expensive thing to aquire but US online store, Sycamore Street Press, amongst the range of other fab paper goods and homeware, have the super idea of offering downloadable digital PDFs of brilliant photographic prints that can be printed yourself at your local printers to whatever size (up to 48” x 36” – which is huge)
We absolutely love this way of bringing the outdoors in, with their print range of cactus photographs. Fresh natural images taken from the cactus garden in Huntingdon, Pasedena (California) which create a airy feel and evoke the feeling of the outdoors – allowing the natural world inside and are almost window-like when hung. Either frame, stick or use hanging bars for these huge pieces of art.
Brilliant art at only $9 per download from the Sycamore Street Press.