Features: Design ideas

Buyers Guide: Garden Furniture

furnish
Ami armchairs by Francesco Rota, £1970, Exterior | Interior [www.exterior-interior.com]

Spruce up your outdoor space with our buyers guide to garden furniture

We’ve had our first taste of summer and with the Chelsea Flower Show opening its doors last week, our minds have turned to gardens. Clueless about plants and flowers, we’ve stuck to what we know best and put together a buyers guide to garden furniture to help you make the most of your outdoor space. Spruce up your garden and enjoy the sun in comfort and style.

Wooden Furniture

Wooden furniture is a popular choice, being sympathetic to the surroundings of the garden. A beautiful natural, tactile and warm material, there’s something really inviting about wooden furniture. But going for wood doesn’t mean you can’t get a contemporary high-style look. Encompass has some fabulously sleek wooden furniture, including chairs, tables and benches. Habitat is particularly good on wood this season with some fantastic chairs, tables and loungers. Softwood furniture requires regular sealing or repainting to protect it from the elements and wicker works best in covered areas. Hardwood is more durable but will still require maintenance and should be covered with tarp in the winter months.

Pros: Natural material in keeping with the garden environment; huge variety of styles and timbers

Cons: requires regular resealing, especially softwood; can be bulky and difficult to store

Metal Furniture

Metal furniture is available in traditional or modern styles and makes a lovely contrast with the natural surroundings of your garden. Ensure that whatever you buy has a rust resistant coating. Aluminium is a popular choice because it doesn’t rust. Wrought iron has a beautiful traditional look but can be very heavy and difficult to store. The Worm that Turned stocks a great selection of Fermob’s metal garden furniture, available in 24 colours from subtle greens to vibrant pinks. Comprising chairs, tables, swing seats and benches, each collection has its own style identity and each piece its own purpose. Mix and match the colours or use different styles in different areas of the garden. In powder-coated steel with UV and rust protection, Fermob furniture is built to last.

Pros: great range of styles and finishes; stain resistant and easily cleaned

Cons: often not as comfortable as wood; prone to scratches and therefore rust

garden bench
English Oak garden loveseat/bench, £1750, In Garden [www.ingarden.co.uk]

Folding furniture

Folding furniture is particularly good in small gardens and can be stored easily in bad weather. Deckchairs have a lovely nostalgic look to them and there are plenty of folding tables and chairs on the market in both metal and wood. The great thing about folding furniture is its versatility and portability. Heal’s folding Flip chairs and loungers are great. Lightweight and comfortable, they’ve got carrying handles so you can move them around the garden to catch the sun.

Pros: portable and easily stored; great choice of styles and materials

Cons: folding tables tend to be smaller than solid varieties; generally speaking, foldable furniture is not as strong as solid furniture

Synthetic Wicker

Synthetic resin wicker furniture combines the traditional charm of wicker with the durability and weather resistance of modern materials. Unlike wood wicker, the resin variety is designed to withstand the elements and will last for years with almost no upkeep. It’s available in all sorts of colours and, because the colour is bonded into the material itself rather than painted on, it won’t fade or peel. Exterior | Interior and In Garden have fabulous ranges of synthetic wicker lounge sets and daybeds with comfortable cushions. Synthetic wicker is available in traditional styles as well as the more contemporary modular lounge sets and sofas. Wicker furniture offers the luxury of real comfort outdoors.

Pros: durable and weather resistant; very comfortable

Cons: can be bulky and difficult to store; don’t leave the cushions out in the rain!

parasol
Handmade Indian parasol in Royal Purple, £165, In Garden [www.ingarden.co.uk]

Colourful Furniture

Even if you’re not in the least green fingered, colourful furniture will brighten up your garden and create an inviting outdoor space. Plastic, power-coated metal, and synthetic wicker chairs and tables are available in a great selection of colours. The sculptural plastic Disk chair at Exterior | Interior is fabulous. And there are plenty of colourful hammocks and weatherproof beanbags on the market. Cuprinol’s Garden Shades and Heritage Shades paints are suitable for all garden wood, including furniture. Or simply add some colourful cushions and seat pads.

Pros: brightens up the garden; available in all sorts of materials and styles

Cons: ensure to go for something fade resistant; wood will need regular repainting

Accessories

Parasols, shade sails and garden lighting will add the finishing touches to your outdoor space. Trolleys and side tables are also great for barbeque parties. Encompass is really good on occasional furniture as has a fabulous range of barbeques and fires. Try Heal’s for hanging lanterns and garden flares. In Garden has a great range of parasols and shade sails, including decorative Indian parasols in jewel-like colours with aluminium cutwork fringing. Mirrors are also a lovely feature outside and have a secret garden feel. Try Graham & Green’s Arched Window mirror or the Rustic Louvre mirror, complete with shutters, at The Worm that Turned.

Let’s hope we’re in for a sizzling barbeque season and the sun is here to stay.

How to create... a retro living room

wallpaper
Trippy wallpaper, £25 a roll, Graham and Brown

Create your own retro living room with our suggestions ranging from bold wallpaper to quirky furniture pieces and accessories.

If you often find yourself reminiscing and wishing that you could travel back to the 1950’s or 60’s, then a retro interior may be exactly what you’re looking for. Interior design during this period was very kitsch, and in interior design today, this style is reproduced but with a unique and quirky twist. Why not take inspiration and go all-out with the great range of retro products, available on Furnish and from other suppliers, to bring a retro feel to your own living room.

You don’t need travel back in time in order to give your living room a groovy, retro makeover. With a bit of imagination and the great freedom of choice there is with a vast array of products to help bring a burst of bold colour and dizzy patterns to your home. Bring an outdated but fresh and modern look to your lounge with Trippy wallpaper from Graham & Brown. The psychedelic pattern is symbolic of the post-war 50’s and 60’s when there was a transition in design to brighter and bolder colours. Or decorate your walls with Illuminate wallpaper, made by Harlequin at wallpaper direct which features a selection of stylised lampshades including the 50’s iconic Artichoke light.

Retro art was a huge inspiration to what soon became known as pop art; one of the most popular art movements that revolutionalised design in the twentieth century. The quirky Fat owl cushion from Hunkydory Home is an example of how iconic designs from Andy Warhol can inspire you to experiment with pattern and colour in your lounge. This handmade funky owl print in blue and mustard, and combined with apples and pears, is a perfect accessory to add some fun to your new retro décor. Unikko fabric from Marimekko uses a bold floral pattern in bright and vibrant colours which would work well as cushion covers or for an even bolder statement use it to cover your sofa. There is also more in the selection of fabrics and textiles from Marimekko that would suit this look.

chair
Libby II Chair, contact for price, The Baobab Tree

Most retro furniture that you get today from markets are not authentic pieces from the past, however there are still some real vintage, classic pieces out there waiting to be found. The Old Cinema [http://www.theoldcinema.co.uk/] offers a collection of period antiques from around the world, and their 1970’s Retro G-Plan Sideboard, made from teak, is a must for anyone who loves one off pieces. This type of furniture doesn’t come cheap, but you get what you pay for and I certainly wouldn’t mind spending my precious pounds on the Libby II chair from thebaobabtree.co.uk. Abstract design, polished chrome and rounded corners all define retro furniture, so if you’d prefer to go retro with more of a modern twist, the Round art deco side table from Graham and Green could be for you. It is connected by four curvy, stylised mirror stems which modernise your room whilst also serving as a timeless glass furnishing, neutral enough for you to experiment with bolder colour elsewhere.

For a retro look with clean, finished modern lines for your living area then laminate surfaces and vinyl are great and practical materials to achieve just this. Why not try Amtico Linear Graphite effect vinyl tiles from flooringsupplies.co.uk, their warm palette and detailed stripes create a funky yet sleek retro feel making them the perfect choice for your living room. Add texture and dimension to your room with the Dahlia rug from BODIE and FOU. The design uses traditionally retro geometric patterns but gives it a modern revamp with vibrant colour and expression.

In my opinion, a retro living room would not be absolute without one of these; the 1950's Silver Dreyfuss telephone by Wild and Wolf from Heal’s which encompasses this iconic decade. It comes with an authentic heavyweight handset, and so as not to disappoint, it even has an original bell ring. If you like to be reminded of times gone by take a look at the Newgate Postmaster Architecture wall clock from Heal’s. This pop art inspired piece celebrates everyday objects and turns them into iconic symbols. It uses retro style numbers that aren’t fixed so you can choose any combination you would like, making it both a playful and kooky accessory for your home. These characteristics are typical of the retro style yet they emphasise how advanced modern technology has become. Products such as these illustrate how contemporary, retro design can be just as much about nostalgia and abstraction as they are about modernising your home in an inventive way. The Orla Kiely multi-stem rug from Heal’s is perfect for decorating your living room floor with a simple yet effective retro design. It has such a subtle yet intrepid colour palette which, with its mixed pattern design, creates a classic appearance for your living space. It is also made from luxurious soft New Zealand wool that feels incredibly comforting underfoot.

sideboards and display cabinet
1970’s Retro G-Plan Sideboard, £375, The Old Cinema

Light up your retro inspired lounge with Hunkydory Home’s Vintage flowers drum pendant lampshade. You can’t afford to be shy with pattern when it comes to being retro, and with this original 1970’s floral fabric in shades of vibrant yellow, orange and brown, your room will be transformed from dull and boring into something from ‘That ‘70’s Show’. If however, you’d prefer a more subtle approach, then you are bound to love the polished chrome used to produce the Floss chandelier 2097 from Utility, which is a common feature of retro designs. Its futuristic name is a reflection of its modern, sleek finish yet it also has a timeless appearance and its bold statement size gives it a real sense of belonging to a devoted 50’s retro living room.

Trend Watch: Nautical

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Seaside Fabric Collection by Emma Shuckburgh, from £25 per metre, Elanbach

With sailor stripes and maritime motifs still riding high on the fashion waves, interior designers have dropped anchor and climbed aboard.

With sailor stripes and maritime motifs still riding high on the fashion waves, interior designers have dropped anchor and climbed aboard. Buoyed up by catwalk fashion, the world of interiors is awash with seafaring style this spring. Interior design is no galley slave, but when a fashion trend is this strong, for this long, it’s bound to influence the way we decorate as well as the way we dress.

Indigo blue is the mainstay of the nautical trend in interiors, with ticking stripes and maritime details paired with anything from washed-out florals to high-impact pattern. Go for a classic naval look with indigo, white, and gold, or channel the laidback calm of the seaside with muted stripes and vintage-inspired florals. From ocean-going glamour to pared down chic there’s a nautical niche to suit your style. And with everything from furniture and fabrics, to tableware and accessories following the trend, it’s easy to dress your home in the maritime mode.

For a laidback look, the first port of call has to be Ian Mankin. Renowned for relaxed stripes in cotton, linen and now oilcloth, Mankin fabrics are accompanied by a fabulous range of soft furnishings and kitchen accessories. The Union Jack cushions are sure to ward off pirates on the high seas. For bed linen, try the Newquay Collection at Jigsaw, available in a subtle dusty pink or smoke and white stripe. Elanbach [http://www.elanbach.com] is fantastic for wallpapers and upholsteries expressly designed to be mixed and matched. Try the Vintage Floral, Seaside, and Spa collections for shipshape stripes and cottage-garden blooms.

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Clements Ribeiro Ready-To-Wear Collection, Spring/Summer 2010, at London Fashion Week, pictured on elleuk.com

If you’re more ocean-liner than sailing regatta, dive into Le Grand Hotel collection at Ralph Lauren Home. With classical furniture, fabrics and accessories in a refined maritime palette of navy, white, cream and gold, Le Grand Hotel is seafaring at its most sophisticated. If the Cannes Gueridon Table doesn’t inspire a fluttering heart and a ‘Hello sailor’, I’m sunk. But if you’re looking for something a little more rustic, try La Plage, Le Grand Hotel’s bohemian sister. In a palette of inky indigos and faded blues, vintage reds and chalky neutrals, this collection is barefoot in the sand rather than cocktails with the captain.

OKA is channelling the nautical trend through a global lens, with stripes sharing a platform with Persian, Indian and Oriental-inspired prints. Complete with carrying handles, OKA’s Chinese Wooden Trunks are finished in a range of maritime colours and lined with Chinese patterned paper. Perfect for the intrepid traveller. But don’t set off just yet because they’re available to view on Furnish. Pair with the paisley Chain Stitch rug in blue and cream, continuing the ocean-going theme and maritime palette with Ambala and Cimkent cushion covers.

mirror
Fish Eye Convex Mirror, £45, Rose & Grey

There are plenty of nautical-inspired pieces elsewhere on Furnish, whichever style floats your boat. Eat at the captain’s table with Sophie Conran’s tactile Portmerion dinnerware, or rule the waves with Royal Stafford’s Cool Britannia range, both at Heal’s. Add a splash of bold colour with the Neo Occasional Chair at Lockwood Design, upholstered in a fabulous fisherman’s yellow. And relax in ocean-going style with the Baroque Wing Chair in black mahogany and cream velvet, from Sweet Pea and Willow, or the Strasbourg Chair at Brissi, upholstered in storm grey.

The nautical trend has a definite feeling of nostalgia to it, but if modern’s more your style, check out Thomas Pedersen’s stunning Wooden Stingray chair at the Lollipop Shoppe. OKA’s tripod Shipper Floor Lamp and Garden Trading’s pendant Fishing Light have authentic nautical detailing and are perfect for stormy seas. Or summon the romance of Venus with the Shell Candle wall sconces at Rockett St George. Finally, make sure you’re fit to go ashore with Graham & Green’s fantastic black and gilt Porthole wall mirrors. ‘Land Ahoy!’

How to create... a romantic bedroom

wallpaper
Honesty wallpaper, £23 per roll, Graham and Brown

A romantic bedroom should evoke intimacy, passion, and most importantly charm. So, design your dream romantic boudoir with our ‘How to’ guide.

Fairy-tales and dreams can come true with a few striking furniture pieces, the right lighting and a little imagination. You don’t need to spend a fortune, and your bedroom doesn’t need to be lost in rose petals for this to work. In fact a romantic bedroom can be achieved simply by adding subtle accessories and personal touches which will create a sense of comfort and indulgence.

Your wallpaper can determine the overall romantic mood of your room, and using a feature wall can accentuate a theme or colour that will inspire a passionate feel. Eve and Honesty wallpaper from the collection at Graham and Brown use soft pastel colours and feminine floral patterns to create a sensual atmosphere. Or if you want to be more daring with colour, the Timorous Beasties Thistle wallpaper has a provocative texture, and its powerful fuchsia colour will ignite a sense of passion and beauty into your bedroom.

bedside table
Cream French Carved bedside table, £225, Sweetpea and Willow.

Furniture is essential for making sure you have somewhere to keep your personal belongings, and you can find many pieces that will make the perfect statement in a romantic bedroom. I love the collection of furniture from Sweet Pea and Willow, for example the Classical White Marianne Rattan bed is a beautifully carved and intricately detailed bed made from antique white rattan. Using white in a bedroom suggests innocence and purity and gives you the opportunity to use bolder colour elsewhere in your room. For a bed that exudes luxury, try the Pearl velvet bed which is made from gorgeous velvet upholstery. If you’re looking for an idyllic bedside table then Cream French Carved Jonelle bedside table is a fabulous choice. Inspired by Eighteenth century French art and rococo style, this bedside table in antique cream will give your boudoir a romantic fairytale ambiance.

cushion
Wool Love cushions, £60 each, Jan Constantine collection from Occa Home

Love is all about appreciating the little things in life, so fill your bedroom with lots of your favourite gifts and memories. Accessories can bring the overall theme or mood of a room together, for example share your love and comfort with Jan Constantine’s collection of cushions from Occa Home, including the Wool Love cushions available in red and cream. Remember the times you have shared with your loved one with the Silver heart crown photo frame from Graham and Green. You can also display flowers in this elegant, LSA Circa vase from Red Candy. Traditionally the colour of love, red symbolises desire and passion, so use this colour in your bedroom for romantic impact and a warm feel.

Romantic lighting will help set the right mood, whether it is sensual, or cosy and relaxed, there are plenty of ways to give your bedroom an enchanting look. The pink acrylic Shocking chandelier from The French Bedroom Company will bring fun and colour to your room even without the light on. For low key lighting try the Love heart tea lights from Oliver Bonas; these can be placed around your room for a romantic night in. The intricately perforated silver metal of the Zenza lamp from Plumo has large crystal facetted clear stones that are strikingly beautiful, and will give a soft star light effect.

Don’t be afraid to go with your heart in making decisions on the design of your bedroom, after all you want it to be the most private and personal place in your home.

Buyers guide to... Flooring

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Wool Chicago carpet in Chocolate, £80 per sqm, Crucial Trading [www.crucial-trading.com]

Make the right choices with our buyers guide to flooring

As soon as you open a door and walk into a room, the floor is one of the first things you notice. Whichever flooring you choose, it’ll change the atmosphere of your space, whether it’s a bold statement in rubber or an understated carpet in natural seagrass. And because you’ll be walking on it everyday, it’s worth going for the best quality you can afford, whichever type you choose. Covering the most popular flooring types, this guide aims to help you make the right choices for your room as well as your personal style.

1. Wool

Wool carpet is especially good for bedrooms and living rooms, creating a feeling of homeliness and warmth. Stair runners are a great way to lead the eye and make a feature of your hallway, while carpeting only the upper floor creates a natural break from the hustle and bustle of your main living space and a more relaxed atmosphere upstairs. It may seem an unexciting choice, but there are some fantastic styles and colours on the market. Try Brintons Fine Carpet and Crucial Trading for excellent quality wool carpets, in a huge range of colours, patterns and weaves.

Pros: natural heat and noise insulation; soft underfoot; comforting and homely

Cons: spills and stains; collects dust and pet fur; requires regular vacuuming

2. Natural Plant Fibres

Carpets made from coir, sisal and seagrass are great for busy areas such as hallways and stairs, being tougher and more hardwearing than traditional tufted wool carpets. The exception is jute, which is softer, making it a good choice for bedrooms. Plant fibre carpets in their natural colours are subtle and understated, making it easy to furnish your room around them. The great thing about this type of flooring is the variation in texture and pattern produced by the different weaves. Crucial Trading has a fantastic selection of plant fibre carpets, including a herringbone weave in neutral seagrass with a green, blue or red weft, and a number of dyed sisal carpets, along with the usual natural colour palette.

Pros: hardwearing; understated; texturally interesting

Cons: limited colour range; less soft than wool pile; sensitive to moisture, making them unsuitable for use in bathrooms and kitchens

3. Rubber

Rubber flooring is so versatile it can be used almost anywhere in the home. Hardwearing and easily cleaned, it’s particularly good for busy areas such as hallways, and rooms where spillages are likely, such as kid’s bedrooms, studios, utility rooms, bathrooms and kitchens. A contemporary and stylish choice, rubber flooring goes really well with modern furnishings.

The Rubber Flooring Company has a fabulous range of vibrant, fade-resistant, colour options, available in smooth and soft sheets and tiles, round stud tiles with extra cushioning, and a fantastic new grid tile by Hemmingway Design. The vulcanised rubber is extremely durable, with a high level of impact absorbency. Another option is a resin floor with a cushioning rubber underlay. Puur’s [www.puur.uk.com] poured resin floors achieve a perfectly flat and slip-resistant surface, finished either matt or polished to a high lustre. For a natural alternative, try Marmoleum, which is made from linseed oil, wood flour, rosin, jute and limestone. Urbane Living has a great selection including brightly coloured chequerboard tiles.

Pros: huge range of colours; easily cleaned; extremely durable

Cons: ultra-modern - may not suit period homes

4. Luxury Vinyl

Vinyl is extremely practical, and can be great for kid’s rooms, bathrooms and kitchens. It has a bad reputation but if you go for a good quality supplier, such as Amtico or Karndean you can get great results. If, like me, you’ve got a problem with vinyl that mimics other materials, just stick to plain block colours. Amtico’s Abstract range is great and there are some really authentic plain tiles in the Stone range. Otherwise, there are plenty of effects that can be achieved in vinyl, from wood and ceramics to mosaic, marble and glass. These products combine the look of natural materials with the practicality and performance of vinyl.

Pros: durable; easy to clean; huge range of colours and styles

Cons: won’t add value to your home; doesn’t last like real wood or stone

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Bubblegum Pink rubber stud tiles, £41.95 per sqm, The Rubber Flooring Company [www.therubberflooringcompany.co.uk]

5. Solid Wood

A solid wood floor is not only beautiful; it’s hardwearing and will add value to your home. It’ll improve with age and can be revived with re-sanding and refinishing to fit in with a new decorative scheme. Whether hard or softwood, parquet or plank, a solid wooden floor is the same material all the way through. It ages and evolves as you live with it and lasts for decades.

Solid wood flooring is available in a range of timbers offering a spectrum of natural colours, knots and grains. The most interesting timbers are Oak, Chestnut, Maple, Teak, Walnut and Merbau. A sensuous real wood floor brings natural warmth to a room. However, each timber has its own specific pros and cons. For example, Chestnut isn’t suitable for rooms entered directly from the outside, but is perfect for upstairs. Broadleaf Timber has a useful technical guide to choosing the right timber for your room.

Pros: long-lasting; improves with age; can be re-sanded and refinished

Cons: expensive; requires ongoing maintenance; light, temperature and moisture sensitive

6. Engineered Wood

Engineered wood flooring is a sandwich of plywood with a top layer of finish wood. The plywood is made up of several layers of Birch, laid at right angles with the grain running in opposite directions, giving dimensional strength to the sandwich. This also means that engineered wood stands up well in areas of moisture such as kitchens, bathrooms and basements. It won’t expand and contract like solid wood. Plywood makes up 80-90% of the board with a thinner layer of finish wood that you walk on. Engineered boards are available in the full range of solid wood timbers. The Natural Wood Floor Company has a great selection.

Pros: eco-friendly; won’t expand and contract; can be used in moisture prone areas

Cons: can be sanded only once or twice; prone to dents and scratches; light sensitive

7. Reclaimed Wood

Reclaimed wood flooring has the distinctive patina of age, adding depth and character to a room. It’s also an environmentally friendly option. The same care should be taken as with solid wood, to ensure the timber is right for the room. Reclaimed wood is available in any number of styles, including parquet woodblocks. Often old growth timber, reclaimed wood has the advantage of being harder and more stable than younger wood. Urbane Living, Lassco and Retrouvius all have rotating stocks of reclaimed wood flooring.

Pros: characterful; eco-friendly; more stable than younger wood

Cons: often supplied unfinished; choice dependent on stock; supplied ‘as seen’ and not tailored to the size of your room

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Navaho Collection by Neisha Crosland, £450 per sqm, De Ferranti {www.deferranti.com]

8. Stone

Stone is a hardwearing and practical flooring choice, particularly suited to hallways, bathrooms and kitchens, but equally attractive in living and dining rooms. Natural stone offers a broad spectrum of colours and surface details: from white to black, through beiges and greys, and from reasonably plain to extensively varied in tone and texture. Natural stones are given a range of finishes: a riven or antique finish will give a more rustic appearance while a polished or honed finish gives a classic yet modern feel to a room.

There’s little difference in durability between stones; the look you want from the stone is essentially more important than the type. Tile sizes range from the smallest mosaic to very large slabs. All natural stones are porous to varying degrees and must be sealed during the installation process to prevent staining and moisture absorption. Mandarin Stone has a fabulous range of natural stones, from limestone and marble, to granite, sandstone, travertine and slate.

Pros: beautiful natural material; will last decades; stain resistant when sealed

Cons: expensive, expert installation required; hard and cold underfoot; natural variation and ‘imperfections’ in the stones may not suit some tastes

9. Terracotta Tiles

From warm ochres, to rich reds and oranges, the inviting earthy tones of terracotta tiles make them ideal for hallways and kitchens as well as living and dining rooms. Low-maintenance and resilient, terracotta is another flooring type that improves and evolves with age. To ensure a long-lasting floor, the tiles must be sealed properly to prevent staining and moisture absorption. Fired Earth will professionally install a great range of terracotta tiles, including reclaimed, antiqued and handmade varieties. The square and rectangular tiles in the Romana range are used to create a geometric floor pattern.

Pros: hardwearing; rich earthy tones; warmer underfoot than ceramic tiles or stone

Cons: colour variation and rustic feel not to all tastes; hard underfoot; requires professional installation and sealing

10. Ceramic Tiles

Available in a huge variety of colours, patterns, textures and styles, ceramic floor tiles are a really versatile choice, suitable for any room. Ceramic tiles can be used to create breathtakingly beautiful floors and the design possibilities are almost limitless. Tough and easily cleaned, a ceramic floor is a great option for hallways, bathrooms and kitchens. Try Iris Ceramica for a fabulous selection of innovative textural tile designs. De Ferranti has a fantastic choice of patterned ceramic tiles, including a striking range by Neisha Crosland. De Ferranti’s ceramic tiles are handmade and hand-painted, many of them taking inspiration from historical sources.

Pros: huge variety in pattern, colour and texture; easy to clean; durable

Cons: cold and hard underfoot; requires professional installation; more expensive than terracotta

How to create... A Spa Bathroom

bath
Original French double-ended copper bath with large roll, from £9500 + vat, The Water Monopoly

A Spa-inspired bathroom is the perfect retreat after a busy day, a haven of tranquillity. Shut the door and feel the stresses of the day drift away.

A Spa-inspired bathroom is the perfect retreat after a busy day, a restorative haven of tranquillity and calm. Shut the door, sink into a luxurious roll top bath and feel the stresses of the day drift away. Stand under an invigorating shower and emerge refreshed, with soft towels warming on a heated rail. A daily source of pleasure creating a sense of wellbeing, a luxurious bathroom is a worthwhile indulgence.

Bathroom Furniture

Nothing says luxury more than a glorious freestanding bathtub. A grand centrepiece for the bathroom, a freestanding tub offers total relaxation and indulgence. The Water Monopoly, Chadder & Co. and Drummonds all have fabulous ranges, including double-ended slipper baths, copper, stone, and traditional cast iron roll tops. If space is an issue, take a look at The Albion Bath Company’s diminutive ‘Tubby Tub’, a generously deep, capacious roll top bath only 4ft in length. Bathrooms International has an extensive range of space saving inset baths as well as invigorating whirlpool systems.

When it comes to blissful showers, Hansgrohe has mastered the art. Experience the restorative power of the Raindance overhead showers, with air infusers for a voluminous spray of water, and spray modes ranging from massage jets to the gentle patter of soft rain. And at nearly a metre square, with three different spray zones, the Shower Heaven ceiling plate indulges the senses with a totally luxurious drenching. For something a little more traditional try the fabulous freestanding Spittle shower at Drummonds or the Needleshower at Water Monopoly.

For beautiful basins and vanity units Chadder & Co., Drummonds and Water Monopoly specialise in elegant classic designs. A vanity unit with a double sink will give your bathroom an opulent feel. The Deco double basin at Water Monopoly and the Double Marble vanity suite at Drummonds are both stunning. If you’re going for a contemporary look, West One Bathrooms and Bathrooms International have a great choice of styles and materials, including stone, glass and metal.

Storage is important if you want your bathroom to be a tranquil and relaxing space. Fired Earth, CP Hart and West One Bathrooms all have great bathroom storage ranges. Bard & Brazier specialise in towel rails of excellent quality in modern and traditional designs. A heated towel rail is a luxurious treat, perfect after a long soak in the bath.

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Free-standing Needleshower with spray bars and shower rose, finished in chrome, polished nickel or polished brass, £18995 + vat, The Water Monopoly

Decoration

As well as creating a peaceful environment, neutral colours and soft shades will make the most of the available light from smaller bathroom windows. White tiles with black accents look particularly striking and marry well with traditional baths and basins. If you don’t want to tile the whole room, tiling halfway up the walls, creating a tiled splashback for the sink, and tiling up to the ceiling around the bath if you have an overhead shower, will protect the walls in areas most likely to get wet.

For ceilings and un-tiled areas choose paint designated for use in bathrooms, such as Farrow & Ball’s Modern Emulsion or Dulux Bathroom+. Wallpaper with a washable or vinyl finish is also suitable for use in bathrooms. Zoffany has a good range of vinyl wallpapers, which are more resistant to moisture. Putting wallpaper behind a glass or Perspex screen will provide extra protection.

Engineered wood, rubber, or tiles are all great options for flooring. Rubber floor tiles and sheets come in a huge range of colours and are suited to contemporary decorative schemes. Engineered wood floorboards won’t expand and contract like solid wood and look fabulous with freestanding baths. Tiles offer the widest choice in terms of material, colour and pattern. Fired Earth, De Ferranti and Villa Lagoon all have fantastic ranges.

Lighting is key to creating a beautifully relaxing space. If you go for overhead lighting, choose an enclosed glass shade rather than spotlights, and use a dimmer switch to set the mood. Wall sconces are often more atmospheric. Drummonds has a great selection of elegant bathroom wall lights, with a really decadent feel.

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Double white arabascato marble vanity suite, from £5175 + vat, Drummonds

Accessories

Create the perfect ambience for a tranquil retreat with candles, mirrors and softer than soft towels. Drummonds has a range of luxuriously thick super-soft towels in subtle colours. Water Monopoly has a particularly good range of bathroom accessories including soap dishes, sponge baskets and wall sconces to hold bottles. Rocket St George has a fabulous Shell Candle wall sconce in brass that would look beautiful with a copper bath. Decorative mirrors will reflect the flickering candlelight, creating a lovely relaxing atmosphere. And leafy plants will finish off the bathroom with a natural feeling of tranquillity.

Trend watch: Polka Dots

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House of Holland, Spring/Summer 09, London Fashion Week, from marieclaire.co.uk

Go dotty with design and use polka dots to add a touch of fun to your interior.

When it comes to looking our best, we want to be spot on with the latest fashion trends. That’s right; polka dots took the spotlight on the catwalks, bringing with them a retro and playful feel. As ever, interior design isn’t far behind, and it has been influenced greatly by this classic, bold print.

In a fresh new approach, designers have rejuvenated the conventional dots by combining them with floral prints. Floral cushions from Cabbages and Roses in monochrome offer the perfect accompaniment to the Blue and Brown dot cushion from Hunkydory Home. They will create a flamboyant contrast, and prove that dots work well on fabrics to bring texture and a vibrant, summery feel to a room.

Another great example of how polka dots and floral designs can work well together is with the Poppy Liberty Fabric Cushion Liberty from Liberty and the Deckchair Spot cushion from Hunkydory Home. With their pretty pink colours, they stand apart as two dramatically vibrant cushions; these would work perfectly in a kitchen, living room or dining area to give a feminine and homely touch.

If you prefer the traditional polka dot style, why not opt for black and white polka dots for a classic Minnie-mouse inspired look. The Marimekko mug from Lollipop Shoppe is part of a new line of Marimekko tableware and pays homage to the polka dot style in its own unique way. Using these would be a great way to invite attention to your table. Also, monochrome dots give you the opportunity to use colour in other aspects of your room.

cushion
Poppy liberty fabric cushion, £69, Liberty, and Deckchair spot cushion, £18, Hunkydory Home.

Oliver Bonas has a quaint collection of gifts for the home that are available to view on Furnish. The porcelain china pale blue Tea bag tidy is an example of how pastel colours work well with polka dots. Using calm, subtle shades gives a contrast to the bold dots and creates a modern feel to your interior. The Retro milk pan in pink and white (also available in red and white) is an exciting and playful accessory for your kitchen.

We know that the best things in life are better enjoyed in moderation, and this is certainly the case with polka dots. However, Walldots wallpaper from Sheerhome takes its inspiration from polka dot design by repeating a bubble-like pattern on your walls. It provides an interesting backdrop to any room and is a slightly more detailed take on a traditional polka dot design.

wallpaper
Retro circles wallpaper, £44.04, Oliver Bonas

The Turquoise and silver Retro circles wallpaper from Oliver Bonas are stylishly vibrant. This wallpaper will provide a refreshing balance to an interior that has harsh modern lines with its aesthetically pleasing motif.

Red and white polka dots are definitely a must for this trend; this combination gives a feminine and flirty feel. Try this out in your home with the sand-filled Heart doorstop from Lover’s Lounge which has a cute carry handle, and serves as a handy yet chic accessory for your home.

Also, your household chores will never be boring again if you wear the Polka dot apron in red from Hunkydory Home; who knew aprons could be so flirtatious and fun?

If you want to bring a splash of colour to a room then Dot stools from Lollipop Shoppe are just the thing for you. Their charm and contemporary style allows you to introduce the polka dot style into your interior in a functional and tantalising new way. Also, have some fun with this wall clock from Sonodesign, which is suitably named The clock I can't see. As the name suggests, you may have to look closely to see the numbers, but there’s no doubt it will have you feeling fantastically dotty in no time at all. Whatever your taste, Furnish have found designs that are top of the spots, so you can choose anything from tableware, cushions, accessories, and wallpaper.

Colourful Gardens

furnish
Disk Chair by Karim Rachid, £450, Exterior | Interior

We’re all hoping for a sizzling barbeque season, but if the sun fails to peep through the clouds, a colourful garden is inviting even on a drab day.

We’re all hoping for a sizzling barbeque season, but if the sun fails to peep through the clouds, a colourful garden is inviting even on a drab day. And there’s no need for green fingers: introducing colour with furniture, paint and accessories will bring your outdoor space to life.

Colourful Furniture

Use bright furniture for flashes of colour, leading the eye around the garden. Different furniture types help to zone your outside space: a languorous hammock strung between trees, a colourful bench in a quiet corner, or a bistro-style table and chairs perched on a patio.

Exterior | Interior offers by far the best choice of high-style garden furniture, including modular seating systems with colourful cushions, sculptural lounge chairs in weatherproof polymers, and beanbag-style chaises for lazy afternoons. The Ami collection is fabulously tactile with bold weaves and upholsteries in innovative materials, designed expressly for exterior use.

The Worm that Turned stocks a great selection of Fermob’s metal garden furniture, a timeless choice from France, available in 24 attractive shades. Comprising chairs, tables, swing seats and benches, each collection has its own style identity and each piece its own purpose. Mix and match the colours or use different styles in different areas of the garden. In powder-coated steel with UV and rust protection, Fermob furniture is built to last.

If you’re looking for a statement piece, the Wave hammock by Royal Botania at Encompass is spectacular. With a built-in sun canopy, it rotates 360° appearing to float from one fixed point. Designed for year-round exterior use, its polished steel frame and turquoise awning make a stunning architectural feature.

garden bench
Fermob Louisiane Bench, £366, The Worm that Turned

Colourful Fences and Walls

Painting a tired fence or wall is a simple way to add impact to your garden with colour. Cuprinol’s Garden Shades and Heritage Shades are suitable for all garden wood, including furniture as well as fences, arbours and decking. Formulated to complement the natural colours in the garden, the range includes vivid brights (Forget Me Not), moody hues (Lavender) and subtle tones (Willow) for the perfect backdrop.

For garden walls, Sto offers a premier range of extremely hardwearing paints, colourfast in all weather conditions. Preventing water from gripping to the surface, StoLotusan Color is self-cleaning; the dirt simply washes off in the rain, keeping the surface looking good for longer. With up to 800 shades to choose from, find the perfect colour match with your planting scheme or create a stand out feature wall with year-round impact.

furnish
Float lounge chair by Francesco Rota, £1530, Exterior | Interior

Colourful Accessories

Vibrant tableware, parasols and planters bring personality to the garden, adding accents of colour or unifying a theme. Shade sails have a real romance about them, creating enticing spaces. In Garden stocks shade sails in a variety of sizes, shapes and colourways, ideal over dining areas. A colourful oilcloth will instantly lift your outdoor table. Just Wipe has a huge selection while Cath Kidston is great for distinctive prints. And don’t forget the birds. Give them a home to be proud of with a colourful and quirky Astoria nesting box.

Hanging lanterns, garden flares and tea-light holders bring drama and colour into the evening. Available at Skandium, Alvar Aalto’s Votive tea-light holders in the iconic Aalto shape come in 10 colours, fantastic dotted along a wall. Exterior | Interior offers a great range of colourful planters, including the Vases collection with internal LED lighting. A beautiful chrome fire-pit from Encompass will reflect the colours, and reward your efforts.

So all you need to do now is sit back and relax, crack open a beer and keep your fingers crossed for some all-important sun.

Living with Colour

wallpaper
Giacosa teal wallpaper £43 per 10m roll and Festival sofa upholstered in Nabucco oyster velvet £97 per metre, Designers Guild [www.designersguild.com]

Lift your scheme as well as your spirits by experimenting with colour in the home. An injection of colour can transform a room’s atmosphere.

Lift your scheme as well as your spirits by experimenting with colour in the home. An injection of colour can transform a room’s atmosphere as well as your mood. Take advantage of colour cards, tester pots, fabric and wallpaper swatches, to create your perfect palette. Take your time but go with your instincts: if you fall in love with a colourful cushion or carpet, use it as inspiration for the rest of your scheme. Create a haven of subtle hues or make a statement with bold brights.

Living with Bold Colour

Consider how far you want to go to make bold colour work for you. Using it in small doses - on one wall, a statement sofa or for selected accessories - is a great way to create zingy accents, attracting the eye and lifting your scheme. If you choose to go for full colour on all four walls, make sure to use tester pots in the corners of your room to judge how the colour will look in light and shade. Choosing sofas and armchairs in subtler tones, with bold cushions or accessories in the wall colour, will draw your scheme together.

For a really dramatic and moody look, dark colours for both walls and furnishings can be fabulous. To avoid a severe finish, go for sumptuous fabrics such as silks and velvets. Combining bold and supposedly clashing colours can really work. Forget the old wives tales and create a striking look by combining colour opposites. Sto and Dulux have great tools for choosing colours with confidence. Designers Guild is fantastic for inspiration on contrasting fabric colours and wallcoverings. Sofas and armchairs in different block colours, or bold walls contrasted with accessories in a different accent colour, make for a stylish and contemporary look.

lounger
BD Barcelona Lounger by Jaime Hayon, launched recently in Milan - price to be confirmed, Exterior | Interior [http://www.exterior-interior.com/]

Living with Pastels

Pastel colours are no longer the saccharine shades of childhood. They’ve moved out of the nursery and away from the girly pinks and baby blues of past. Dove greys, chalky greens, duck egg blues and dusky pinks are the subtler, muted hues of now. Farrow and Ball and Fired Earth offer a great choice of sophisticated pastel paint colours. Try Rose Mallow at Fired Earth or Pale Powder at Farrow and Ball.

To make sure your room doesn’t look washed out, go for good-quality highly pigmented paint with a chalky texture. The Little Greene Paint Company’s Acrylic Matt Emulsion is perfect. For wood and metalwork choose a complementary off-white colour to bring out the walls, or go two shades lighter or darker to create depth. Paint colours at Farrow and Ball and Little Greene are linked to recommendations for complementary neutrals.

To choose the right shade for your room, always use tester pots, again in the corners so as to judge the colour in light and shade. Paint colours can look hugely different on the wall to how they look on a colour card (or on your computer screen). It’s also a good idea to see how the colour changes from day to evening.

Combine the new pastels to create a beautifully relaxed space. Colour cards and fabric samples will help you to draw together a complementary palette.

sofa
Festival sofa upholstered in Cascina ‘Essentials’ fabrics from £41 per metre, Designers Guild [www.designersguild.com]

Tones

On the natural spectrum of the colour wheel, tones work outwards from the centre, light to dark. Using different tones from the same colour segment or colour card will give depth to a room. Adjacent colours on the wheel are complementary, creating a subtle scheme, while those opposite one another make a dramatic contrast.

If you’re going for one colour across a whole room, varying the tones will add interest, preventing it from looking flat or becoming overwhelming. For example, taking a dark sofa as your base, layer cushions and throws in varying tones of the same colour, using a lighter shade for the walls and the rich shade of the sofa for other accessories.

If you take the time to choose, there’s no need to feel daunted. Have fun putting together your palette and live life in colour.

10 Ways with…Wallpaper

wallpaper
Darly Wallcoverings: Darly Indigo wallpaper, £43 per 10m roll, with Orbit three-seater sofa, from £1750 (excluding fabric), and Manari rug, £950, Designers Guild [www.designersguild.com]

Wallpaper is having a revival, with a huge diversity of patterns coming to the market, and in the range of applications they're now put in interior design.

With so many styles available and in such a versatile material, it would be shame to stop with the walls. So here are our tips on working those prints and getting the most from your wallpaper.

1. Alcoves

Wallpapering in alcoves is a great way to create a feature wall in your room, adding interest and depth to your decorative scheme. If you’ve got two alcoves either side of a fireplace, papering both and adding a console table in each with a lamp to highlight the wallpaper is a great look. Placing a chair in the alcove, upholstered in a complementary fabric, is another way to enhance the wallpaper and develop your scheme. If you have shelves in your alcove papering the back wall or even the back of the bookcase creates a great backdrop for books and accessories.

2. Lining wardrobe doors

Lift your spirits in the morning and give your clothes a treat by lining the inside of your wardrobe with beautiful printed wallpaper. You can really go all out, choosing a bold pattern or bright colours, without worrying about the wallpaper matching the rest of your room. And there’s something enchanting about a hidden surprise, even if your wardrobe is crammed with boring work clothes. If the doors have beading on the outside, papering within these panels will create a feature of your wardrobe.

3. Covering lampshades

Papering a tired lampshade is a simple way to introduce pattern and colour to your scheme. Mix your wallpaper paste with a dollop of PVA glue to make sure it won’t peel off with the heat of the bulb. Play with different combinations of complementary or contrasting papers for the inside and outside of your lampshade. Choosing a paper in the same pattern but a different colourway to go on the inside of the shade is a great look, particularly if you’re papering a pendant shade. If you’re papering walls in your room, a lampshade in the same paper will help to draw together your design.

wallpaper
Nabucco Wallcoverings: Sussex wallpaper, £43 per 10m roll, Designers Guild [www.designersguild.com]

4. MDF Panels

Wallpapered panels look great either mounted on the wall itself or leaning against it. A collection of panels in varying sizes and prints against a wall makes a lively feature. Ply or MDF can also be used to create a simple room divider with hinged panels. Use a different pattern or colourway on the front and back to add interest, or make like a Victorian lady and create a decoupage with samples. Cut out motifs from a range of samples to create a collage or use sample squares for a patchwork effect. Seal your design with a layer of PVA or varnish. Screens are great to hide messy office areas or to zone your bedroom. Facing the panels with corkboard before papering creates a lovely backdrop for pinning photographs.

5. Stretching over canvases

This is a fun way to create artwork for your room and there’s nothing more satisfying than using a staple-gun. Again PVA will ensure it sticks well. Take care folding at the corners to get a tidy finish, using a staple-gun at the back. If you’re papering a feature wall, placing canvases on the opposite wall gives the room a pleasing symmetry. If, like me, you’re cripplingly indecisive, canvases allow you to go for more than one colourway. Place canvases in a second colourway over your papered wall to animate the look.

6. Framing

Another way to create artwork, framing wallpaper is great if you live in a rented house or you’re on a tight budget. Framing allows you to take the wallpaper with you, and using large samples saves you buying a whole roll. Again you can play around with patterns and colourways, with three or four variations framed in a row. If you’re papering a feature wall, pick out your favourite motifs to enhance through framing, drawing together your scheme and making the most of the wallpaper.

7. Combining different wallpapers

The key to using different papers on the walls of one room is to create some kind of dialogue between the two. Go for either the same pattern in a different colourway or a different pattern picking out some or all of the colours of the first wallpaper. A plain, slightly textured wallpaper in one of the colours of the first also works very well to unify your scheme. A simple way to combine wallpapers is to use a different print in any alcoves in the room. This works to enhance the formal qualities of the space and makes a natural break between the two papers.

wallpaper
Florimund Wallcoverings: Cabriole Gold wallpaper, £43 per 10m roll, with bed covering in Tancredi Silk, £91 per metre, Designers Guild [www.designersguild.com]

8. Combining wallpaper and paint

When choosing a paint colour, always get tester pots and place your wallpaper sample against the painted area to judge the effect. Picking out one of the colours in your wallpaper to use on painted areas works well. Use the background colour for a subtle look or one of the colours from the motif for a more striking effect. For an even more dramatic look, choose a contrasting paint colour that speaks to the wallpaper in a different way. Think about the balance you want to create between the wallpaper and paint, choosing a lighter paint colour if you want to give the wallpaper greater prominence.

9. Wallpaper murals

You can get really fantastic results with wallpaper murals. A single image across a whole wall makes a fabulous feature with instant impact. Transform your space with architectural photographs, antique maps, botanical drawings, and even fine art reproductions. Surface View [http://www.surfaceview.co.uk] has a great selection of ready to roll murals, including written text and anatomical drawings, available in permanent and peel-off varieties. With a huge image library Digetex [http://www.digetex.com] create and install bespoke murals, researching your chosen theme if you can’t find what you want.

10. Headboards

Papering a tired wooden headboard or creating your own with MDF can transform your bedroom into a sumptuous boudoir. Choose a high paper grade with a flock surface or a textured weave to give a quality feel. For a really opulent look, follow the width or your bed and paper the wall behind it. Wallpapering kid’s headboards, and getting them to help, is a great way to introduce colour and pattern to the room and create a sense of fun at bedtime.

Living with Pattern

furnish
Embrace fabric collection, £50 per sqm, Harlequin

Whether you go for bold prints or intricate detailing, playing with pattern adds instant vitality to a decorative scheme.

Pattern is a great way to animate space and add interest to your home. Whether you go for bold prints or intricate detailing, playing with pattern adds instant vitality to a decorative scheme. And there are plenty out there to suit your style. Stir the senses with variations in scale and combinations of different patterns and textures.

Wallpaper

Patterned wallpaper brings drama to a dull room. Make an architectural statement with graphic geometric prints, or go for timeless elegance with traditional florals. Generally speaking, the smaller the wallpaper motif, the larger the room will appear. Vertical stripes will give the impression of higher ceilings, and if you have a narrow room think about hanging striped wallpaper horizontally to add width.

Large-scale pattern can work on all four walls of a room, but choosing a subtle colour palette will stop it from becoming oppressive. Similarly, intricate prints can look over-fussy if used unremittingly. Creating feature walls, hanging wallpaper in panels or using it as an accent in alcoves are often better options, broadening your scope for the scheme as a whole and allowing for greater flexibility.

Picking out the colours in the wallpaper and choosing shades from the same colour palette for soft furnishings, upholsteries and paint will unify your design. Designers Guild is particularly good on this, with complementary families of wallpapers, fabrics and even paint colours, enabling a mix and match approach to pattern, texture and tone. Zoffany and Harlequin also have fabulous ranges of coordinating wallpapers and fabrics. Colefax and Fowler is great for timeless prints, while Cole and Son have some fantastic tartans designed by Vivienne Westwood.

furnish
Puccini fabric collection, £75-£99 per metre, Zoffany

Flooring

Whether you choose wood, tiles or carpet, patterned flooring can transform a room. As with wallpapers, large-scale patterns generally look better on larger floors. A smaller scale pattern with a frequent repeat will look better in a smaller room. Again, pick out colours from the flooring to use elsewhere in your scheme. And if you’re going for a full-on floor pattern, let it speak for itself with plain and simple furnishings.

Parquet woodblock patterns range from the simple herringbone to the most intricate of geometric mosaics. Create a subtle pattern with parquet flooring in one type of wood or go for high drama with contrasting timbers. Weldon create beautifully crafted, bespoke parquet and marquetry floors, and Ardeco are parquet specialists with a great range of designs.

Stunning effects can be achieved with floor tiles, and the possibilities are limitless. Villa Lagoon [http://www.villalagoontile.com] has a fabulous range of floor designs with cement and ceramic tiles in all manner of patterns and colours. De Ferranti is unsurpassed for choice, with a vast product library spanning ceramic, encaustic and glass tiles, to leather, metal and bone. Tiled Perfection specialise in traditional Victorian and Edwardian geometric designs, and Fired Earth recently launched a range of encaustic tile patterns inspired by the 1951 Festival of Britain.

Patterned carpets are no longer the preserve of seafront hotels or granny’s front room. Crucial Trading has a stylish range of sophisticated stripes and grids in wool, and if you don’t want to go for full-colour, try a textured weave in seagrass, jute, or coir. For the commitment-phobic, rugs are a great alternative to permanent patterned flooring and can bring a room to life. The Rug Company and Christopher Farr are both outstanding on quality and design.

furnish
Wool Mississippi in burgundy/blue, £52 per sqm, Crucial Trading

Soft Furnishings

There’s plenty of scope to experiment with pattern in your choice of soft furnishings. Layering different patterns, such as stripes and florals, works well if you stick to the same colour palette to bring the look together. Play around with variations in scale and texture to add a sense of movement and depth. Again, Designers Guild is fantastic on complementary, but not ‘matchy matchy’, soft furnishings and will upholster any of its stunning sofas to your specifications. A couple of cushions or a lampshade in the same pattern as your curtains, blinds or wallpaper will to draw together a decorative scheme without looking over-done. Go for sofas and armchairs in block colours if you’re using a lot of pattern elsewhere.

Have fun with pattern and bring your home to life. Go with your instincts and create an interior with personality and style.

Trend watch: Metallics

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Chloe Spring/Summer 2009 collection on the catwalk, image from Vogue.co.uk

Give your interior a sharp and dramatic look with metallics.

When metallics hit the catwalk they brought bright, bold, inspiring colours to the forefront of fashion. A common misconception about trends is that they are only acceptable and in-fashion for short periods of time, but the great quality that metallics have is that they filter into different aspects of decor to give a timeless and opulent feel to your home.

Metallics can be applied to your interior in so many ways because they ooze modernity and have a classic appearance, making them effortlessly pleasing to the eye. Use black and gold to create a dramatic statement, or use silver with pastel colours to give a more serene and natural feel to your room. Either way, go ahead and add shimmering detail and grandeur that fashion designers use so well in their clothes to dress your home.

If the rush of rich golds, silvers and bronzes on the catwalk has done anything to inspire interior design, it has certainly encouraged us to liven up neutral colour schemes with a splash of sparkle and glamour. For an accent wall in a bedroom, the fantastic Wilderness white gold wallpaper from 95% Danish will bring both texture and interest. For bed linen, try the Mink satin bedspread from The Contemporary Home to add an understated elegance and luxurious feel to your bedroom.

Take a peek at Chloe’s Spring/Summer 09 catwalk collection featuring lamé harem pants; the ‘heavy metal’ trend showcased a natural and radiant look. This use of stunning metallic shades can be dressed up or down in order to give a room a bold daytime look or a shimmering night time vibe. The Bean bag in gold leather from Heal’s has a luxurious gold finish making it perfect for a comfortable evening in, and the Small sequin cushion in silver from Rockett St George, are both perfect for achieving this thriving and versatile trend.

candle holder
Gold loop candelabra, £70, Black+Blum

Why not use metallic shades to give your home a look that retains an authentic style but brings a modern, glamorous look to your interior. The Orchard’s Gold Gilt Collection is inspired by classical French themes, and the Gold gilt two drawer bedside cabinet is finished in genuine gold leaf. If you fancy giving your guests an afternoon tea to remember, then look no further than the Silver tea caddy and the Silver tea strainer from Brissi. This is a nostalgic piece that is fit for the Queen and should make us feel proud to be British.

Metallic colours exude a finished look and are just the thing to bring a shiny, polished look to your home. Black and Blum’s Gold loop candelabra will provide your dining table with a stylish and stunning statement piece that will not fail to impress. Or, if you want to liven up your hallway or add a feminine touch to your living room, then choose the Flower loop for a minimal yet chic and individual piece that is inspired by the Fibonacci curve to create a balanced and aesthetically pleasing design.

wallpaper
Wilderness gold wallpaper, £59, 95% Danish

These are just some examples of how you can introduce the metallic trend into your home. Don’t get too carried away by mixing too many metallic pieces in one room; use them to add visual impact and a touch of elegance as a statement piece for your room. Choose a furniture piece like the Brass stools from Lombok, made from solid brass and finished in antique silver, or use detailed fabric with metallic gold beading found in Sweet Pea and Willow’s Paris gold and lilac tie backs to give a contemporary and stylish touch that no home should be without.

How to create... a cool kids bedroom

beds and bunk
Tilly and George bunk bed, £775, Great Little Trading Company

When decorating a kid’s room you can really be as imaginative as you want, and have some fun with the great choice of products available from Furnish.

Any parent will know just how difficult it can be to create a bedroom for their kids that will keep them happy and help them learn, whilst also maintaining that ‘cool’ status for when they have friends round.

Wallpaper is a feature that will determine the overall mood of a room, and if you want to go for something decorative and colourful, then Butterflies wallpaper from Lover's Lounge is a great choice for either a playful feature wall or to cover all four walls. Another imaginative way of decorating your children’s bedroom is with wall stickers; these offer the perfect alternative to wallpaper and can liven up a bland wall. I love that these can be both easily applied and simply removed if you or your child decide that you want a change. For example, Animal tower wall stickers from Lover's lounge are perfect for toddlers to measure their height as they grow.

coat racks and stand
Rainbow coat rack, £20, Great Little Trading Company

Storage is essentially one of the most important parts of a children’s bedroom; ultimately you will want to achieve a tidy room with accessible storage. The multi-purpose play table with trundle drawers from Great Little Trading Company is any parents’ dream because not only does it serve a practical solution with drawers for storing all your kid’s toys in, but it also provides a play table with different activities to choose from so your child won’t get bored. No longer will your child be afraid of the dark with Plug in Night Lights from Great Little Trading Company; these are a safe and simple way of ensuring a good night’s sleep all round. Any cool kid’s bedroom would also not be complete without a ceiling light, such as Twit Twoo from Hunkydory Home, which has a colourful print and gorgeous owl design.

If you have children sharing the same room but want to create space then bunk beds are a good solution, they give you more space and kids love them. The Tilly and George bunk bed from Great Little Trading Company is ideal for a cool kid’s bedroom because it has a modern design made from traditional wood providing a sturdy sleeping place. Themed bunk beds are also a very popular choice. For furnishing a children’s room but still keeping it fun, the Magis Plastic Puppy from Utility is a great seat to keep in their bedroom. You may want to have a couple of these in different colours so that their friends can join in too.

furnish
Twit Twoo, £30, Hunkydory Home

Children’s accessories are often the most imaginative and creative part of a room, and are the best way to encourage your child to learn but enjoy it at the same time. The magnetic Blackboard clock from Great Little Trading Company allows you to write in your own numbers, timings or reminders, and this way kids can become more independent in remembering what activities they are doing and when. When starting school kids will need to be organised and so functional accessories like the Rainbow Coat Rack from Great Little Trading Company will help them keep their coat and bags tidy.

In a sense, the greatest freedom you have with decorating and furnishing a cool kid’s bedroom is that there are no strict rules, although fun and practicality should merge to give the room the best potential for your child to enjoy playing as much as learning.

How to create... a glamorous bedroom

chandelier
Mimi Mimi chandelier, £185, The French Bedroom Company

Many of us aspire to have a more glamorous boudoir that exudes style and comfort. We advise how you can use different elements to pull it together.

The first step is to start experimenting with colours, for example, pastel colours create a natural and calming feel in a bedroom. However, you should not be afraid to be more adventurous with colour, particularly when choosing your furniture and accessories, to make a bold statement.

Wallpaper can be the perfect backdrop to portray the romantic mood in a bedroom. True Blue wallpaper from BODIE and FOU is a perfect example of how your walls can ignite some passion and excitement into your bedroom. The high quality gold pigment gives a shimmery effect and a warm feel, which works well with earthy tones and with a few candles lit will create a romantic mood. If you want to create a feature wall in a bedroom, this works particularly well behind the bed as it draws your attention, and it allows you to set the theme of you room. Floral patterns are a great way to add a feminine touch to a room, or an intricate design like Sparrow wallpaper from 95% Danish adds detail and pattern to your decor.

bed
Chateau carved bed, £630, Lover’s Lounge

French-style, mirrored or ornate bedroom furniture is essential for a glamorous look. From bedside tables to wardrobes, you can choose to go big and bold or small and elegant, but either way you cannot fail to make your room more enchanting. Your bed will essentially be the focal point of your room, and so choosing one that has beautiful detailing such as the French provincial style Chateau carved bed from Lover's Lounge, will instantly give your boudoir a glamorous look. Accompany your bed with the hand painted Verona Silver Leaf bedside table from Sweet Pea and Willow, or a dressing table, to give you storage but in a way that does not look cluttered, and keeps the theme of glamour running through your room. For a sense of glamour, soft textures such as suede, silk or faux fur, or velvet are always a great way to make your room feel luxurious. Add a sumptuous and cosy feel to your bedroom with the Velvet quilt in Mulberry from Lombok, which would be the ideal feature to bring out pastel colours in your wallpaper. What better way to add glamour to you room than with sequins which can be on throws, bedspreads or cushions, like the small silver sequin cushion from Rockett St George. I love this cushion because it combines fun and style, and ties together the theme of luxury and comfort.

cushion
Small silver sequin cushion, £29.95, Rockett St George

Finally, the key to a glamorous bedroom is mood lighting; to create a romantic setting choose a chandelier like Mimi Mimi Chandelier from The French Bedroom Company, which is ideal for smaller rooms. Ceiling lights can be hung over the bed and to illuminate all the best features in your room. Subtle lighting can create a romantic mood, and also give a dramatic feel of grandeur and elegance. Or if you’d prefer a free standing light to brighten up a corner, then why not choose something unique like the Miro Floor lamp from Tom Faulkner, with its hand finished silver leaf pattern.

Living with the colour white

chair
Eames RAR (rocking armchair rod base), £365, Vitra at Occa Home

Reflecting light, stretching space, and revealing architectural form, a judicious application of white can quietly make a room express its full potential.

Applied to the walls or floor, white provides a silent surface on which anything goes.

White is as much a friend to poky rooms and dark corners as to grand, sun-filled studios. And you don’t have to be an obsessive minimalist to enjoy it. Used in the right way, white will make space for the red wine drinker and the sticky fingered kid.

Living with White and Kids

While all vinyl matt paints are wipeable to an extent, Dulux Endurance is extra hardwearing and washable without loss of colour. Developed to deal with kids horsing around at home, Dulux also recommend the Endurance range ‘if you fancy yourself as a bit of party animal’.

With their arsenal of crayons, if you’ve got young children and you want to go in for white furnishings, it’s wise to choose sofas and armchairs with removable covers. The Sorrento range at John Lewis has removable and machine-washable covers, in a classic Jacquard stripe. At Ikea, the majority of fabric sofas and armchairs have removable, washable, and replaceable covers (just don’t take the kids with you). Bemz also create bespoke covers to fit Ikea’s most popular sofas and chairs.

White can be great for kids’ bedrooms, particularly if space is an issue. With white walls and furniture as a base, introduce colour through accessories. The Little White Company offers simple, good quality white furniture. For the design-conscious child, the iconic (and wipe-clean) Panton chair comes in a diminutive ‘junior’ size, while for toddlers the Eames Elephant makes a cheerful companion. And if you’re getting up for night feeds, an Eames rocker might just make it more bearable.

furnish
Jonathan Adler Ceramic Turtle Box, £130, Heal’s

Making White Work

From walls and floors, to furnishing and accessories, the key to making white work is in your choice of materials. Whether you want to create an all-white house or use white sparingly as an accent, engaging the senses with variations in texture, natural materials, mirrors and lighting, will prevent white from becoming alienating and clinical. Sculptural plants cast dramatic shadows against white walls, for example, while mirrors enhance the capacity of white to highlight structural detailing.

Paintwork: For walls and ceilings, choose paint with a chalky, soft matt texture to avoid a glaring finish. The Little Greene Paint Company’s Acrylic Matt Emulsion is particularly good, while their ULTIMATT® formula is also washable. For wood and metalwork a high gloss finish makes a striking contrast, but if you want something softer, go for a lower sheen with silk or eggshell. Little Greene’s Acrylic Eggshell gives a subtle sheen to complement matt walls.

Flooring: White walls look fantastic against the rich tones of a real wood floor. The Natural Wood Floor Company has a beautiful selection, but if you want a white floor and you’re lucky enough to have floorboards in good condition, try Ecos Organic's hardwearing floor paint. Floor tiles are also a great way to achieve a white finish using natural materials. The Limestone Gallery will cut and finish their extensive range to your specifications. A rug in bleached cowhide or with variation in pile depth will add another layer of texture to the room.

Soft Furnishings: The White Company has layering pretty much sewn up, with a sumptuous range of cushions and throws in cashmere and chunky knits, hand-quilted cotton and silk, each with individual textural details. White leather can look stunning, but to avoid the Miami effect, go for a design classic like Robin Day’s Forum sofa. Reissued by Habitat, the wooden side panels in ash or walnut soften the bright white Italian leather.

Accessories: Anything geometric or highly textured will take advantage of the striking contrasts of light and shade achieved in white. JDS Architects’ crushed bowls are particularly impressive, while the quirky and tactile pottery animals in Jonathan Adler’s Menagerie add a sense of frivolity to a highly styled white home. A faceted Asteroid table lamp by Koray Ozgen will refract light across white walls, and the corrugated shades on George Nelson’s wall sconces, reissued by Modernica, invite interesting shadows.

vases and bowl
Crushed Bowl by JDS Architects, bone china, from £36

The Off-Whites

If you don’t want to go all in for brilliant white, the off-white palette is softer and more forgiving, particularly in period homes. Fired Earth and Farrow and Ball offer excellent choice in off-whites and subtle shades. Particularly lovely are Bone White at Fired Earth and Pale Powder at Farrow and Ball. For wood and metalwork go for a brilliant white gloss to create a contrast or for a complementary look, go two shades lighter or two shades darker than the walls. A brilliant white ceiling will make the room feel larger. Choose accessories and soft furnishings in varying tones in the off-white palette for a calm and relaxing space. The Rug Company has a particularly good collection of cushions, wallhangings and pale carpets.

Living with white can be liberating, stylish and practical. Have a go, and if the worst happens, it’s the easiest colour to paint over.