Home & Garden
Visit Thrive and find out more about the power of gardening
Making its debut at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show this year is the national charity, Thrive, which has clear evidence that gardening really is good for you whatever your age.
The best garden tool designs from around the world
Throughout the centuries, gardeners & horticulturists around the world have developed different tools to suit their needs. Some tools are specific to the cultivation of certain plants or crops, others are just a different way of doing the same jobs.
Roman sculpt the ultimate walk-in
Roman have expanded their designer Sculptures collection further with the addition of a completely frameless walk-in enclosure which incorporates integrated water delivery in this urbane statement.
Reviews reveal dodgy product designs
An egg tray that only holds five eggs and a dishwasher that doesn't wash standard size plates are among a list of badly-designed household appliances currently on sale in the high street.
Adding colour outside
As gardens are increasingly used as an extra room more people are bringing colour outside to add another dimension to their garden. A splash of colour in the garden can really add dynamism to any plot, whether large or small. In large gardens colour can be used to break up large expanses of green by adding interest, for example a secluded gazebo, which could benefit from being painted. In smaller gardens, colour can be used on garden furniture to add a fun element to the area, or on trellises to complement climbing plants.
Home & Garden Show celebrates record visitor numbers
More than 10,000 people visited the Home & Garden Show 2008, held over the weekend at Chester Racecourse. Visitors explored cooking, gardening and interior design zones, each with famous names presenting demonstrations. The show featured sets from interior designer Laurence Llwelyn-Bowen, celebrity chef Simon Rimmer, interior designer Laura McCree and TV Chef Tiffany. Actress and model Gemma Atkinson, who also starred in I’m a Celebrity Get me Out of Here, met three teenage cancer patients in a room she designed in conjunction with the Teenage Cancer Trust and Arighi Bianchi.
Carpet revival for 2008
Craft Queen, DIY fanatic, interior designer and busy Mum - Danielle Proud, is on a mission to revive the nation’s love of carpet with ‘Fun on the Floor’, a new campaign, that redefines the art of carpeting, through showing the latest and greatest new ideas in fluffy flooring in a completely new light . Using traditional carpet, as well as the latest new designs and technologies, Danielle is pioneering the ‘Fun on the Floor’ movement by curating and designing a stunning, five storey house to showcase modern, super-stylish and luxurious applications for carpeting.
The beauty of sleep with Bensons
National Love Your Bed Week runs from 4 - 10 August, and is a celebration of how a good bed will not only give you a better night's sleep - but contribute to a more beautiful you too. Bensons for Beds is encouraging people to love their beds and the well-earned beauty sleep to be gained from sleeping in a comfortable and supportive new bed.
Mydeco launches Design Boutique
Mydeco has announced the arrival of the hottest design source in the world of interiors, with the launch of Design Boutique on June 5 2008. The new area on mydeco.com/design-boutique showcases exclusive and limited edition products from an eclectic collection of renowned British designers many of which are not available elsewhere online.
Stripes strike back in interiors
Sales of striped carpets have increased by 200%* this year as influences from the fashion world continue to infiltrate interior design, providing exciting, hip flooring options for the home. Leading fashion designers such as Paul Smith play a key role in inspiring the bold colour palettes now available in striped carpet collections. These new styles are grabbing headlines in the world of interiors and cladding the coolest floors across the country. Bright coloured stripes can add a hip edge to neutrally decorated rooms, or make a subtle impact, complementing different scale striped soft furnishings.
Interbuild ‘08 to showcase new kitchen and bathroom ideas
A new Kitchens & Bathrooms Showcase will bring together suppliers and buyers in an inspirational and informative setting at Interbuild 2008. With Gordon Brown pledging to provide three million new homes by the year 2020 - and a target of over one million homes to be built in the next five years – near 20,000 visitors attended Interbuild 2007 to specifically source innovative, attractive, cost-effective and sustainable solutions for the home environment.
Expert plasterers dip into history
It’s easy to see why Victoria Baths, situated in the Manchester district of Chorlton-cum-Medlock, won the 2003 BBC Restoration challenge and just as easy to understand why the complex internal works require the touch of skilled craftsmen including Leeds-based traditional and fibrous plastering specialists Ornate Interiors.
Chinese lanterns to celebrate Olympic flame
With the Chinese Olympics only weeks away, it’s time to think ‘Chinoiserie’ when it comes to decorating your home for summer parties. Step in Nouvelles Images whose fantastic Home Stickers range includes a design called Lanterns. The design is colourful, stylish and versatile so you can string your Chinese lanterns any way you want. Along with the rest of the range, these are brilliantly bold ‘decoupage’ stickers that glide on with ease and remove with no damage to your existing walls.
Home is - Bold colours and feature walls
The longer days of early summer bring with them fresh energy for revitalising our homes. However, if the current climate is making you hold back on big decorating jobs then why not take a leaf out of Delia’s book and cheat? A current trend is to highlight just one wall in the room. Using wallpaper on just one wall can be highly effective, and to make the job easier, Nouvelles Images is leading this fashion for interior wall decoration with its new Home Stickers range.
Mortgage misery means it's makeover time
Falling house prices, plummeting home loans and a stagnant housing market can only mean one thing - most of us either can't or won't be moving in the near future. So staying put and doing up where we currently live is now top of most the agenda for most people.