Copper load of this!

From high end stores to the high street, copper accessories are EVERYWHERE right now.

H&M Home, Habitat and Sainsbury’s have all got some lovely pieces, but my favourite find of the moment is this Cleo pendant shade from Dunelm (buy it here), with its designer looks and bargain £19.99 price tag.

It’d look particularly good in a hallway, letting maximum light shine through, and casting cool geometric patterns on the walls. And if you’re feeling really flash, why not make a feature of the lightbulb too and fit this fab Retro Bayonet Faceted Light Brown Bulb, £4.99, also from Dunelm (buy it here)?

Turn over a new leaf in the bedroom

All products in the above shot are from Marks and Spencer

The botanical look is huge news this Spring – gorgeous greens, fabulous fern, leaf and flower prints, lots of lovely natural wood and a splash of this season’s must-have metal, copper.

Marks & Spencer have nailed the trend with their showstopping Eve bedlinen (seen on the bed above, from £19.50). In grown-up green and black, it’ll make any bedroom look classy and is totally unisex.

Want to try the look above yourself? Here are my top tips:

• Take your inspiration from nature with fern, leaf, flower, butterfly and insect prints on bedding and cushions. Try (L to R) the Butterfly cushion £7 George Home at Asda; the Butterfly cushion £19.50 Marks & Spencer; or the Spring Butterfly Green cushion £6 Matalan:

• Black bedrooms aren’t just for teenagers. Create drama with a decadent feature wall painted in matte black paint. Just keep the walls, ceilings and curtains white, unless you like having a room so dark you bump into things in the night!
• Bring the outside in and use plants like accessories. Dot them around the room, in pots on the floor and from the ceiling in hanging planters, like this bargainous Riskorn planter £6, from Ikea:

 

• Go for pale, unpainted wood furniture to keep things looking as natural as possible. It’ll also help offset the dark walls and bedding. I like the copper details on this Range side table, £149 from Made.com:

• Create quirky wall art with artificial succulent plants. Glueing them in place would mean a replaster job when they came down, so attach a stick-on an adhesive disc plate-hanger (£1.64, Amazon.co.uk) to the back of each pot, and hang them from picture hooks or nails instead. These ones are £2.99 each from Dunelm:

• A desk lamp is the perfect alternative to a traditional table lamp as it allows you to direct light where you need it most. Choose one with copper details – one of this season’s hottest trends; it looks great with black and green. I like this wood effect desk lamp, £20 from George Home at Asda:
• Choose a lampshade in a natural material such as wood, raffia or wicker. The gaps in the shade will create a lovely dappled, forest-like effect when the light is switched on. Try the Mandy shade, £18, B&Q:

Are you sitting comfortably?

As regular readers will know, I’m partial to a bit of mid-century design, and I’m particularly fond of a bargain… but even I needed a little sit down when I saw the whopping price difference between these two equally gorgeous armchairs.

The one on the left (the ‘Ritchie’) is from the very lovely Made.com and costs £349. The one on the right (the ‘Ricardo’) is from my new favourite secret shopping destination for chair-buying, AtlanticShopping.co.uk and costs – wait for it – just £159.50. Crazy eh?

Not only that, but just like the Made.com chair, the Ricardo comes in teal, and also in beige too. Perfect for a living room or even a bedroom, at that price, I reckon it’d be rude not to buy one!