May | 2013 | Find the details

With May underway, the garden is finally filled with colour and I’m discovering what has been planted here by previous, green-fingered owners; right now, the space is filled with pink-toned flowers: some are blowsy, dramatic and exotic – not the colours typically associated with a cottage garden – as huge rhododendron bushes are produce dramatic, fuschia-coloured spears; whilst the apple trees are covered with blossom in more delicate tones:

And, online and in the shops, nature’s brights are in vogue once again to brighten up our homes in time for summer sunshine. I’ve been inspired by this heavenly Designers Guild living room: Savine, the tie dye linen shown here as curtains, is my current favourite fabric: it comes in several shades including blues, orange and green as well as this stunning fuschia pink:

[image, Designers Guild]

Another company well known for its clever use of bright tones is Denmark’s Rice: their High Summer 2013 range has just launched and with it these covetable pieces of tableware:

[All images, Rice]

There are jugs; coloured glassware; ceramic and melamine plates; bowls in intricate patterns and bold plains, and all the wonderful patterns and colourways just invite you to mix and match, so creating your own unique collection of summery pieces for dining and picnic tables.

Rice is stocked online and in shops throughout the UK, click here to find the store nearest to you.

I’ve been keeping my eye out for wallpaper, fabric and bedlinen patterns that will get the all important parent/child double seal of approval, and one such independent designer/maker is PaperBoy.

Created by Victoria Cramsie, the mother of boys herself, PaperBoy has been all about great patterns suitable for children’s rooms since its launch. As you’d guess from the name, there are plenty of designs for boys to choose from but also many that would appeal to girls and look great in games / play rooms.

My current favourite is this ever-so-slightly edgy Stripes design, with its graffiti-style spray paint effect:

It’s a Puzzle, below, also has a graphic look:

For the pictorial papers, such as The Final Frontier, below, the artwork is detailed: there’s lots to look at, yet the clever colour choices help the papers avoid that headache-inducing busy-ness of so many kids’ interior products:

These dashing Spitfires are given a modern splash in warm scarlet:

[All images, PaperBoy]

The designs come as wallpapers, and now as fabrics by the metre too, with each one available in a choice of colourways. Click here on PaperBoy for more information.