Brit Decor: Argos SS18 Lookbook!

Okay okay so we all love the notion of a picture postcard cosy Christmas, but after the celebrations have ebbed away and the last firework of New Year has blasted into orbit, we need something new to look forward to, right?

My favourite thing to focus on post-Christmas is the prospect of Spring, with its emphasis on everything 'new'. So in the meantime here's a little taster (a surprisingly good one actually) from high street retailer, Argos, featuring new designs available from March next year.

Their newly released look book focuses on four main themes: Artisan, Beach House, Hygena and Infusion essentially covering all the bases for styling a balanced home, fit for 2018.

What do you think about this new collection?

Brit Decor: Stairway to style heaven / Achieve a stylish stairwell in your home

It's easy to see why some of us neglect our stairs at home - they are just a means of getting from A to B, plus they are not classed as a room, right? Technically speaking yes, however, stairwells can be a place where first and sometimes crucial impressions are made during those transitory steps between one floor to another.

A disappointing climb up a dark and dreary staircase littered with yesterday's laundry can leave us completely uninspired and detract from our overall impression of a space. Another important point to consider is that many staircases are one of the first features that we see on entering a home – increasing the value of a well-presented set of steps!

In terms of creative options for our homes, thankfully, plenty of help is at hand with a wealth of stairwell options now available to research and buy staircases online, including external staircases. I've had a creative blast today delving into stairs-related interiors inspiration, to come up with some of my top tips for exploiting stairs to their full potential - whether you're looking for an off-the-peg option or a creative DIY inspired makeover.

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Here in our newest renovation project near Bath, I’m currently deliberating over what to do with our stairs – on moving in we immediately ripped up the old 1960’s threadbare carpet (there was no vintage coolness about this one). In fact, I think the current bare wooden steps look more than acceptable and I am very tempted to simply paint them in two or more contrasting colours.

Every good interior should have a strong and consistent flow, which in part relies upon well-designed and decorated corridors and stairwells to deliver us on, what I like to call, a 'style tour' of a building. Perfectly executed stair style can be a useful means of linking a themed 'thread' between floors, or making a standalone style statement, whichever ‘floats your boat’!

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I’m all for updated classics and I love the abundance of eye-catching stair runners now available, these offer a great opportunity to introduce a bold pattern and/or colour to your staircase.

If a tight budget is a consideration, then explore the possibility of painting your stairs in your favourite hue and if you can stretch those pennies further, why not pick a corresponding wallpaper for a completely new stairwell scheme.

For true archi-lovers and minimalists, it’s hard to beat the manmade beauty of concrete combined with wood and/or metal for a truly confident and solid design.

Images (from top) 1/ Vosges Paris 2/ Haptic Architects 3/ DSheer Luxe

4/ Design Sponge 5/ Axel Rod Architects 6/ Simplestylings 

7/ Tomson floors 8/ This Old House

Brit Decor: Mastering Murals / Master Bedroom Makeover!

It's been a very long and trying journey since we moved into our dilapidated and unloved 1960s home almost one year ago, and like many renovators we've definitely had some steep learning curves to navigate along the way, including a major plumbing nightmare, which ate a considerable chunk out of our budget - twice! 

Thankfully there are now more positive moments where I can concentrate on rolling up my creative sleeves and focus on making those all important stylistic statements. 

Although our master bedroom was one of the first rooms in the house to be painted (we wanted at least one room to resemble something in tune with our own tastes), it's only recently that I've been thinking about adding a feature wall - akin to the icing on a cake...

For some time I'd been toying with the idea of including a mural wall in our home, but I kept 'parking' the idea until I narrowed my choice of location down to our master bedroom. It was then that I stumbled across the Designer Wallpaper category over at Murals Wallpaper where I totally fell in love with the Grey Painted Tree Tops design - I knew that this dreamy illustration would perfectly suit a bedroom setting and compliment our Scandi-grey scheme, with more energetic pops of cobalt blue.

A little nervous at first, clearly wanting to avoid a DIY disaster, I followed the easy-peasy instruction guide and cut-out each numbered panel (see below). After gently sponging the panels and leaving to soak for 10 minutes, I was ready to hang these onto the pre-pasted wall. 

The folk at Murals Wallpaper cleverly include an overlap on each panel, which allowed me to trim down with a sharp knife after each piece had been hung. Another point to mention is the thickness and, in-turn, quality of the paper, which enabled the mural to go up with zero hassle. 

To say I'm thrilled with the final result is a major understatement!

All Images / Mike Ahern

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