Subscribe to get your weekly fix

Dekko Bird

inspiration & ideas for stylish home living

interior decor

Take 5… Boho Ethnic Rugs

A quick round up ‘Take 5…’ post this week, as I’m currently researching rugs for our newly decorated hallway and thought I’d share a selection of looks on here that I’m loving at the minute.  We painted our hallway wood panelling in an off white and brought the original oak floor back to life with a sand and wax job, so now I feel the space needs a pop of pattern or subtle wash of colour to add warmth and interest.  I’ve recently been loving the whole ethnic / bohemian look when it comes to floor coverings and every time I open Pinterest it seems to be tempting me with a new take on the look.  The one slight issue is that authentic Persian rugs cost an absolute bomb, however I think you can recreate a similar look with some great alternative styles, each with their own relaxed, boho vibe that I find so appealing.

Here are a few favourites……

Read More

Hallway Makeover Reveal { Part 1 }

It’s been a little quiet from me over the past fortnight, but there’s been a very valid excuse for my lack of presence!  We have been redecorating our hallway, stairs and landing, which was always going to be our big project for this year (last year’s was the kitchen/living makeover), and so things were turned a little upside down around here for a few days whilst the painter was in.  However, I am pleased to say I can finally share some pictures of the (almost) finished result with you – there is still carpet to be laid on the stairs at the end of the week but I couldn’t wait that long to show you around… I have never been known for my patience :)

…

Read More

Take 5… Ways to Style Sheepskin Throws All Year

Another Take 5 post for you today, folks, and this week it’s all about the über-trendy sheepskin throw and how you can make it work hard in your home all year round.  Many people consider sheepskin to be a strictly winter-only luxury, however it is an extremely versatile piece of home decor kit and more affordable than ever with plenty of faux options to choose from out there.

Here are some of my favourite ways to work sheepskin in the home and some tips on where to buy those key items…

…

Read More

Hallway Inspiration

Hello, I hope you had a lovely, restful weekend.  I spent some time away with my mum and sister, but I’ve returned to my brood feeling really refreshed and ready to take on the major redecorating project in our home for this year – the hallway.

As you’ll probably be aware, our house was built in the 1930s and the previous owners thankfully retained many of the house’s original features, including picture rails, the front and back doors, leadlights and stained glass windows and the wood panelling on the hallway, stairs and landing walls.  Over the past year, I have deliberated over what to do in the hall and whether or not to repaint the panelling, especially now that there is a definite trend towards darker, more cocooning surfaces, however we have decided that repainting the wood in a lighter colour is the way forward for us.  It will completely transform the space into a lighter and brighter part of the house and modernise it without compromising on the traditional, elegant feel that the original wood panelling brings to our home.

We also need to recarpet the stairs and landing and source some nice new lighting and other accessories, so lots to think about.  Thankfully, when we lifted the carpet up in the hall, we discovered a gorgeous and pretty much unscathed original wooden floor hiding beneath, so a light sand and dark stain should see that right.  (Hopefully!)

I’ve been having a nosey around Pinterest for some hallway inspiration, so here are some favourite ideas I want to share with you.  All these hallways have wood panelling of some kind, so it’s interesting to see how the owners have approached it.

…

Read More

Win at Sleeping with Ikea: Making Changes to Improve our Sleep

If you’ve been following the blog lately, both here and over on my Instagram feed, you’ll know I’ve been working with IKEA  on their Win at Sleeping campaign.  With the aim of helping us solve our sleep issues and, in turn, our health and wellbeing, the campaign is centred around what small changes we can make at home to improve our nighttime routine, sleeping habits and general sleep preparation.

As I talked about in my first post in this series last week, we have worked with IKEA to identify our own family’s sleep problems and in order to try to solve them, we will be trying out some IKEA products over the coming weeks.  We were very excited to take delivery of the products at the beginning of this week and after lots of flat pack fun in the ensuing days, I can finally show you what we chose to try out in the hope of better sleep preparation and comfort ahead…
…

Read More

My Kitchen Makeover: Final Reveal!

When we moved house almost a year ago, the first part of the house we decided to redecorate was the open plan kitchen/living room.  Firstly, we had the existing oak units painted a light cream (Farrow & Ball’s Slipper Satin to be precise), then we laid a new wood laminate floor throughout the entire room and finally retiled the kitchen wall area between the cupboards and worktop.  It has made such a difference compared to what it was like before!   (Take a look back in case you missed it; I did a first reveal of the work last year here).

Over the past couple of months, we have been busy finishing off the room with softer touches such as window coverings and rugs.  There are still some additions I’d like to make to add further warmth to the room, such as the introduction of more colour across cushions and textiles, however it’s definitely getting there.

At last I can finally show you the latest reveal pics! …

Read More

Great Interior Design Challenge { Ideas to Steal: Week 2 }

In the penultimate week of the Great Interior Design Challenge competition, we saw a definite upturn in the standard of the designers’ talents, with plenty of creative and unique ideas being put into place in an effort to secure a place in the final week.

Last week I looked briefly at a handful of design elements employed by the competitors that I thought we could work into our own homes’ interiors.  This week, just as the final stretch of the show gets underway, I’m taking a quick peek back at last week’s projects and some of the design ideas I particularly liked, including blue interior colour schemes, creative uses for wallpaper and making bespoke art for the home.  There were so many different design techniques employed last week that I have had to just pick out a few.

Lets take a look!

…

Read More

Great Interior Design Challenge { Ideas to Steal: Week 1 }

Hello!

As a way of nudging myself gently back into the usual weekly routine, I’ve been setting aside some time to sit down with a cuppa to watch this year’s Great Interior Design Challenge (GIDC), back on our screens this past week.  With the show now into its fourth series, there have been a few tweaks, the most obvious being the introduction of new judge, renowned interior designer and all-round businesswoman Kelly Hoppen.  She and fellow judge Daniel Hopwood are certainly already putting the contestants through their paces.

I’m hoping that as the weeks progress, we will see more genuine raw talent shining through as the contestants gain worthwhile hands-on experience and, in turn, confidence in their ability, so I thought it would be fun to share a weekly round-up of some of the better ideas they’re coming up with and look at how they might work in your own home (because let’s face it, a LOT of their ideas are very much for the TV screen and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in finding myself cringing when they get the stencils and gold paint out…).

Here’s a quick rundown of what they had in store for us last week…

…

Read More

Chasing away those January Décor Blues

Firstly, a Happy New Year to you!  It’s so good to be back here ready to share a fresh new 12 months of home interiors discoveries, challenges and projects with you.

So here we are in January – that long, rather bleak month which seems to stretch out to infinity with its cold, biting air and dark mornings.  It’s also the time when we have finally taken down our wonderful Christmas trees and cleared everything cheerfully festive and sparkly back up into the attic for another year.   The upside to this is that for many of us, ridding the house of tinsel and other excess dust-attracting décor gives us a welcoming, clean, refreshing feeling, however the lack of twinkle and greenery can also make our homes feel that little bit bare and less inviting than before.  It’s for this very reason that I’ve decided to dedicate this first blog post of 2017 to giving you a few ideas on how you can fill that void left by the Christmas decorations in your home and embrace the season of winter throughout your interior décor.

…

Read More