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Dekko Bird

inspiration & ideas for stylish home living

interior styling

Picture This: Create a Gallery Wall Display

I love a good picture display.  Whether it’s a jumble of beloved family snaps or an impressive art collection, a display of interesting photographs, sketches, paintings or even postcards adds a large dose of personality to your home, and if done right, injects a certain element of cool.

For many of us, the prospect of designing and displaying a picture or photo gallery is daunting to say the least.  Where to buy the frames?  What to put inside them?  How to arrange all said frames so they look, erm… right?  Well, I’m pleased to inform you that this can be a really straight forward and fun project that can deliver a BIG impact at a small cost.

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Coffee Table Books

Upon visiting my local library recently, I discovered an enticing range of gorgeous new hardback books which had been placed on display as new titles available to borrow.  Their beautifully styled cover graphics, smooth matte feel and on-trend subject matters set them apart as definitive ‘coffee table books’ and of course I was soon marching out of the library with an armful piled high for my solitary perusal later that evening accompanied by a chilled glass of something nice.

Wikipedia defines a coffee table book as:  “an oversized, usually hard-covered book whose place is for display on a table intended for use in an area in which one would entertain guests and from which it can act to inspire conversation”

Couldn’t disagree with that.  Coffee table books should also reflect the home owner’s personality and interests – after all they are there to inspire and stimulate conversation and there needs to be a good solid interest in the subject to begin with, no?  In this age of online pin boards and instant snaps, it’s a refreshing treat to curl up with a good heavy book and pore over the beautifully photographed images, read the stories behind them and be inspired by what you see in your own time and with no other distractions….

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Easy Home Updates

Ten years ago (and before the arrival of children), we bought a decent sized three bed semi into which the two of us and our joint belongings fitted just nicely. Jump forward to today and three children later and it has become a much ‘cosier’ fit, in fact you could say we’re overspilling!

Not entirely surprising then that we recently took the big decision to put our beloved home on the market with a view to moving our little family somewhere more spacious and better suited to our growing needs.  So, as well as being engulfed in the process of constantly tidying and prepping the house for prospective buyers, I’ve been busy viewing potential properties to buy.  Well… it’s certainly been an eye opener for me as to how many perfectly good houses out there are in dire need of a little time and love to bring them bang up to date.  A lick of paint here and a declutter there would not go amiss yet many people simply do not realise that giving your home a simple refresh will not only in all probability increase their home’s overall market value, but more importantly, will make it a much better place to live.

Anyway… looking at houses and preparing my own home for sale has made me think a lot about how we can easily and effectively update our own homes within a budget.  Making those little changes that renew our love for a space we spend so much of our lives in….

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