News

DIY can be a fun and productive way of upgrading a house or living area without the expense of hiring tradespeople to do it for you. However, sometimes over-eagerness can get the better of us and what should be a simple job often goes awry due to lack of preparation. 

With a little forethought, a DIY project can be a gratifying creative outlet with practical applications. Here, we show you how to measure a room correctly, so you needn’t have any awkward moments on your next DIY undertaking.

Conservatory spaces can be a bit weird, in as much as they aren’t quite the same as other rooms in the house. The all-glass exterior makes them some sort of hinterland between inside and out, and decoration can be tricky with few places to hang things or arrange items without blocking out light.

However, with a bit of clever thinking and an out of the box approach, there are plenty of small conservatory interior design ideas that can be utilised to really open that space and, once again, make it somewhere welcoming and enjoyable to spend time in. Here, we look at several creative ways to do that.

The Danes have always had some great ideas; Lego, Google Maps, dry-cell batteries and of course, hygge. While most of us will be pretty familiar with the first three concepts (especially just after Christmas), that final one might stump you a little bit if you’re not from a Scandinavian household.

Hygge, pronounced hyoo-guh, doesn’t directly translate into English but it’s, in essence, a word, used in Norway and Denmark, to convey a mood of comfort and cosiness that has associated practices that involve wellness and being contented. Given the long, dark winters of Northern Europe, it’s perhaps not too surprising then, that this idea is central to Danish culture.

With the festive season now out of the way and the UK still stranded in the midst of bleak mid-winter, perhaps it’s time for us to be a little more Danish in our thinking but how do we get that cosy hygge feeling? Well, there are several key aspects to the notion that will help you achieve a little bit of Scandi snugness.

Decorating can be a difficult process. There’s a lot of planning involved, in terms of deciding what type of decor you want to introduce to a room, the expense of buying all the products you need, and, of course, plenty of hard work in actually getting the job done.

While we can’t help with the hard work – we’ve got those skirting boards to repaint this weekend – we can chip in with some decor ideas for some of the key rooms in your home, and suggest some hints and tips on how to decorate on a budget.

Coming up with home décor ideas with limited funds can always be tricky, especially when looking for high-quality furniture. Fortunately, here at Chiltern Oak have a range of home decorating ideas on a budget thanks to our selection of beautifully crafted pieces at affordable prices.

With sales throughout the year too, it’s always worth checking back on the website to see if you can pick up a seasonal bargain on a variety of pieces.

The retro vibe is back with aplomb and taking interior décor by storm up and down the country, mixing classic and contemporary styles. 

Now a burgeoning style across fashion, interior design, and accessories, it seems like vintage style is here to stay. If you want to get in on the act, it may be tricky to know where to start and how to maintain a cohesiveness. Fortunately, we’re here to help with how you can stay up to date with furnishings that go back in time.

The living room is the hub of the home, the nerve centre, if you will. It’s the main area for socialising, relaxing, and entertaining but being a room with so many purposes can mean that creating an ideal layout is not particularly easy. 

Here we take a look at how you can create different atmospheres from your space with a few living room layout ideas, and see how the placement of living room furniture can really change a room.

Chiltern Oak are proud to announce the launch of their latest furniture range, the Suffolk Midnight Grey Painted Oak Collection.

An exquisite selection of farmhouse-style furniture, this range brings a mixture of classic and contemporary chic together with chunky oak tops that really pop against the painted grey oak finish. With smooth chrome cup handles, the juxtaposition of traditional, sturdy wooden furniture and modern stylistic flair creates statement pieces for any room.

Here at Chiltern Oak, we’re proud to announce the launch of our new Florence Sage Green Painted collection. A glorious range of painted green furniture, it brings light, earthy tones to a room yet remains neutral enough to fit any sort of styling.

Oak furniture has been eternally popular due to its sturdiness and quality but being a natural product, it’s also liable to damage and suffer age-related wear and tear. Many people are understandably reluctant to throw out their worn furniture because of the quality of the grain but don’t know what to do with it otherwise. 

This is where upcycling may be a useful option. It goes beyond simply restoring oak furniture and presents a different use for it that still allows you to keep it in the home.