Homebase has launched a new value range - a collection of budget DIY essentials to help keep the costs down.

This collection of over 300 everyday essentials, including 150 for under £5, offers exceptional prices on the products.

From decorating and DIY, to home furnishings and finishing touches, the Value Range has everything you need for a home makeover:

“For the DIY enthusiast” Affordable hand tools including a 3m tape measure (99p), a 16oz hammer (£3.99), 6in junior hacksaw (£1.99) and a slotted screwdriver (99p).

“For keen decorators” Choose from a range of decorating essentials, including plain white wall tiles (£4.49 for a pack of 44), white matt paint (£5.99 for five litres) and lining paper (£2.24, to cover 5.6sq/m).

There is a choice of accessories including, a 500-watt floodlight (£4.99) basic roller kit (£2.49), step stool (£11.99) and paintbrushes from 49p

Other finishing touches for the home include beech laminate flooring (£10.61 for 2.66sq/m), polished brass internal door pack (£8.99) and a silver spotlight – pictured here. (£6.99).

“The new homeowner” Decorate in style for less with home essentials including a paper light shade (£2.49), beech bookcase (£12.99), toilet seat (£8.99) and a coir doormat (£3.99). You can even pick up a double duvet for £7.99 for the first night in your new bed.

“The kitchen connoisseur” With a great range of cookshop products on offer, there’s no excuse to keep out of the kitchen. Pick up a a 16-piece cutlery set (£2.99 and a 12-piece white porcelain dinner set (£5.99).

“The gardening guru” Get into your garden this summer with a range of gardening products including seeds (from 39p), terracotta pots (from 49p) and plants (from 99p).

Homebase is the UK’s second largest home improvement retailer and is recognised for choice, style and customer service.

Visit the Homebase website to view the whole Value range.

Geoff Collier has developed a selection of striking brass pieces, ideal for either traditional or contemporary interiors.

The new brass collections website showcases their ‘Period lighting’ and ‘Shell’ Collections, which offer the consumer a selection of specialist items to suit a variety of interior looks and tastes.

The Exclusive Lighting Collection is a varied range of products including table lamps, Floor lamps, Ceiling lights and Wall lights, all produced from in-house designs and original patterns, dating from the early 19th century onwards.

The products, from grand art deco wall lights to contemporary bedside lamps are handcrafted by skilled artisans, featuring intricate detail, such as traditional fine chiselling and punch-work.

The Shell Collection is a contemporary interpretation of organic sea-life forms, transformed into highly original door furniture, window accessories and lighting.
From sea urchin door-knobs in nickel, to Cone shell curtain pole finials; this range would be ideal for a sea-side residence, yacht or modern home.

The Neo-Palladio Collection is also due to be launched within the next few months.

Geoff Collier is proud to produce the very highest standards of craftsmanship for their clients, including many leading Interior Designers, Architects and Antique Dealers who commission them with bespoke pieces as well as large scale manufacturing contracts.

Visit the Geoff Collier Collections website to be inspired.

Tel: 020 7373 8888

Candles and Christmas go together like…., well, candles and Christmas.

Perhaps because it is a light that is both alive and natural, a candle in a room or near a window is all it takes to lift the gloom of a winter’s day.

Suddenly, dark December is transformed into jovial Yuletide by the welcoming flicker of candlelight.

Braybrook & Britten make candlesticks and candelabra using sterling silver.

Featured here are the Briar Rose Candlesticks (pair). Silver and gilt candlesticks designed in the Queen’s jubilee year, to match the Briar Rose Bowl; hand pierced, engraved and parcel gilt.  Priced at £2650 Inc. Vat.

From traditional to modern, a good pair of silver candlesticks is one of those rare gifts that are practical, beautiful and totally unisex:

• A centrepiece for dining.

• An example of contemporary British decorative arts.

• A family heirloom.

• A symbol of life!

Braybrook & Britten have Hallmarked British Designer Silver Candlesticks and Holders from £89 to £3,000.

The company’s designs have been exhibited at Goldsmith’s Hall.

Browse their online store, offering over 800 pieces of designer British silverware and Gem Jewellery.

Tel: (0208) 993 7334

The Candle Selection - A Fantastic One-Stop Shopping Experience.

Just newly launched www.thecandleselection.co.uk – an easy to navigate website for you to browse and shop - when looking for that inspirational Christmas gift idea.

The Candle Selection aim to offer you a beautiful selection of quality candles, enabling you to enhance the ambience of your home with the introduction of light, colour and fragrance.

Candles can help to complement the mood and atmosphere you are trying to create, whether it is for a romantic evening, a special occasion, a dinner party, or just to relax.

The Candle Selection features an extensive range of candles with a wonderful luxury feel. There’s free delivery on orders over £75, and a fabulous gift wrapping service on offer, to ease the Christmas shopping panic!

The Candle Selection includes some wonderful contemporary ranges by design led Scandinavian companies, such as Menu of Copenhagen and Broste.

Brands from manufacturers based within the UK include Shearer Candles, Sophie Conran’s collection for Portmeirion, St Eval candles who hand produce candles in Cornwall, and Pairfum who design and produce their products with a sustainable development ethos.

Featured here is The Ashleigh & Burwood - Thai Lemongrass & Coconut Reed Diffusers; the A La Maison range of 250ml reed diffusers,  are a culmination of superior design and packaging and refined fragrances. £29.99.

Environmentally Friendly Candles.

The Candle Selection also stocks a range of ecologically sound candles made using materials including; stearin, soy & other natural wax and pure cotton wicks.

Kitchen Candles. - A range of kitchen candles from the collection of the celebrity chef, James Boyce are also available, beautifully presented in a wooden gift box.

The fragrances from the kitchen candles are designed to be used there, without spoiling the appetising scent of the food; just perfect in the kitchen whilst cooking your Christmas lunch.

Visit the Candle Selection website to see the huge collection.

Tel: (0845) 22 22 035

With 2010 fast approaching, Samantha Morgan, head designer at Concept Interiors, has been looking at future home and interior trends.

There follows her advice on what materials, patterns and colour pallets will give your home the contemporary look over the year ahead.

Says Samantha, “People are starting to opt for quality products in preference to cheaper alternatives for their homes; the current focus is on the more durable and eco friendly choices.”

Samantha thinks 2010 will see high quality products and finishing touches such as black nickel curtain poles, with lavish jewelled finials and oversized wool pieces such as knitted rugs, or upholstered furniture in our homes.

She explains that the two key interior looks for 2010 will be “English Kitsch” and “Eastern Glam” both use floral and organic shapes in their style and natural fibres. Weaves also feature in both looks.

• English Kitsch uses a pastel palette of colours and nostalgic design, evoking memories of days gone by.

• In contrast, Eastern Glam uses the rich and opulent colours of the East - metallics combined with sumptuous purples and warm reds. The look is warm, inviting and glamourous.

Black will remain a signature colour in our bathrooms but with more style than we’ve seen throughout 2009.

• Think mixed colour blend glass mosaics, rococo black resin mirrors and black accessories; introducing luxurious purples into the theme, will simultaneously soften the room and add to the glam factor.

• Victorian-inspired bathrooms will also be making a comeback, while retaining the clean crisp lines of contemporary styled sanity ware.

“Choosing the right focal point or element for each individual room is important,”

“However, you’ll also need the other elements of the space, to work with that focal point to complete your room design.”

To help make this possible, dramatic flooring and statement lights will be hitting our home, to create a focal point for all of our rooms.

Patterns such as stripes or a woven carpet, for example, will bring texture and an area of interest, while lighting can frame the room or highlight a specific element; indeed, light fittings themselves can become features or the focal point.

Open-plan kitchens will also remain in demand in 2010, as people respond to the economic climate by spending more time at home and by entertaining guests, the benefits of this feature remain as popular as ever.

Quartz, however, will be making a bid to oust the likes of granite as the work surface of choice, with colours, design possibilities and durability its main selling points.

Concept Interiors creates eye-catching and sophisticated living spaces for clients who want the very best in their homes.

Visit the Concept Interiors website to view the stunning case studies of completed interiors.

Tel: (01932) 241380

AlertMe Energy Puts Consumers in Control of Their Home Energy Costs and Consumption.

AlertMe, the award-winning home energy management service, has announced the launch of AlertMe Energy, giving consumers the ability to monitor their home energy usage online, so that they can reduce their bills and carbon footprint.

AlertMe Energy includes easy-to-install hardware and an online service that can be accessed from any Web browser; it‘s also integrated with Google PowerMeter, to enable tracking energy consumption live from an iGoogle home page.

AlertMe Energy is simple to install and comes with the following:

• A Meter Reader clips onto the home’s electricity meter, monitoring energy use for the entire home. No costly installation required.

• A Hub plugs into the home broadband connection. This connects all in-home accessories (such as the Meter Reader) to the AlertMe service on the Web.

• The online service and AlertMe dashboard, is accessible anywhere the customer has an Internet connection, from Web-enabled mobile phones to Google PowerMeter on their iGoogle home page.

More than a quarter of all energy use happens in our homes and now AlertMe Energy gives consumers the power to monitor, control, and reduce their energy use, saving money and reducing their carbon footprint.

Currently, adding SmartPlugs to automatically measure and control individual appliances can enhance AlertMe Energy, providing greater savings and convenience. In the future, AlertMe will provide a deeper level of detail and offer automated, tailored recommendations, making it even simpler to change behaviour and save money.

AlertMe also announced a partnership with Google, so AlertMe customers can now access data through Google PowerMeter, or their iGoogle homepage, in addition to the AlertMe online dashboard.

AlertMe recently announced a trial with British Gas to provide AlertMe Smart Home Energy products in UK homes, including online heating control and smart metering; this means customers can now purchase from the system from AlertMe.com for £69.00, plus £2.99 per month for the online service, or directly from British Gas.

Purchase from AlertMe.com online.

Or British Gas Tel: (0800) 1070187

The innovative Diva is so much more than a lamp - it personifies the integration of sight and sound in a single object.

Diva is an LED light and music system specifically designed for your iPod or iPhone; it combines multiple functions in one compact object, eliminating clutter and stealing the scene.
The anodised, screen printed aluminium jacket makes Diva a mysterious musical instrument, only revealing its many functions when open. But even when closed, it’s an FM radio and speaker system for a connected computer, MP3 or CD player.

• Insert your iPod or iPhone, by releasing the retractable docking station drawer. The sound quality is full and rich, thanks to the four, high quality speakers housed in the body.

• Pressing a button opens the die-cast aluminium lamp arm; raise this to whatever position is most comfortable to read, or to light your workstation.

• The lamp’s cutting edge LED light is warm, highly effective and energy efficient at 4,5W.

• A digital screen is hidden behind the anodised aluminium, to show the time and all the other information about Diva’s various uses and FM stations.

• An infrared remote control governs every function, including your iPod and the radio.

• The back of Diva comes with an AUX socket for playing music from MP3 players, CD players, computers, etc.; a USB socket to play music from a flash drive; an audio-out socket to connect to external speakers.

All these functions allow you to integrate Diva into your technological life - a new way to listen and see - multifunctional, multi-sensory technology.

Materials - Polycarbonate injection moulded plastic parts, anodised screen printed aluminium jackets.
Colours:

• Silver Anodized Aluminium.

• Dark Gray Anodized Aluminium.

• White Painted Aluminium.

Diva has a Recommended Retail Price of £360.

Designed by Dante Donegani & Giovanni Lauda for Italian manufacturer Rotaliana.

Available in the UK from the Design Conscious website.
Tel : (01282) 455330

John Cullen Lighting the leading lighting expert, designs, schemes and supplies cutting-edge products for everything from kitchens, drawing rooms and bathrooms, to swimming pools and gardens, creating the perfect atmosphere for the house and garden, including home automation.

Not since the arrival of the low voltage tungsten halogen in the early 80s, has there been such a revolution in consumer lighting. Improvements in LED technology, now make it suitable for the home.

At the forefront of this innovation, John Cullen offers a comprehensive range of LED products, all designed in-house and manufactured in the UK.

The latest LED fittings are compact, revolutionising opportunities for introducing lighting into joinery, stairs and gardens.

They offer a warmer colour of light, which can be controlled with manual dimmers as well as preset systems; with a 50,000 lamp life, regularly fitting new bulbs is a thing of the past.

Light your stairs and terrace, with the latest LED fittings using only 14w of LED, instead of the 260w of traditional tungsten halogen lamps.

The energy efficient shelving unit in the picture, is lit with the latest LED strip Contour with its excellent colour rendition:

• Individual shelves are lit with 1w LED Eyelids at the top and LED Footlights at the bottom.

• These shelves are now lit with only 120w using LED products against 1020w using low voltage fittings.

LEDs can also add interest to a kitchen scheme.

• 1w LED Oslos to wash light under the island at low level.

• 1w LED Eyelids light the work surface and sink.

• At high level warm white energy efficient fluorescent strips provide a fresh boost of working daylight into the space.

John Cullen also offers an award winning design service.

Visit the John Cullen website to view the latest design effects and inspiration.

Tel: (020) 7371 9000

Lighting is one of the simplest ways to create ambiance in your home, with the right light fitting really setting off the look of a room.

Choosing the right light bulbs to use in your fittings can have a big impact on the finished effect, as the level of illumination subtly determines the mood of a space.

Energy saving light bulbs can make a big difference to the environment and your pocket, without interfering with your style.

Homebase is holding an Energy Saving Event in stores nationwide from September 14th, offering all customers the chance to learn more about energy efficiency and what products are on offer to help them go green, including an attractive range of light bulbs.

Andrew Carnie, Category Manager for Electrical, Lighting & Storage for Homebase, says “Thanks to recent advances in technology, energy saving light bulbs are now widely available in a variety of fittings, shapes, sizes and wattage to suit all lighting needs.

The Homebase range of energy saving bulbs includes dimmable options, halogen and spotlight replacements that are cost effective and environmentally friendly.”

The shape of the energy efficient bulb has come a long way. The tubular design has been replaced by an assortment of shapes, which won’t look out of place if any of your fittings are designed with the bulb showing.

Carnie continues; “Chandelier style fixtures can add a sophisticated and elegant feel to any room and the latest energy saving candle style light bulbs, look identical to the non energy saving alternatives.” - As in the Marie Therese Chandelier featured here.

During the Homebase Energy Event, trained energy masters will be on hand to help with your energy related enquiries; they can help with anything from bulbs to insulation, plus all products that Homebase has on offer, to help your home become more sustainable and yet remain stylish.

Web: http://www.homebase.co.uk

Chalon UK Ltd, internationally renowned designers and manufacturers of hand crafted kitchens, bathrooms and freestanding furniture, has announced the launch of their exclusive new lighting range.
 
The brand new collection initially comprises seven lights (with more currently in research & development) - each exclusively handmade for the company and branded with a solid metal plaque of the Chalon logo.

Our picture shows a Chalon Scroll Wall Light from the new range.  Made from silver plated brass, it has an antiqued finish, designed to complement the style of Chalon’s kitchens and freestanding furniture.
To assist in rounding off a Chalon furnished room, the shades can be specified in a variety of the company’s different paint finishes. Priced from £480.

Other new lights available include:
The Organic Chandelier in a choice of Chalon’s own unique finishes:
Zinc, Distressed Cream, Distressed Grey/. Priced from £2,450.
Organic 3 Arm Wall Sconce in finishes as above. Piced from £550.

Organic Table Lamp in finishes of Cream Charcoal Grey, Spring Wheat, Cocoa, Artichoke or Silver Grey. Priced from £900.

Metal Standard Lamp in finishes as above. Priced from £1800.

Large Wall Lantern in finishes as above. Priced from £800.
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Available now through any of the company’s UK showrooms, there are also some special introductory offers running until the end of October 2009.
 
To view the whole collection visit:
Web:  http://www.chalon.com