Green scene
House plants really add atmosphere to a home but if you want to be able to lock up your place and not have to curry favour with a friend or neighbour to come round and water your collection then faux plants offer a real alternative, especially if you opt for some of the better-made ranges like that from Abigail Ahern, now stocked at Brown Thomas. Ahern, who first made her name as a stylist turned us all on to the dark side with her moody blue and black roomscapes. One of her best-selling ranges is the faux flower and greenery collection she developed with her florist sister Gemma. It offers stems that go way beyond beyond perfect roses and has been a hit with A-listers like Gwyneth Paltrow and Yotam Ottolenghi. The collection includes cowboy cacti for €180, creeping sedum for €8 and this asparagus bush for €25, as well as a glorious collection of stems and grasses that start from about €6. brownthomas.com
Hot stuff
Mustard is a colour that packs a lot of punch and while one can admire how it looks on walls and furniture in design zines few of us have the courage to bring it into a room in anything more than accent pieces which is why Helen James new portable storage tins for her Considered collection for Dunnes Stores pack such a punch. The box with lid and caddies, pictured, each cost €20 and drop into the chain's home stores on September 20th. dunnesstores.com
Warehouse sale
Hedgeroe Interiors is holding its autumn sale next weekend, with discounts of up to 60 per cent on on furniture, lamps and accessories. This is a warehouse sale with lots of occasional furnishings from the company's busy showhouse division so expect to find lots of occasional chairs and side tables, cushions, light fixtures and pictures. It brings a Hamptons-meets-country-house chic, and it's worth investing in one Hedgeroe's signature carved bobbin chairs if you can as they make a pretty statement piece for a hallway or livingroom. The sale is on Saturday, August 31st, from 10am to 4pm in Newtown Business and Enterprise Centre, Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow. See www.hedgeroe.com
