Dunnes Stores
Dunnes is fast becoming the go-to chain store for fresh home offerings. Its stable of designers offer something for everyone no matter what your decor style is. Carolyn Donnelly’s new range for autumn has plenty of whimsical accent pieces to add a sense of wit to your home. This giraffe 70cm in diameter side table, €150, has almost sold out and is no longer available online, but if you can’t find it know that a similar style, featuring a crane, will be in stores in early December.
Francis Brennan’s collection includes a very smart bench that works really well at the end of a bed. It comes in a chrome finish and costs €300. The bed linen range has been expanded to include very cool bolster cushions, €25, and also non-slip slippers with pom poms, €20, to step into once you get home from your working day all landing on October 21st. In store now is Considered by Helen James really smart serving bowls, pictured. Made of sea grass that range in shape and price from about €15 for the small to €35 for the large. When not in use these look great hung on the wall as decorative objects.
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Harvey Norman
The three-piece suite has finally been relegated to history – well at least for a few years as fashion’s cycles seem to shorten in this always-on world – with Harvey Norman’s sofa and chair buyer Eamonn Harrington reporting that sales of accent chairs, that is a seat that doesn’t match the other furniture in the room but brings something to the overall décor in either its form or colour. The Irish-made Studio chair has rounded arm-rests, no-sag springs and a sturdy wooden frame and has opulent stitching details. It is pictured here in sumptuous quartz blue and quartz green colour options and costs €999.
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M&S
If you’re in the market for a new deep-seat sofa that feels as good as it looks then Marks and Spencer’s Newbury is a scroll-armed design that comes in a wide range of fabric options including a tactile range of parros chenille that includes this jewel shades of garnet that has the magnetic intensity of a deep pink pomegranate pink, a colour that remains central stage this season, especially if wash the walls in varying shades like the coral used above the picture rail with a marshmallow pink on the walls. It comes in three sizes; small, 144cm long; medium, 186cm and large, 207cm and costs from €1,753 for the small.
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Debenhams
Debenhams has gone all Nordic noir for the presentation of its autumn ranges. Pictured on coarse weave linen table runners and featuring matching napkins a mix of Denby grey Fossil 12-piece table set, €110, is teamed with Elements pasta bowls, in a Bangor blue slate shade, €15 each. Denby’s Jet glasses, €40.50 for a set of two, are suitably darkly stemmed to fit in with the décor. Above, watching over proceedings is the latest dramatic light design from Abigail Ahern’s Edition. Odette is a black star of a ceiling light that uses LEDs and costs €270.
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H&M
While only available online, H&M’s offer and user-friendly site and fast delivery service makes it a great place to pick up accent elements like cushions and accessories that will help give your place a refresh. These textured, russet-coloured cushions covers start from about €14.99 each and are a very easy way to change the look of a living room. The chain is also selling the best accompanying gift to give a bride and groom if your main present is cash. It is selling pillowcases that say. “Goodnight Mr Right” and “Goodnight Mrs Right”. These cost about €8 each, ex delivery.
Meadows & Byrne
Home life has become far more relaxed and when we come in after a hard’s day’s work we all want to put our feet up both figuratively and literally. These velour poufs, from Meadows and Byrne, provide options for feet and homes of all sizes. The Dimple pouf, comes in two sizes, the small, a grey one-seat, is about 40cm by 42cm in size and priced €159 while the medium, in brown, is 32cm high and 65cm wide and costs €229. Also pictured is the large eau de nil green Prague ottoman, which is 38cm high and measures 100cm wide. It costs €325. All can be used for sitting or lounging on or simply as a place to perch a tray of snacks and drinks.
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West Elm at Arnotts
West Elm is mining classic American mid-century and Hollywood Regency styles in its offer this season. One of the star buys is this blackened brass, glass top side table which will work in period and contemporary settings and will add a golden glow of warmth to bedrooms or living rooms. You could also change the look by opting for a different top to the glass one pictured. This is something you will have to source yourself but a dark or black top will chime with the moodier colour palettes of the season and work in a room used mainly after dark. The table measures 86cm in diameter and stands 44cm tall and costs €599 from the firm’s concession at Arnotts on Henry Street.
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Penneys
Penneys home department is one the fastest growing within its business, says its fashion press officer Alison Calhoun. And as with everything the fast fashion chain does, its collections captures the mood of the moment. For back to college kids its new range of smart grey jersey duvet covers, pillowcases and bedspreads are described as “genderless” – perhaps not the sexiest title for bedding but it does open up the linen and desk accessories to a much wider purchasing public.
Another collections, Brights, pictured, includes a moneybox, €7, in a metallic finish that could, at a glance be taken for a tiny version of Jeff Koon’s balloon dog, and delightfully small LED-lit, free standing, stars, €3.50 each, that you could scatter throughout the house. The success of its bedding has been helped by the trend of dressing your dorm, which is especially prevalent in its US and UK stores, Calhoun says.
