The favoured home and garden retailer Dunelm has a huge haul of products to spruce up homes in time for the summer months approaching.
April is here with its warmer temperatures and lighter evenings, both of which are having an impact on our sleeping patterns. Dunelm has a huge range of products to help us sleep, with airy, light bedsheets and electric diffusers and essential oils to help us relax into the cooler evenings.
From furnishings to décor, there are plenty of reduced items to pick up in store and online, and we managed to bag a few different things to get a feel for the quality of the sale and their new Spring collectiom.
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Dunelm are also tapping into Easter themes for our homes with an incredible table-scape offering packed with wooden bunnies and resin chicks with plenty of gingham, pastel tones and florals that can really give your home that extra spring, summer feel.
Our reviews team picked very different items from the collection to test, including a cosy rug, a bright and colourful statement cushion and a serving board. Here's what they found.
Cosy Teddy Rug
Tried by Gemma Sherlock.
It seemed odd ordering a fluffy, cosy rug to give my home a spring refresh but surprisingly it works. Ever since my puppy ruined my deep black, large rug last year I’ve been on the look-out for a suitable replacement.
It’s that time of year when you start to put away your winter clothes and extra blankets around the house in preparation for the summer. For me though, some furnishings are perfect for all seasons and are definitely a ‘must remain here’ type of product no matter what.
This is a staple rug in the living room. We have hardwood floors downstairs in our property so a rug can really add a cosy touch to a room, and make the flooring that little less cold.
While I appreciate a cold floor in the blistering heat of summer, I still enjoy the comfort a rug brings beneath my feet, whatever the weather. Dunelm’s Cosy Teddy Rug comes in four sizes and I opted for the 160cmx230cm at a cost of £90.
I didn’t measure out beforehand which made it a surprising turn of events when it was time to unfold the piece in my living room. However, the rug was packaged neatly and it was super easy to unravel and reshape, despite its large size.
I chose the charcoal colour which is a dark grey, matching my décor in my living room. It’s a little on the bigger side but to be honest I’ve now grown to love it as it brings the meeting space together, and because of the thickness it makes it easy to sit on the floor too when guests are around or my niece is up and about playing with her toys.
Dunelm have given their Teddy range an update as part of their new Spring Collection with some brand new rugs in a huge range of shapes and sizes. This Teddy rug I tried also comes in grey, navy, natural and blush pink and it ranges from £30 to £140 depending on the size you want.
My one tip would be to measure beforehand and don’t just guess like I did. Nevertheless it worked out okay in the end, and this rug will now sit in my living room all-year round.
Natural History Museum cushion
Tried by Laura Udall.
In my house, Springtime is all about bright colours, pretty flowers and adding a much-needed botanical boost as the bleak winter weather subsides. This stunning, rectangular boudoir cushion really is the perfect addition to bring a touch of the outdoors inside my home.
As part of the Natural History Wetlands Collection at Dunelm, the beautiful yellow cushion has been designed to shine a light on some of the wonderful species found in the UK's wetland areas while highlighting the need to protect these incredible yet vulnerable habitats.
Ticking all the boxes for me, it not only looks divine with its intricate detailing and golden hue, the floral design has its roots in the delicate ecosystem that makes our Great British countryside so beautiful all year round.
Plump and squishy, my tactile nature loved the feel of the cushion as soon as I opened the package. Measuring up at 45 x 25 cm it was somehow larger than I expected, making it look all the more delicious against my sofa.
Filled with an RDS certified feather filling I’m hoping it will hold its shape for many seasons to come and the envelope closure should keep the cover nice and secure.
While I am aware that a boudoir cushion should technically be used in the bedroom, this little beauty is far too lovely to be hidden away upstairs. The ochre coloured fabric with white and yellow blooms and green stems is the perfect accompaniment to faded leathers and autumnal shades, meaning it fits in very well with my décor.
In fact, it looked so pretty, I tried it out on the old leather chair in the study and decided I’d leave it there to remind me of spring even when the April showers outside my window let me down.
Cushions add depth and flavour, upgrading weathered sofas and comfy chairs in an instant, and I am a huge fan of changing mine on a regular basis. At £22 I would consider this a mid-range investment for my soft furnishing collection, and one that must be kept a safe distance from dog hair, kitten fur and sticky-fingered children.
The Natural History collection features a range of different items, all celebrating the depth of British heritage designs. I’ve now got my eye on the Marsh Botanical Wool Rug with its detailed floral design and hand-crafted wool construction, and sitting here looking at my beautiful cushion, I’m tempted to treat myself to a new rug too.
Marble & Wood serve board
Tried by Harriet Morphy-Morris.
As we start to get a few more sunny days on the approach to Spring, I was really looking for something I could use both inside and out when having friends and family over.
Hosting is something I love to do, whether it’s having my sister over for a gossip and glass of wine, a few friends for cocktails or throwing a barbecue in the summer. It’s what makes spring and summer my favourite time of the year, gone are the days of being cooped up to shy away from the wind and rain.
To go along with my love of sharing boards, snack platters and nibbles I chose this modern serving board to use in the garden.
It’s one of the smaller pieces from Dunelm’s 2023 spring collection, and it’s priced a an affordable £14 - a lot cheaper than a few alternatives I’ve had my eye on from the likes of Zara Home, Oliver Bonus and Anthropologie which can cost as much as £35.
Even taking delivery of the board I could tell how good the quality was before I’d started to unbox it, just by the sheer weight of it. Although it could be quite heavy to carry a load of food out into the garden on, it’s a good quality to have as opposed to a flimsy ‘faux’ marble design.
Because it was marble, which isn’t usually scratched too easily, I cut up and prepped the fruit for my snack platter on the board, making sure to wipe it down with warm soapy water before the first use (which is started clearly on the packaging). I’d also clean the marble this way after each use as I don’t want to damage the wooden part of the board.
For me, having something that’s just as pretty and stylish to look at as well as use in the kitchen is an added bonus, especially as something with quite limited cupboard space in my little rented flat. Instead of popping it away in the cupboard after each use, it’s now permanently propped behind my coffee machine.
