Easter decor delights

It needn’t cost a fortune; even small touches - like an Easter egg tree, wreath, or tiny posies in humble jam jars - will pretty up rooms and enhance the sense of celebration.

Here are three Easter decor themes for inspiration. All you need to do is pick your favourite, and get cracking...

SIMPLY SPRING

There’s no need to go all down with the kids. For a sophisticated, grown-up theme, it’s all about white and gold.

“Pastels and cute creatures aren’t for everyone and can jar with a decor scheme, also many people nowadays prefer a more subtle approach,” points out Craig Roman, Dobbies Garden Centres’ home and garden styling expert.

“My favourite interpretation is inspired by nature’s spring colour palette. Many of the materials can be found in the garden - this is the time of year for pruning and you could gather together a cluster of cut branches - leave them natural or spray gold or white - and display in a vase. Add to the effect by hanging Easter decorations on them.

“Make mantels and tabletops a focal point with a vase or bowl lined with moss, and then fill them with eggs. Style candles and vases by tying strands of raffia in a bow around them, and create pretty lighting with clear glass jam jars by lining the base with a layer of moss and then pop a tea light on top.

“Turn a cluster of fruit into a glamorous decoration by spraying it with Gold Food Spray [£4.99 a can], which could also be used for eggs. These easy-on-the-eye touches will hold their appeal long beyond the holiday.”

CRACKING IDEAS: Make an egg ‘nest’ by gathering together twigs and raffia, then use a bowl as a guide to weave around; use the twigs to form the main structure and fill out with the raffia. Remove the bowl when finished, fill any gaps with moss, then pop some decorative eggs inside.

Alternatively, make moss nests in vintage teacups, add a tiny gift or chocolate egg, and place beside each table setting.

Everlasting Dried Reindeer Moss, £4 a box, Dobbies; FloraBase Natural Raffia, £2.50 a pack, Hobbycraft.

EASTER TREATS: Neptune’s bursting with Easter goodies to decorate a table or a room. Their hand-painted eggs look as though they’ve been freshly gathered from the farmyard and can be hung or displayed in clusters: Legbar Small Alpine Eggs, £3 for set of six; Bantam Hanging Eggs, from £4 for set of six. Neptune also has an Orpington Nest, from £4, and a cluster of their faux Magnolia Twigs, £7 each, would be an easy way to bring the outdoors in and could be displayed in a Charlton clear glass vase, from £70.

If DIY’s not your scene, Hobbycraft has white Twig Trees, from £18 each. Pay a nod to traditional Easter creatures by treating a sofa to a stylish Hare Pencil Sketch Cushion, £14.99, Dobbies.

CHEEP CHEEP: Gold and white Easter Egg Decorations, £1.95 each, Idyll Home; white and gold ceramic Easter Bunny Egg Cups, £3.99 each, Dobbies.

RABBIT, RABBIT, RABBIT

Eggs and chicks - along with scampering baby rabbits and waddling ducklings - are symbolic of new life and staples of traditional springtime decor.

“Bunnies aren’t just for kids - a sweet rabbit motif can add a playful, quirky touch to your interior,” says Joanna Thornhill, stylist at HomeSense, which has a selection of Easter accessories for the table and the home.

“Seek out a vintage rabbit print artwork, cushions featuring repeat bunny motifs, or perhaps a rabbit lamp to throw light on a gloomy corner. Storage tins featuring hen or chicken motifs, or an egg rack where you display painted eggs, are small touches which can evoke the atmosphere of the season.”

CRACKING IDEAS: Create a charming Easter centrepiece: tie miniature decorations onto the bars of a ceiling lampshade or light fitting, especially a pendant light over the dining table, or hang a collection in front of a window from a length of string or fishing line.

EASTER TREATS: If you’re really bonkers about bunnies, you could invest in a length of Rabbit Printed Magnetic Wallpaper, which starts from £64.50 for a length 264cm x 63cm, Sisters Guild. Use to display Easter cards and later as a noticeboard.

Conjure a farmhouse feel with an Emma Bridgewater Hen Tins Trio, £34.99, The Oak Room. Egg Candles With Yolk, £7.95 for set of six hen-size eggs; £7.50 for pair of duck eggs, and £12.95 for pair of goose eggs, Nordic House, are brilliantly realistic and would make a lovely table centrepiece. As a finishing touch, display a Country Meadow Easter Wreath, £30, The Contemporary Home.

CHEEP CHEEP: Rabbit Pillar Candle, £6 (available online from March 23), and Ducklings Cushion, £12, both Marks & Spencer.

PRETTY AS A PICTURE

Pretty pastels are classic Easter colours, and will conjure a sweetly pretty effect.

“It’s all about having fun and giving a home a colourful lift at this time of year, which will echo the colours slowly blossoming outdoors as the weather warms,” says Roman. “If pink and blue are a little too ‘nursery’ for your taste, opt for yellow. Complement decorations with foliage, branches of yellow forsythia could look beautiful in a vase, and flowers.

“Don’t focus merely on indoors - start by conjuring an ‘Easter entrance’ with an arrangement of potted daffodils outside a front door [£1.99 a pot at Dobbies]. Cluster groups of potted real or faux blooms [Dobbies has faux daffodil blooms in a brown paper pots, £4.49 each] on a mantel or table top, or mark out the trail of the Easter egg hunt with them.”

CRACKING IDEAS: Make a table special by dressing it with gingham fabric in pastels shades, complemented with gingham ribbons. Tie ribbons in bows on chair backs or around the rim of glass jars, which can be filled with small eggs, spray-painted and embellished with tiny posies. John Lewis has blue or sage Gingham Check PVC Tablecloth Fabric, £12.95 a metre, and Hobbycraft has Gingham Ribbon in a variety of colours, from £2 a spool.

EASTER TREATS: The Contemporary Home’s a brilliant source for pastel-coloured decorations. It has a blue or pink Mini Happy Easter Sign, currently reduced to £1 (restocked March 21), and a Pastel Wood Happy Easter Garland, £9. Other good buys are its Pastel Easter Egg & Twig Wreath, £24, a pink or blue Easter Tree, £25, and Set of Six Stripey Hanging Easter Egg Decorations, £5.

CHEEP CHEEP: Pastel coloured Easter Egg Stakes, £1 for pack of 10, Poundland; Pink Edge Bunny Rabbit Cushion, £7, George Home.

EASTER SOURCES

The Contemporary Home: www.tch.net

Dobbies: dobbies.com

George Home: direct.asda.com/george

Hobbycraft: hobbycraft.co.uk

Homesense: homesense.com

Idyll Home: idyllhome.co.uk

Marks & Spencer: marksandspencer.com

Neptune: Neptune.com

Poundland: poundland.co.uk

The Oak Room: oakroomshop.co.uk

Sisters Guild: sistersguild.co.uk