Here at Ideal Home HQ we spend hours perusing the latest shopping collections. Every week we round-up our favourite new buys to share with you. In honour of national picnic week (15th -24th June) we have decided to dedicated this week to picnics. We're taking things outside for this shopping installment with cool picnicware.
What else is new this week: Update bedrooms for summer with a little help from Aldi this week
Picnics are set to be bright this year with accessories in a rainbow of colours. Fruit motifs are also key for decorating melamine and picnicware this summer.
Prepare to dine outdoors in style with these fabulous finds...
If you are looking to really style it out for Picnic Week - head to John Lewis! There you will find an array of sophisticated accessories that look made for the indoors but are cleverly for outdoors. In particular we love the outdoor cushions and rugs.
The cushions provide extra comfort when sitting. The outdoor rugs, not an obvious picnic choice, provide extra ground cover for seating but are also great for leveling the ground ready for a picnic spread. These rug designs are washable too, so no drama if something gets spilled.
Buy now: Weaver Green Provence Collection Outdoor Rug, from £40, John Lewis
The drinks dispenser
It's not one to take on a remote picnic because it will be heavy, but it's definitely one if you have transportation to hand. Drinks dispensers are a big trend for summer soirees and we say that includes picnics. This fun 'Alhoa' themed design comes with four equally decorative bottles. We love this set to make a style statement.
Buy now: 5-Picnic Drinkware Set, £10, George
The fruit accessories
Today's trip around the local Flying Tiger was a treat in itself! The summer accessories are a visual feast of bold brights and fun fruit prints. We could have bought the whole shop...but we limited ourselves to just a few accessories. We bagged the colourful woven basket to carry all the essentials – those being the orange segment napkins and the cool pineapple shaped ice blocks.
Buy in stores now: Woven Picnic Basket, £10; Fruit napkins, £1; Ice Blocks, £1 each, all Flying Tiger
The cool bag
Now you too can say 'I carried a watermelon'. This fruity cool bag is just the thing to add personality to picnic proceedings. The bag is by the brand Ban.do, who by it's own admission says 'we are serious about fun'. Made in water-resistant matt leatherette in a vibrant watermelon print this bag is effortlessly cool. Cool also in the sense the microfibre lining keeps snacks and drinks perfectly chilled.
Buy now: Ban.do Watermelon Super Chill Cooler Bag, £30, Amara
The Tumblers
Following on with the fruit theme, these B&M tumblers are pretty winning. The assorted set of four has all the trendy fruit motifs covered – with pineapples, watermelons, strawberries and lemons.
Buy now: Fruit Printed Tumblers, £2.99 for 4, B&M
The picnic blanket
This rainbow bright blanket is just the thing to bring a riot of colour to picnics this summer. The beautifully striped blanket is ideal to use indoors too, perfect for dressing the home.
Buy now: Rainbow Stripe Blanket, £48, National Theatre Bookshop
Related: New M&S outdoor games provide fun for all the family
It would appear the sun got the picnic week memo too! Fingers crossed the sunshine holds out long enough for plenty of summer picnics.
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