As the weather takes a turn, and it starts to warm up, we look out onto the garden and start planning our perfect summer; Alfresco dining and cocktails on the deck, enjoying an afternoon book in the summer house, crafting in the workshop, adding plants to the new sleepers or enjoying some champagne in the hot tub. To fully enjoy your endeavours, get your garden summer ready with Osmo!

Gardening is an enjoyable pastime for many people and has only increased since lockdown. It works wonders for your health and wellbeing, and you can even burn up to 400 calories an hour.

Increasingly architects, designers and developers are bringing exciting artistic features to building exteriors. Colour and texture play a prominent role, and one of the most popular trends is to create an ‘aged industrial’ look but, importantly, one that is bright, fresh and clean.

With Springtime upon us and the prospect of enjoying the long days and evenings in the garden, it’s time to get into full outdoor DIY mode and clean external wooden surfaces so that they are ready to be used when the sun starts shining.

Powdertech Corby’s eye-catching finish, Evolution™ ‘Sandstorm’, has captured exactly the right aspect for a new £24m apartment block in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle quarter, south of the city centre.

Surfaces have a big role to play in the overall look and feel of a space. In the kitchen and bathroom, in particular, practical considerations need to be made while also bearing in mind the visual impact of such visible fixtures as worktops, countertops, splashbacks and even flooring. Here, Simon Boocock, Managing Director of C. R. Laurence of Europe, takes us through the key trends in surfaces to look out for.

The one activity that has seen most of us through lockdown is walking. We’ve all become more familiar with our neighbourhoods as we have wandered around the local streets on a weekly basis (daily for those who are more energetic) for almost a year.