Birds and butterflies will give autumn a lift

Our love of nature and craving for interesting colour and decoration has inspired designers to feature nature in patterns on fabrics and wallcoverings.

Bird or butterfly motifs are a great way of blurring the boundary between indoor rooms and the garden, and they can be allowed to linger way beyond the summer because this trend is looking strong in the new autumn collections too.

Choose between bold and graphic with tropical birds and vibrant colours or conjure the tranquility of a country garden with delicately coloured and detailed studies of our national birds.

With butterflies, feast on the wing -grace a table with a fine example of delicate bone china decorated with tiny blue butterflies.

The Butterfly tableware can be complemented with blue butterfly decorated tablecloths and napkins and seat pads.

Flight by night - a table light with white felt shade with butterflies cut into it can also be used in a bedroom.

Time flies - brightly-coloured butterflies, which can be individually positioned, mark the hours on a wall for a butterfly clock.

Little treat - an aqua vase can be lifted with just a pink butterfly perched on its lip

Golden swarm - Papilio wallpaper, by Chivasso, features a scattering of butterflies on a gold background.

Alternatively, pink butterflies on cushions or a birdcage containing butterfly decorations can lift a room.

If you prefer birds try a swirling flock of flying birds wall sticker set which are available in many colours and can be used to suit different room sizes and shades.

Feather your nest - bird designs on cushions can be a talking point.

Feed the birds - not tuppence a bag but bird designs are now available on plates and other crockery too.

Big Bird - keep papers from flying away with a glass paperweight with a bird in it - not a real one of course.

Bird of paradise - lush foliage with a hummingbird as its focal point features on I’ve Just Created A Bird wallpaper mural from Spanish designer, Javier Valesco.

If you want something a little different you can get pigeon-shaped lights, kitsch cushions with retro photographs printed on them and bedding is also adopting available with bold bird imagery.