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emmelinewe

Houzz Advent Calendar: December 6th - Win a cushion by Iona Crawford!

Emmeline Westin
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago

We’re looking to the wild and the coast today with our latest Advent prize - a beautiful Puffin cushion designed by Iona Crawford! Splashed across the cushion are blacks, whites, and colours, all inspired by the iconic Scottish seabird.

To be in with a chance of winning, all you need to do is tell us your thoughts on animal prints! Whether it’s artwork on soft furnishings like this, or animal designs and prints, we’d love to hear if you love them or not and if you have them in your home. This competition will run until December 24th.

See terms of conditions here

Featured Answer
  • PRO
    Yasmin Chopin Interior Design
    8 years ago
    Animal prints are extremely useful in interiors. If they're asymmetrical they can add a touch quirkiness. If nature has designed them for camouflage we can take advantage of this quality by using them to hide imperfections. The natural world has a lot to teach us when it comes to pattern and colour!

    Comments (121)

    • varga_emese
      8 years ago

      cute

    • Helen
      8 years ago

      Great in the right place. My son loves them!


    • abigailbusy
      8 years ago
      I love animal prints in soft furnishings such as cushions, tablecloths, throws and rugs. They add a certain quirkiness to living room, a little 'sexy' to the bedroom and lots of drama to a dining area.
    • phudge
      8 years ago

      I love this cushion as it will fit with my nod to living by the sea. In general I do love animal cushions such as beautiful stag ones but they would not fit with my style at the moment.

    • User
      8 years ago

      Animal prints can add interest to an unassuming room!

    • k_sedgley
      8 years ago

      I have friends on the remote Island of Tristan da Cunha the worlds remotest inhabited island. She often sends me pictures of the birds there and they are so uplifting, I also use them as screen savers.

    • cornishdee
      8 years ago

      Not usually keen on animal prints, but do have large gold statues of a cat and a dog in my lounge. The beautiful puffin cushion would add some class to the bling.

    • sarahb58
      8 years ago

      Love them but only if the design is good and worthwhile for its own sake. I don't think they work when they are just cutesy or serve a homage to a particular animal.

      Sarah

    • pinklark
      8 years ago

      Personally I find pictures of animals a little twee on prints but love some of the prints of zebras, tigers etc as a highlight. Some really nice ones in bright vivid colours too; like purples, pinks and blues....

    • jojoe1372
      8 years ago
      Classic animal prints! tasteful or tacky, we love them!
    • susanbythesea
      8 years ago

      As a nation of animal lovers most of us love animal depictions especially of the cuter and cuddly variants ....

    • Suzanne Burnell
      8 years ago
      Love them
    • Sharan Brom
      8 years ago
      Thought I hated them until a friend printed one of her own..I'm converted!
    • silyab53
      8 years ago
      last modified: 8 years ago

      I fell in love with Andrew Martin's 'PRIDE' fabric, from his Naivasha range, and covered an old Parker Knoll wing back chair with it. Always draws positive comments. I'm a cat lady so maybe that's why I chose it!!!! I also think it's a 'stand-out-timeless' piece. Wherever I may live in the future I'm sure I'll find the right place for it.

    • silyab53
      8 years ago

      Ps - I have a number of Cygnus Papillio, by Joseph Alexander Goode, cushions with all creatures great and small on them. Just bought a turquoise background cushion from the Flight of the Nocturns range.......WHY? Because it matches the vintage turquoise typewriter my Uncle just gave me. They're together on the landing as there's nowhere else for them, colour wise, here, but had to do it!

    • silyab53
      8 years ago

      Ps - can I just say how much I love Puffins - since going to stay on LUNDY island and seeing the 'inflatable' Puffins on the rocks. LUNDY is, I think, Norse/Anglo Saxon (someone will remind me I'm sure) for Puffin which were on the island in their hundreds, but the Puffins have long since left the Island due to Atlantic shift taking their food away, so the hilarious manager puts the inflatables up in the rocks for the day trippers!!! I bought a 'Puffin-on-a-stick' from the ship and MUST return to buy another one as a friends child broke it. If anyone's been entranced by the recent TV series about the Landmark Trust, who own Lundy, you will have seen why, when I've travelled the world, I name Lundy as my favourite place on Earth. Just take a look at their site and, if nothing else, buy their stunning brochure.

      And that - in the most wordy and roundabout way - is why Id love to win the Puffin cushion!!!!!!!

    • gd11
      8 years ago

      It's a brilliant idea to bring the outside and wild animals inside our homes like this, there is always a place for them somewhere, especially I can see this Puffin cushion in my seaside home as we always see them arrive on Annet which is one of the uninhabited Isles near St. Agnes, Isles of Scilly during May / June time ready for mating. Lovely bold design and very much alive ! I love the cushion and particularly like seeing the Puffin !

    • jude999
      8 years ago

      Not keen on animal prints but I LOVE this one!

    • bombel1972
      8 years ago

      i personally haven't been keen on animal prints, so much. i do however, have this resin type head, of a whimsical zebra on my wall.

    • Melanie Cotton
      8 years ago
      Love them in all shapes and sizes! Great way to inject colour, humour and personality
    • maciejal
      8 years ago
      Love them
    • sarkie
      8 years ago

      Animal Prints are the best, I'm impartial to a good cat / dog or fox to make the house a bit more fun!

    • Gerry Rust
      8 years ago

      I started listing all the animal related items I have in my house but after about 5 minutes I realised that I was beginning to sound like I was completely crazy and living in a madhouse! Suffice it to say I seem to have acquired a plethora of animal prints, cushions and lamps, also ceramic, wooden and metal animals (sometimes just the heads ;) In fact even the bathroom has decorative fish...

    • maxcope
      8 years ago

      I'm not usually a fan but I love this Puffin design!

    • amellee
      8 years ago

      Love animals, in small dose use they prints on clothes or home decoration.

    • Lynsey Buchanan
      8 years ago

      I love animal prints its a fun and modern way to play with colours

    • Rachel Oakes
      8 years ago

      As I don't like floral I really like animal prints. I have the most amazing Komodo dragon wallpaper in my lounge, that people always comment on.

    • housey101
      8 years ago
      I love animal prints which fit into the scheme of the room, as they can bring a lot of fun into the scheme and are also a talking point.
    • info560
      8 years ago

      I am not a big fan of animal prints on soft furnishings generally but a statement cushion featuring one large single specimin would look lovely,I do tend to favour vintage prints of old farmhouse animals,chickens pigs cows as they fit in better with my shabby chic farrnhouse style interior(I already have wood block prints on my walls of old spot pigs and friesian cows) so a cushion would be great!

    • teenytinyhouse
      8 years ago
      last modified: 8 years ago

      Not a fan of prints like leopard print or zebra stripes, but I do love photo prints of birds. My current favourite is a duck-egg blue one one my granny gave me with a row of budgies in all colours of the rainbow. I bought her one with a photo of a robin on it for Christmas, so clearly I've inherited her taste!

    • Hugh Wright
      8 years ago

      I like them, but i wonder if they will become dated fast.

    • Leila Benhamida
      8 years ago

      Depends what I see in front of me some are stylish and some not so.

    • honeypoppet
      8 years ago

      Love animal print! I remember going into a 'big ' girls bedroom when I was about 7 and being struck by the leopard print rugs and decor she had...its the first time I got interested in interiors! I also love the cushions that look I've watercolour paintings...that parrot cushion is awesome!

    • fiendarina
      8 years ago

      I don't have any animal prints in our house, but would happily make an exception for this cushion.

    • Vicky Jarvis
      8 years ago
      I love animal prints and this especially is beautiful, I live on the wild Pembrokeshire coastline and Puffins are visitors on the nearby cliff tops in summer, this lovely cushion would remind me of them throughout the year
    • Sonia Goul-Wheeker
      8 years ago

      If done right and quite subtle, then lovely! Otherwise it can be too much.

    • andrew1961
      8 years ago

      Beautiful colour, design and subject.

    • arzuince
      8 years ago
      We have a huge bulldog print cushion which I got for husband....we're not going to get a real one, so this is the nearest he'll get to cuddling one! Also, this cushion looks like my little ones favourite book, Puffin Peter, she would love it!
    • charlie_healey
      8 years ago

      I think that too much is tacky but some subtle hints and toned down prints can look lovely. I don't consider the cushion to be a print, that is lovely and would look fabulous in any room, although maybe not a whole row of them.

    • marianne_hayton
      8 years ago

      I think this could be the start of a beautiful collection,

    • Clio Bee
      8 years ago
      Love them!
    • bruket
      8 years ago

      Some subtle prints are fine on a statement item. If it is too much of it it can look cheap. It is a very fine line to draw.

    • Sarah Williams
      8 years ago

      I love animal print

    • Gil Nathaniel
      8 years ago

      I don't really like them but this cushion is cute :)

    • ktwhitelily
      8 years ago

      pictures of animals, good. leopard print, less good.

    • Micheala Yelland
      8 years ago

      bold print good otherwise twee

    • PRO
      Simply DeClutter Professional Organiser
      8 years ago

      Gorgeous cushion

    • paddyart
      8 years ago

      Love them especially close ups

    • Kel
      8 years ago
      I love animal prints. My favourite are the bright, lush, tropical colours of exotic animals like parrots.
    • Tom Flanagan
      8 years ago

      Hi everyone!

      Thanks for all the comments and input, it was great to see so many of you get involved! The competition is now closed, and any winners should have received an email from us confirming their prize so get checking.

      Happy New Year and here's to the next one!

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