Paradise found

I’m completely behind this summer’s take on all things tropical, which seems to have infiltrated every area of life. Marc Jacobs Home, his first home scent (launching in October; www.marcjacobs.com), has a tropical , in Greenwich, has taken delivery of 1,000 tonnes of aroma, while The O2 sand and stacks of brightly coloured raffia umbrellas for its mini paradise beach. But those are the tip of the iceberg. Forget retro Hawaiian prints – the new tropical trend takes two distinctly modern stylistic approaches.

The first is all about animated, punchy colours: turquoise, acid lime and raspberry. “They lend themselves to the outsize prints and products appearing this summer, adding even more ‘pop’ and impact,” says Richard Prime of the trend-forecaster’s bible, Mix Future Interiors. Missoni’s graphic Viole print exemplifies this. First used for the autumn/winter 2006 fashion collection, it was reworked for the Home range by trebling the proportions and pumping up the colours to near-neon extremes (www.missonihome.com).

The second is a fantastical take on exotic botanical illustrations. The designer Paul Simmons, of Timorous Beasties, is largely responsible for this, with his whimsical wallpaper offerings such as Iguana (£29 per metre), which shows the reptiles munching on insects. It sounds weird, but the pattern – swirling vines, huge pineapples and dragonflies – is so pretty, you look twice before you spot the iguanas. See it in its full glory at the Beasties’ first London store, which has just opened in EC1 (020 7833 5010). Dinos Chapman, a fan, will be pleased.

Some like it hot

Stove designs tend to be so boring that even dreary aluminium is considered edgy. Thankfully, Rangemaster and Britannia are rectifying this. Britannia has joined forces with the up-and-coming designer Avsh Alom Gur to bring out three couture cookers. The bird-print Freedom stove is pretty, but the other two look a little angry to me. Rangemaster has splashed huge photographic flower images across its new selection – a safer option – and the meadow print is gorgeous. I hear there’s a bespoke service in the pipeline, so start thinking up your own designs.

www.britannialiving.co.uk; www.rangemaster.co.uk

Go totally tricopical

1 Decorate your windows with these handmade, jewel-coloured dragonflies, butterflies and bumblebees from Window Bugz. They look just like Fox’s Glacier Fruits when sunlight streams through their wings. Kitsch or cool? We can’t decide.

From £4; www.windowbugz.co.uk .

2 The funky interiors website Home Temptations sells everything from chaises longues to cocktail shakers. Its graphic glass-disc chopping boards by the fraternal design duo Joseph Joseph look like pop-art cross sections of watermelons, tomatoes, oranges and kiwis – and will perk up any work surface.

£12; www.hometemptations.com.

3 The designer du jour Clare Nicolson creates fashionably retro bird- and flower-print textiles for her range of cushions, tea towels, wall art, cards and badges. Her Dolly Bird cushions, inspired by Russian dolls, are sold in sets of five different sizes.

£90 per set; www.clarenicolson.com.

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