Daniel Bland (@bland_design) is an artist and specialist interior decorator who has travelled the UK, creating incredible home décor and designs. He runs www.bland-designs.co.uk and is a 2-time uFurnish.com Home Awards winner, where in 2025 he took the Best Hallway prize.
uFurnish.com founder Deirdre Mc Gettrick (@deirdremcgettrick) tours Daniel's eclectic maximalist home to learn about how he conceptualises and creates such inspirational designs.
Introducing Daniel Bland
Name: Daniel Bland
What's your favourite spot in your home?
The kitchen. I spend most of my time here.
What is your biggest renovation regret?
Removing the wardrobes in the cartoon office and cinema room. The ceiling began to collapse between them.
Cups up or down in the cupboard?
Glasses are up in the cupboard and down in the bar. Mugs stay up.
Instagram handle:
@bland_design
Hallway
As you enter Daniel's home, the hallway gives an instant maximalist impression. The first thing that catches Deirdre’s attention is Daniel’s trick floor. At first glance, you may think that the floor is marble, but it is actually a wooden floorboard that Daniel has creatively painted. The hallway is one of Daniel’s past Home Awards entries, and Deirdre seeing the flooring in person makes it all the more impressive!
Music Room
The grand piano instantly catches the eye as soon as you step into the music room. The original inspiration for this room was mainly shaped around the piano, which has been ever-present for 10 years while the room itself has been three different colours! The room also reveals many antique gold picture frames surrounding musical instruments. With the walls painted black, the room appears quite dark. Daniel creatively contrasted the room colour with a bright Parrot light that he bought online from @ResidenceSupply. If you pay close attention, you’ll notice that the room is surrounded by musical notes from the song ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ by @RickAstleyYT.
Dining Room
The dining room is full maximalism. The room is wrapped in Daniel's signature Faded Grandeur wallpaper. Daniel has his own range of wallpapers, which he creates and sells on his website (www.bland-design.co.uk). A chandelier hangs over the dining table, and Daniel has quite cleverly built a railing on the wall to hang feature art pieces. This makes it easier for him to change the hanging art over time. Daniel has also created a built-in bar underneath his stairwell. It's the perfect guest-entertaining feature.
Kitchen
This is one of the rooms that Daniel has put a lot of effort into remodelling, with the work completed gradually and on a budget. On entering the kitchen, you immediately see the feature Aga Range Cooker, which brings instant character to the room. One thing that’s very present in the kitchen is Daniel’s gold influence on the tiles. He finds that it’s a good way to tie the rooms and the whole scheme together.
He gives viewers a tip that you can buy many different types of paint, including cupboard paint, tile paint and floor paint, that are appropriate for different surfaces, as well as different varnishes to seal things in. Deirdre also meets Daniel's cat, named Lord Mittens. Daniel has gold-leafed wallpaper and hand-painted tiles throughout the room, creating a unique feel that reflects his creative character.
Utility Room
The utility room sees a slight shift from gold into a copper theme as Daniel transitions through the house from the kitchen. The room has a huge skylight that lets in lots of natural light, with mirrors installed on each side to bounce the light around and bring even more into the room. Daniel was inspired to have the skylight after seeing them used in many commercial spaces through the work he does. There's also a sneaky bookcase in the corner of the room that's actually a doorway to the lounge. It has a classic New York speakeasy feel.
Lounge
So far in Deirdre’s home tour with Daniel, she has found that his home is like a treasure trove of surprise and delight in every single moment and every single room. Each room has its own unique feel, and Daniel has leaned into this aesthetic style. The lounge wall is dressed with a Magnolia Tree mural that started out as painted art and is now one of Daniel’s wallpaper collections.
This leans into Daniel’s preference for painting big, with each wall acting as his canvas. There's also an amazing piece of art that Daniel painted depicting the life of his grandfather. It combines his grandfather in his 50s and his 20s, painted in a trippy illusion that was in fact, quite tricky to paint. Deirdre also got to meet Donna the turtle, who has been in Daniel's family for 16 years!
Gallery Wall & Staircase
The gallery wall contains unique art pieces that wrap all the way around the wall and up onto the ceiling. The clear feature piece in this part of the home is the hanging chandelier from @ResidenceSupply, which creates incredible light to showcase the gallery wall. Daniel has also turned the attic door into artwork using wallpaper from Avalana Simpson.
Spare Bedroom
This room is the most opulent in the house. The room contains a Chesterfield armchair fit for a king. This is a piece of furniture that Daniel couldn’t forget and simply had to have. Daniel converted a utility wardrobe into a window bench that sits high by the window. For his guests, it serves as an amazing space to read a book and relax.
Master Bedroom
In this bright and large master bedroom, Daniel has focused on creating a natural feel that always reflects the time of day. The headboard on the bed is made from parquet flooring from Daniel's previous home. He glued the flooring to an 8 ft x 4 ft sheet of wood and created a painted trim around the edge.
Bathroom
This is the popular, dramatic and luxurious bathroom that Daniel did all by himself. It looks and feels like a five-star bathroom in a hotel. The wallpaper in the shower is finished with varnish that makes it water-resistant. This bathroom was completed five years ago. Previously, the bathroom tiles were beige from floor to ceiling.
As he did with the other rooms in the house, Daniel hand-painted the lovely flowers with bamboo paint, while the base paint was water-resistant black tile paint. Daniel shows us that you do not have to stick to the same bathroom that you have always had. You can change it and play around with the colours and different designs to find something that works for you.
Office/Cartoon Room
This was the next project that Daniel completed after finishing the gold bathroom during the COVID-19 lockdown. The room previously had some grey, half-height panelling. He stripped out the room and painted it white, ripped out the wardrobes and placed mirrors on the wall to add more light into the room. He then spent three days painting the black lines over the white paint, almost going snowblind. Standing in the room, it literally feels like you are in a cartoon. It is one of the most creative rooms in the house, with a WOW factor that made Daniel famous on social media.
Cinema Room
This room was previously a gym for a short period of time. After some trips to Paris, Daniel was inspired by the Moulin Rouge and the Palace of Versailles. It has since been turned into a cinema to maximise its usage. The room is curated in a deep red, with velvet furnishings and gold décor applied across the walls.
Daniel’s home is a clear reflection of his creativity, with each room taking on its own identity while recurring touches of gold, hand-painted details and bold wallpaper help tie the house together.
From the trick hallway floor and secret speakeasy-style doorway to the cartoon room and dramatic bathroom, there is an element of surprise around almost every corner. Daniel’s willingness to experiment with colour, paint, wallpaper and existing features has allowed him to create a home that feels personal, playful and completely his own.
Daniel Bland's Social Media Handles
Instagram: @bland_design
Facebook: Bland Design
YouTube: @bland_design
TikTok: @bland_design
Website: www.bland-design.co.uk
