(member)

10/05/2008 17:38

Furniture Shopping

We've decided to replace a few pieces of furniture, for no other reason than they're falling apart. Sofas, kitchen table, bookcase all looking shabby in an unfashionable sort of way!

Have had a look in M&S, John Lewis and the NEXT catalogue and have to say, am very uninspired by what's in stock just now.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to any other shops we could try? Am not near an IKEA store, so will rule that one out.

(member)

10/05/2008 18:08

Re: Furniture Shopping

Hi Elsie

Have you looked at Laura Ashley?

(member)

10/05/2008 18:23

Re: Furniture Shopping

hi elsie
will start slicing up my lamb shortly.
you can shop online on ikea. but having said that, I realise one wants to see the furniture "in the flesh" so to speak, before buying.
I have ikeas sofa Ektorp,(and armchairs) white, and am qquite pleased, it´s comfy, and you can remove the covers for a wash when needed. Had it for 6 years now, and a big plus is that you can buy new covers ( as I have done just recently) and replace the old ones.
a friend of mine has ekeskog, which is also very comfy, but a bit "deeper", a sofa to crawl into, and relax.
but it is difficult I know, if you can´t see it and try it out yourself.
Good luck
and thanks for helping me out tonight with my lamb!

(member)

10/05/2008 18:50

Re: Furniture Shopping

Thanks for those suggestions Duckegg and Maja.

Had completely forgotten about Laura Ashley, and will investigate IKEA online. I've no problems with ordering furniture online, as you can always send it back!

When we moved to Dubai we kitted out the kids rooms and the kitchen completely with IKEA stuff and it was great.

There was another store in Dubai, called The One, which sold fab Danish furniture where we bought sofas and our bedroom stuff - could do with that store here!

(member)

10/05/2008 19:19

Re: Furniture Shopping

just thought, as you mentioned danish furniture, there is a big danish furniture store ILVA, and you can buy online from them, in scandinavia anyway, have no idea if they send to uk, maybe not. just a thought.

(member)

10/05/2008 20:02

Re: Furniture Shopping

Thanks maja, I'll look into that.

How was the lamb?

(member)

10/05/2008 20:10

Re: Furniture Shopping

I remember seeing an ILVA store in Lakeside in the Summer so presumably this will mean that they deliver in the UK.

(member)

10/05/2008 20:10

Re: Furniture Shopping

I have a lot of furniture from Habitat.I've had leather sofas from there for a few years and they have been great....a bit better quality than IKEA (our previous sofas were from there)

(member)

10/05/2008 21:51

Re: Furniture Shopping

Hi Elsie,

I used to be a furniture buyer so here are some ideas:

It depends on how much you want to spend and what your style is. If you want good quality at mid market prices then I would recomend John Lewis (have you looked at their website - they have a larger range than in store), M&S and Furniture Village - all really good places to try (although I know you said that JLP and M&S were not inspiring just now). There are also some very good independant stores depending on where you live - Arighi Bianchi (Macclesfield), Cookes (Birmingham) and Barker & Stonehouse (Middlesbrough and Leeds) are amongst the best.

At the more expensive end New Heights is very good (mainly solid woods) as is Multiyork. Actually Laura Ashley also have some really lovely pieces but they have very few large shops where you can actually see the products (if you live near Stratford upon Avon there is a very good branch there with lots of furniture on display). However, Laura Ashley has very classic styling so if you want something more contemporary it is not the place to go. House of Fraser have very modern styles but are expensive.

By the way, although you are not near an Ikea store you can now shop and order online (just an idea).

Hope this helps

(member)

10/05/2008 21:53

Re: Furniture Shopping

Habitat is now owned by Ikea and sadly the quality is not as good as it used to be.

(member)

11/05/2008 11:36

Re: Furniture Shopping

You could paint the bookcases and kitchen table for a shabby chic look - a pale shade in an eggshell finish is best. You can also buy a one-coat primner which avoids sanding and other prep - ask in a good decorating shop. I did this with my old dining table and sideboard and it gave them a completely new lease of life.

(member)

11/05/2008 12:54

Re: Furniture Shopping

theres an Ilva store in Newcastle, near the Metro centre, so I assume there will be one or two more in the UK

(member)

11/05/2008 15:00

Re: Furniture Shopping

Thanks for all the great advice.

I've requested an IKEA cataloge as was getting goggle-eyes looking at it all on the computer! Also been browsing through the BBC Good Homes mag, so tomorrow when the kiddies are at school, I'll have a good look at all the websites of interesting stockists.

Thanks for the info, lynn1. Just goes to show there's an expert in every field on this forum!

Had a look at the Ilva website and the stuff looks good - unfortunately, I doubt Aberdeen will get a branch any time soon.

By the way, if anyone is planning to buy anything at The Pier, there's a 20% off coupon in the BBC Good Homes mag - am just going to have a look at The Pier Online now!

(member)

11/05/2008 16:23

Re: Furniture Shopping

Can't recommend Furniture Village highly enough for service. A really pleasurable experience from the free coffee and cookies at the shop, the informative and helpful assistant and the delivery well ..... said when would arrive, phoned to say they were near, asked exactly where we wanted the furniture and removed all packaging. This was from Cambridge so don't know if it is like this at all of the stores but will be going back.
Mazza

(member)

11/05/2008 21:04

Re: Furniture Shopping

Having seen the post recommending Arighi Bianchi stuff-we bought out lounge furniture from there about 10 years ago maybe more and it still looks lovely after a couple o fhouse moves. We did initially have a problem with a unit but they came and took it away twice and replaced it with new each time. Excellent after sevice.

Best of luck

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