Any surprisingly good Temu home decor finds?

[lavenderscenteddrawerliners]

I know, it's unethical and the vast majority of Mumsnet would never consider something do cheap and mass produced. Me, on the other hand, needs something cheap and cheerful to decorate my new place. I'm hoping there are a few of you who can tell me you've bought rugs/curtains/throws that were great value for money. Or anything else home related.

But again, how does not buying it help the overall issue?

My budget is less and I get it from eBay, Vinted and charity shops.
I buy decent branded stuff from there.

So that’s the legal “safe” stuff.

imagine what’s illegal and unsafe going into them

I’ve gone down a rabbit hole on this recently and decided to stop buying anything Shein/Temu for these reasons; the safety of the products. I didn’t even realise clothes could hold harmful levels of toxins, it’s been majorly eye opening to the point I threw out all my Shein clothes.
Could you try Vinted and local free Facebook groups?

I would like to sometimes buy new though. But it appears that’s impossible.

I know that feeling. some stuff I’ve been lucky enough to find new in charity shops or on eBay. Still have labels etc but they are rare.

A lot of people don’t realise this that’s why it’s so important to inform people . I would never ever risk my children’s health by buying something from Temu ( or Amazon etc unless it’s a known brand ).

I find it quite shocking that so many people do this despite knowing of the risks . It doesn’t surprise me that people don’t care about the environment, people from other countries working in these factories or England’s economy ,us humans are awful and selfish in general .
What I don’t understand is why people don’t care about their own children potentially getting cancer or other health problems along the line from dangerous chemicals because they want “something nice and cheap to wear or look at”. It’s one thing if you don’t know but if you do and still make this choice it’s unbelievable.

And I know that you can’t protect your children from everything but at least you can minimize the risks as much as you possibly can . Like a lot of people have been saying if you buy something in a shop in England it’s been tested to provide safety.

It's hard to understand but for some people filling their homes with piles of cheap tat literally is the most important thing.

Is it only children that are affected by the dodgy chemicals then?

I do care about the environment even though I won’t have any skin in the game once I’m dead.

I wear my clothes for 10-12 years at least

I realise you consider most people morally inferior to you but I don’t think you need to be quite so disparaging.

Are you doing anything personally to improve things for the workers? Or do you think it’s okay just to not buy stuff?

Children are a lot more sensitive to chemicals than adults. Because their organs and nervous systems are rapidly developing exposure to dangerous chemicals can trigger a higher risk of adverse health effects.

That’s great that you use your clothes for that many years!

Sorry, but I've seen the quality. Your flats must look like a teenage bedroom

Wow. What a nasty comment. Are you always that dismissive?

Why assume people have flats?

Also it’s not just home decor. Tbh I have never bought anything home related from anywhere in my entire life, so I agree it’s totally unnecessary.

Are you hoping that being that disparaging will make people see the error of their ways? Because it won’t. Calm discussion - maybe. Nasty comments about posters and their homes just risks making you look unable to discuss things rationally.

I realise that but if the risk is to children then it isn’t relevant to a lot of people.

I am probably a lot greener than many people - I don’t have children, don’t drive, never flown, I recycle….

So if I lose a few ‘green points’ from buying from Temu, so be it 🙅‍♀️

What flats?

Was about to post the same, I have had some good stuff from Dunelm especially in the reduced section. My tip is to make sure you have your window measurements noted on your phone and then if you see a bargain that will fit, grab it and put it away. I did that with some curtains a fir while before i did the room they were destined for. They were beautiful, lined and very good quality. As for Temu, i have never bought anything from there as I worry about the way the goods are produced and how safe they are. I was watching a Temu "haul" video the other day and the stuff looked tacky and the "influencer" was recommending washing everything bought from there as a lot of it has a chemical smell.

Why are people assuming that we’re all buying kids stuff from Temu? I’ve never bought anything kids stuff, I fail to see how buying some gardening tools and a ceramic vase is going to poison any kids that come into my home. Weird.

Because (a) they lack imagination and (b) it suits their narrative to believe that people live in shitholes full of tat.

Not a good way to persuade people to make ethical choices

Just because these chemicals/toxins are even more dangerous for children it doesn’t mean that they’re harmless for adults . I’ve known about the risks with chemicals in clothes for many years due to my profession and I was very careful even before I had kids. I personally think dangerous chemicals in clothes should just be banned and they probably will be in the future . Until then it’s up to each individual to make informed decisions.

Thank you for explaining calmly

I think some posters need to understand that most people do make informed decisions, just not always the ones that those posters would make

You can find beautiful and great quality curtains of almost all possible dimensions on eBay if you are patient.

the problem is the ‘want it now’ culture and the ridiculous pressure to have a fashionable home, that we are all victims of. Trying to rise above that rubbish is the least we can do for future generations

The other factor that I don’t think has been discussed enough on this thread is that in the UK our economy is so globalised and liberalised that the very idea of not having access to things like Shein and Temu would be inconceivable to many people, like a privation of their freedom.

whereas in many other countries, for example some Scandinavian countries, these is simply no Amazon because the government knows Amazon would screw over the local economy.

doing something like that is just politically inconceivable in the UK, but probably necessary to preserve any creative industries and small businesses here

and patriotism is so associated with the far right, people here don’t have a sense of community and loyalty to the UK and Europe that makes buying from Temu and Shein just feel wrong. People in the UK are so disconnected from any non-far right forms of patriotism that they just don’t think about things, they only think about price.

Who thinks it’s a privation? We all make choices using a lot of different criteria.

You mentioned Amazon - where I live, we would have been fucked without them during lockdown.

What did the local shops do? Very little. And so they suffered.

People are free to shop from whatever source they want. Choosing to pay more for ‘ethical’ products is fine, but it doesn’t give you carte blanche to demand that others do the same.

I bought a bistro set from Temu last year, exactly the same one was for sale on B&Q website, they were using the same photo, it was just much cheaper on Temu, so even when you think you are buying better, you might not be.