What are your favourite non high street furniture/home shops?

[chillybits]

We have finally got around to extending and renovating our house. Five years in we are still using the ikea furniture from our one bed flat in a Victorian 4 bed house. Now pregnant, have been saving for ages and am nesting big time!

We've got alot to sort (dining table, sofas bedroom furniture, bed linen, desk) now its starting to look presentable. Don't like a put together look and love a bargain. So anything from warehouses to sofa emporiums or quirky boutiques or fab bespoke carpentry or online.

We're in south east UK but it might be interesting thread for anyone in the UK.

I scour ebay and gumtree for individual things.I do like very basic shapes etc but also don't do a put togethr look from teh high street.I had a long skinny dining table made from scaffold boards which were bleached and then waxed and the legs are painted in F&B french gray.I have it with plain habitat verdi chairs some oak some white,I buy all art locally from either students or markets.Habitat curtains are good if you like a plain raw linen look which I find looks good in a period house. I also like bespoke shelves full of books and old vintage glasses etc.Villa and Hut and Lombok are good for the high st and I have seen some great lamps and big glass vases in t k maxx

Graham and green have some nice stuff.

Go to local small auction houses. You will get the best stuff and so cheap. But don't expect to get it all in one go, you'll probably need a few trips and sometimes come away empty handed.

Oooh, you need to get online to 4OD and watch 'Kirstie's Homemade home' (series 2 is best for you)...the get a van and go to Ardingly Antiques fair in March. I'm all excited for you!

Ebay is great, after depressing trips realising I can't afford anything in the shops I aspire to!

I find if I search for say 'chest of drawers' or 'dresser' 'within 10 miles' (I'm in London) then a bit of patience yields some lovely bits of furniture for say £150 rather than many hundreds new. Even adding say £40 for shiply.com delivery that's a bargain!

For some reason, IKEA furniture actually sells remarkably well on Ebay...

If I had more time and less car-sick offspring I'd love to spend a few weekends at auctions and second-hand furniture dealers in Surrey - the catalogues for London auctions can be found online but are almost all either very expensive antiques or have no furniture except grotty house clearance MDF.

My local antiques centre.I think most of my furniture comes from there and everything from antique etched glass to brass coat hooks.Also ebay is really good for certain pieces.