Where to buy furniture?

[Chalalala]

I know it sounds like a silly question, sorry.

Both DH and I are foreign, and we've always lived in furnished accommodation. Now that we're buying, we need to get everything - beds, sofa, table, etc.

I would know where to go in our respective countries (Pottery Barn!!) but the choice seems really limited here - either nice stuff at extortionate prices from John Lewis, or cheap crap from Argos? I know I must be missing obvious options.

So, where would you go for nice-looking but not overly pricey furniture?

We've recently moved and bought furniture from a variety of places; Cargo do lovely kitchen and dining furniture. Our bed was from DFS and is amazing; try Homesense for well priced individual things - it's the TK Maxx of the home furnishing world so what you get depends on what they have on the day. Avoid Worldstores (bedroomfurnitureworld.com etc) like the plague as they rely on third party suppliers and are massively unreliable. Argos does have the odd decent piece as long as you go for ready assembled and not flatpack. Littlewoods are also good.

Ikea

thanks dickie, that's really useful!

Ikea, Next.

Love our ikea sofa.

How about auctions, online or in auction houses. You can get some bargains if you are into vintage stuff. Try looking on Saleroom for a listing of auctions coming up.

Oakfurnitureland - online or showrooms - for solid wood furniture at reasonable prices.

I second Oak furniture land, we drove to the nearest showroom to us and had a good look and sit on everything. I really liked the solid wood tables chairs etc. We got a leather couch and armchair from them. Fast delivery and nice polite delivery men.

We mix and match cheap with more expensive stuff. In our bedroom for instance we splashed out on a Warren Evans bed and got IKEA wardrobes.

Are there any local furniture stores to you?

I always thought our local, been there forever furniture store only sold old peoples stuff and their advertising leaflets would lead you to believe that, but we got a gorgeous dining set and settee for a really good price with immediate delivery unlike 3 months for a settee from dfs

Happy shopping!

Ebay
Freecycle
Gumtree
Charity shops

then
Ikea
Argos

also
Antiques warehouses often have simpler stuff (because they do house clearances) at the back

IKEA for kitchen stuff and storage
made.com for sofas and chairs
eBay (Shiply for transport) for everything
featherandblack and memoryfoamwarehouse for beds and mattresses
soakandsleep for bedding
peppermill antiques for chairs
nina's country kitchen for tables and bookcases

You don't say where you are but there's a furniture clearance company called Trade Secret - if you register with them they have a regular supply of what looks like lovely quality, discontinued/surplus furniture. I haven't had the chance to visit yet but I've got my eye on them for when we do our lounge.

Hard to beat Ikea for practical things and choice - we've just done out DS's bedroom entirely (desk/bed/wardrobes/bookcases) for about £700 and it's all stuff that will last through teenage years.

A bit more traditional in style but also all under one roof - you could try say a Downtown/Boundary Mill Stores or Leekes kind of place, or a big Co-op department store. Or just drive/ask around your local town - everywhere has a couple of independent furniture shops even if they don't have a website, and they are likely to be really helpful if you have an overwhelming amount of stuff to buy!

ebay and auction houses are great for tables etc. - you can check what's coming up at auctions are near you at www.the-saleroom.com

I LOVE loaf.com in terms of style and customer service.

Made.com has good designs, but customer service can be a bit meh. Didn't stop me from buying there though...

I agree loaf is miles better than made. But it's also double or triple the price! It depends on the OPs budget really.

(I lust after a Bagsie sofa omfg.)

Speaking of US home furnishing stores... I would like to find the equivalent of Restoration Hardware in the UK. Sigh.

I don't recommend oakfurnitureland because they are terrible if anything goes wrong and take forever to refund (months)
Marks & Spencers for basics (coffee table/ side table) can be good, sofas from Ikea, barker & stonehouse for interesting bits if you are in the north, furniture village but not for sofas, local furniture stores,

Tonacata I was lusting (is that the right word?) after the Bagsie sofa for a really long time. But yeah - went with MADE in the end.

Got dining table from Loaf though. LOVE it...

... Although Pottery Barn is quite like Loaf in terms of pricing.

thanks everyone, loving the suggestions, lots of ideas for me to look into!!

PS oh yes, Restoration Hardware...

I was in the same boat six months ago!

Highly recommend sofa.com for sofas. Ours is utterly fab. We looked at everything (Multiyork, Loaf etc) but they werethe nicest.

We bought an Hypnos bed from an independent bed store in London and I love it to death.

For tables go for a walk on either Tottenham Court Rd or the Kings Rd - there are lots of furniture display rooms on both.

Oh yes - beds from Hypnos or Vi-Spring. Maybe opt for a customised headboard...