We came to look at boxes, cos... um... we are a little obsessed with boxes…read more We sated ourselves with a plastic basket for our hat collection and a wheeled storage box with clip on lid for our canoeing gear. It's perfect and will replace the rubbish one we've been putting up with for the last six years. My husband remarked how Homebase was much much better value than Woodies for some storage drawers he needed for work recently. 15 EUR v 40 EUR. Mad difference. We wandered around all the departments and we picked up a few more bits that have been on my long term shopping list. I picked up a lovely small cactus for 2.60 EUR. It's fairly impressive and large. It seems to cover all the bases for your home and garden. And they've boxes. So many wonderful boxes.

I was horrified this morn, half way through September, to hear an ad on the radio for Christmas…read moreparties... the first Christmas ad of the season... good god, where did that last year go? Anyway as I mulled over all things festive I happened to be on Sandymount avenue and there are the gates to Enable Ireland and their great little garden centre where I have gotten our Christmas tree for the last 4 years. I wander in, and realise that there is more here than trees and plants; they have garden tools and pellets, compost and oddly enough a selection of posters saying things like you 'don't have to be crazy to work here' yada yada yada. They also have a display of Ballydongan pottery (nope, never heard of it either) jolly nice as it happens. The garden centre is part on Enable Ireland so when you shop there you are not only getting some very nice greenery (or dodgy plaques/posters) but your cash is doing some extra good.... which is nice.

...and one day i found myself really getting into the gardening thing…read more.. but alas, i needed supplies. SUPPLIES!!! and my searches all ended up in tiny TINY little places where i had to dig underneath things to find other things and generally didn't find many things i needed at all. so imagine my thrill at finding Avenue Garden Centre. not only is it larger than a cupboard, they have loads of things. they have an entire area dedicated to ginormous bags of compost. another area just for pots. short of flying back to the america and going to home depot, it's the best garden store i've found within throwing distance of city centre. yes, i'm sure there are more magical places out in the burbs, but please people, i don't have a car and i don't fancy hauling 50kg bags of compost around on the LUAS. i'm sure you can understand. i was able to get there on DART, find the things i needed (and then some) and hail a nice lady cabbie (i know, right?) to get it all back to the house for me. luckily, i also had Husband with me to do the heavy lifting. oh i should also mention that the staff was also extremely helpful and friendly. i didn't feel like a complete retard asking them for help. that's a bonus in my book :)

I lost count how often I drove past this Nursery and just because it's a tiny entrance I never…read moreconsidered going there (well, plus the fact that I live in an apartment without balcony, so it's not often that I need plants). Bad mistake. This time I needed a nice plant as a present so seeing they are basically on my doorstep I drove in - what a surprise. It's actually a quite big nursery with a rather big car park too. Looking to find the best suitable plant for my friend I looked at almost all plants on display. And they all looked great with good prices. Together with pots and other gardening related items it's definitely now a place on my map. The staff was very nice and obviously enjoyed working there.

This place i believe is a second generation plant nursery and garden centre and has been supplying…read morehouseholders of Dun Laoghaire with quality plants for decades. It's my first port of call when looking for quality plants in spring time and has a huge selection of bedding plants. Currently going through renovations which may mean limited stocks but it'll only mean better things to come for shoppers in the spring and summer ahead.

I can't tell you how much I dread wifey saying things like "we need a new towel rail for the…read morebathroom" or "the bathroom needs new silicone" or "have you fixed the iron maiden in the dungeon yet?" It means I'm going to have to go to some sort of home wares place and explain to the people that I need "a thingy to fix the broken whatsit and do you have them in tartan?" These places are all the same and rarely any fun. Imagine my surprise then when I wondered into Home Store... It is big and bright and stuffed with cool stuff like pasta makers and gimmiky stuff like soda can carousels ... A lot of tat but a lot of cool kitchen gadgets as well. I honestly enjoyed my 30 mins wandering around looking for towel rails - now, there is yet another sentence I never thought I'd write.

Love this store it has everything, it is like an Irish Bed Bath and Beyond! I also love that this…read morestore has half price sales every month!

Sheets, curtains, pillow cases, table cloths, net curtains any of the things in your house that is…read moremade of big swathes of material is sold here. I like this shop because sometimesits hard tothinkof where you buy this type of stuff and generally when you do think of it you endup naming a department store or some big box retailer but there are small shops out there that do this stuff! When you walk into this shop though you almost feel like breaking into asoundofmusic classic tune and wrapping yourself in a green sheet and dancing around a bit! There is always a bit of asale in here to as far as i can see, i havent bought too much in here yet, think im waiting to become more domestic or something!

I got all excited when i went into this shop, for some reason i always find it really ahrd to find…read morea newbridge silver stockist! this placeis brimming with the stuff! see, there are lots of people i work with who are not irish and i always think its nice toget them something irish when they are leaving but not something that is all celticy or tacky irish if that makes sense and so newbridge jewelry is perfect! this is where iwill be going from now on instead of heading to weirs, its much cheaper in here! (not that i want to skimp on their present but they will get more presents for my money!) anyway as was said before they do all other types of things like crystal and candles and other jewelry,imjust excited about the newbridge stuff though!

This shop mostly sells gift items from various brands. They have jewelry here from Newbridge and…read morePilgrim, which is quite nice. They also stock a range of other Newbridge items like frames. Aside from this they sell things like crystal and jewelry boxes, as well as some Yankee candle stock - basically whatever you might need for a gift for someone when you really don't know what to get

This place was recommended to us by a member of staff in Homebase when they didn't have a clue…read moreabout what we were looking for. What a change of scene! The place is packed with everything you might need from floor to ceiling (litteraly). People queue for advice and chat while they wait. They didn't have what we needed but they tried very hard to help us out. You feel like you are back in time and it makes you it was probably better back then. Also probably the only place where you can find Vhs tapes and Pound to Euro converter might you need one.

Another great little hardware shop, stocks a little of pretty much everything and even in October…read morehas a big selection of small bedding plants.

MEAT EATERS OF THE WORLD UNITE - MY NEW BBQ - 80 QUID CHEAPER…read more I found this place on the internet after a particularly stressful encounter with a bad sales person in another garden Centre. I was in the market for a Weber BBQ. If you dont know what these are they are a pretty spendy investment into outdoor gas cooking but are without doubt top quality. They will outlast any other BBQ on the market and have a 25Y guarantee to back it up... Anyway this place at Goatstown Cross not only does BBQs but all kinds of Garden furniture, planters, parasols, gas heaters, electric heaters, fire pits etc.. Lots of cool stuff for the garden. John who owns the place was very knowledgeable about the whole BBQ scene steered me in a new happier direction of BB type and I am not disappointed. For anyone considering buying a Weber you wont find better value in the City. I drove from the last dealer in Clondalkin and saved myself over 80 quid by going to Outdoor Scene!! It seems all the garden centres which sell Weber will not discount until after the end of the season when people dont want to cook outside any more. Ill be back again to buy more stuff for the Barbie.

Poor customer service. Do not respond to emails queries on website. Contacted about an item which I…read morewas told was in stock. Was told I needed appointment to view because of COVID 19 restrictions. Arrived on date of appointment. People appeared to be entering and leaving with no appointment. Was told that one item of the set I wanted was no longer in stock. Manager was quite dismissive with a hard luck attitude. They had sold everything online so my loss. No offer to suggest an alternative. Hope business stays strong for them. Clearly don't need to make an effort currently.

I have never been in this shop, I don't know where it is and I'm not in a mad rush to find out…read more However, I would count myself a regular phone-in customer. I merely tell them how much I want to spend and they do the rest with unerring attention to detail and an uncanny sense of knowing exactly what's necessary for the occassion. They have yet to let me down, delivering excellent, fresh, keenly priced and well-presented bouquets to my lovely wife within an hour or two of my ordering them, complete with schmaltzy message which elicits not a titter when communicated over the 'phone. This is the only downside of the service but until they invent virtual flowers this is the best I can do. Highly recommended.

The smell in this shop is simply divine! I love it so much and the flowers are really unique and…read morecool not just your average stuff that you would find in most run of the mill florists. They offer cut flowers as well as trees, shrubs and pot plants for both indoors and out. They sell lovely holders and cards and gift items as well as chocolate so a great stop for Mother's Day as well as Valentine's Day. But the real draw here is the florists skill at selecting, arranging and presenting perfect made to order bouquets! A fabulous gift for any occasion!

Hard to fault them really, LOTS of staff, selling pretty much everything from beds to blenders…read more Lots of staff means you are not left waiting, there is someone there to explain the difference between X and Y and which might suite you better and they do it with a smile. Prices are overall pretty good too.

Notwithstanding their annoying radio ads, which seem to have gone away for now, I found myself…read morequite enjoying my Harvey Norman experience. I had a notion of what TV I wanted before going in and that's what I got.... but for cheaper than expected. As I strolled my way over to the wall of TV screens, I was stopped and asked if I wanted help, so I said 'yes please... I'd like a TV'... look at me being all grown up and buying a new tv instead of getting second hand ones! I'd wanted a 23inch but it seemed so puny against the wall of giant screens... I had a vulnerable moment and asked about bigger sizes (even though rationally I knew they wouldn't fit in the space in my apartment). Thankfully the sales guy didn't pounce of my wide-eyed moment brought on by too much shininess and just sold me what I asked for, but including a four year warantee in the price... look at me all grown up with a warantee! There is precisely no chance that I won't lose that piece of paper! The TV is now at home and being all shiny and vibrant... I may be experiencing sensory overload as a result!