Patrick Collins is an independent furniture shop in West Belfast. The stock is a real mixture of…read moremodern, contemporary stuff and more traditional looking furniture. Any stuff we've bought (which includes both mine and my mum's bedroom furniture) has been of exceptional quality. It is a little more expensive than going to a chain store, but I think the service and quality you get from here makes it worth it.

the owner is friendly and always wiling to help. The CCS baisically has all the bits and bobs you…read moreneed, and at low prices. Would recomend a look round.

CCS is basically a £1 shop with higher prices, sells mainly household items, small gifts and pet…read moresupplies, Has a very good supply of flowers and plants in season and the staff are of the most friendly i have seen anywhere. Off road parking is available at the rear and its worth a visit if in the local area

You'll need half a day to go round this store & see everything you want to see. It's not very clear…read moreat all as to how you are supposed to make your purchase, unless you've been before & have picked up how it's done! I find the prices very high & the quality very poor! It's quite a stressful place to be & difficult to find and actually buy the item you wish to buy! Personally i wouldn't buy furniture here , as it looks really cheap but the prices are premium prices! The last & final time i visited, i bought several small items, such as cutlery & kitchen utensils (Should know better by now) & when i got home and checked same items on internet, found them at less than half the price! It's a tad confusing & rather poorly set out store , with very inadequate help to hand ! The swedish meatballs & mash in the restaurant are excellent though.

IKEA's great value for money and has a massive selection of household furniture and items. It is a…read morebit of a pain that it's all mainly flat pack stuff but they do offer both delivery and assembly services which are super. I enjoy an occasional wander around this giant store and really like the simple Swedish design of the furniture. IKEA overall has relatively good environmental credentials with all stores being energy efficient and products produced as sustainably as can be. I have some IKEA shelving I've had for years and plan to keep forever as it's strong and sturdy. The IKEA cafe is also economical and offers some good vegetarian options.

Blimey, Wardens should be renamed "The Never-Ending Store That Has Just About Everything"…read more Seriously. I have many fond (ahem) memories of being dragged, I mean brought, down to Wardens with my parents. Usually the visit was a long and tiresome, er, lengthy and informative one, consisting of mum and dad dandering round the furniture department, the decorating department, the gardening department, and the kitchenware / appliances department. Every ten year old's dream really. These days, I definitely appreciate Wardens much more than I used to. You could literally spend all day in the place, browsing the various departments. If you come in off High Street, you are greeted by a beautiful gift section, filled with ornamental goods, china, glassware and the like. You can find everything from Alice in Wonderland figurines to Goebel cats to Denby pottery to Tyrone Crystal. Seriously good stuff. Following on from this is the gardening / pets / kitchenware / decorating department (they sort of merge into one), in which I found a little jar of Jellybeans (considered purchased). Really goes to show the variety of goods Wardens has. The furniture etc department (you know what I mean...pictures / frames / carpets / rugs and all that jazz) lies beyond this, leading out towards the car park which is located off South Street. Parking here is advisable - Ards is an absolute madhouse when it comes to trying to find yourself a space. You just never know what you'll find in Wardens...there truly is something for everyone.

Warden's is, for me, the best bits and bobs shop in Newtownards. It's one of those huge big…read moredepartment stores with lots of different areas and slops and upstairs and downstairs areas and parts where tall people have to duck and fat people have to squeeze. It stocks everything from bespoke wedding hair pieces to hose pipes. It's a general store not unlike the department store on the popular BBC comedy of yesteryear 'Are You Being Served?' There is a section for wallpaper and paint, cookware, furniture, artwork, jewellery, screws and garden accessories to name only a small fraction. The only thing I will say is that it can be expensive and parking out the front is impossible. Go out the back to park, you will have to pay and display even if you are only nipping in as there is a traffic warden lingering somewhere all the time - don't risk it. Although the store is expensive it does stock a lot of bits and bobs and the sales are pretty good.

The Bangor Homebase is one of the bigger stores in the province. It's size can be a bit of a drag…read morewhen you don't know your way round it. They have a card as a type of loyalty scheme whereby you get money back in the way of voucher. the more you spent the bigger the percentage of cashback. Watch out for some great bargains on garden equipment at the end of season you can get worthwhile reductions.

Homebase in Bangor is situated in Balloo Retail Park next to Sainsbury's supermarket. There are…read moreadequate parking spaces although on a Saturday afternoon you may struggle to get a space close to the entrance. As with most DIY chain stores there are a wide range of materials on offer. This store has a pleasant garden centre which I always find well stocked with healthy plants at great prices. On the downside, l find the service a bit hit or miss. Staff are hard to locate on the shop floor and if you do find one their knowledge of products can be sketchy! If you know what you are looking for I would recommend this store.

This is a pretty well known wee homewares and knick-knack shop with an excellent location right in…read morethe middle of town. Now, I'm not a big fan of this kind of place, my sister used to drag me to Habitat all the time and it fostered nothing but resentment in my soul for scented candles and picture frames. That is not to say that this place is not bad at what it does. It seems to be quite cheap to me but that being said I don't buy this kinda stuff all that often. There were an awful lot of signs up that said the likes of '50% off' or 'Sale' so I think this the kind of place you could go to get a bargain. Also, the staff were dead on enough when I called in here. They were friendly and polite without being too pushy or in your face.

This branch of the popular Au Naturele brand is one of two of the stores in the city centre…read more They sell homewares and random little things that you probably don't need but are nice anyway. Au Naturele certainly won't burn a hole in your pocket and you may even come away with a bargain or two. A nice place to pick up some fancy soaps or candles for your mum or aunt.

This store has been moved to the Kennedy centre It has a…read moregood range of clothes for male/female/child as most of them tend to do They also have an excellent home section The staff are always pleasant, there's always plenty of stock on shelves and I always get what I need...all good!

Absolutely beautiful furniture, such unique pieces. The staff are very knowledgeable and…read moreexceptionally friendly!

Wow - Bright lights everywhere! Exclusive Designs is located just inside the Royal Avenue entrance…read moreof Castecourt, if you're coming in from the street on a sunny day don't bother taking your sunglasses off because Exclusive Designs is bright. There are so many shiny objects in this shop, physicists could use it to stage some sort of refraction or reflection experiment. Exclusive designs sell all sorts of home decorations, furniture, lamps, mirrors, vases and odd light fixtures. Looking at a few price tags it all seemed priced quite well and I noticed that they have payment plans available if you really want a bright red TV stand but just can't quite afford it this month. Exclusive Designs is not really to my taste but it is certainly popular in Belfast. If you're in to home decorations then pay them a visit - I'm sure you'll find something in their huge stock that you love.