When all price is 'on application', you know that you shouldn't be there. Well, not if you're a…read morestudent and have only wandered in because you see there's furniture inside and a) you like furniture and b) you still haven't found a coffee table. However, if I COULD afford this stuff I would probably fill my whole house with it. All of the furniture is absolutely beautiful and all of truly excellent quality. There are crystal lamps, for goodness sake. Also, they can offer individually designed pieces of furntiure. They also do things like curtains, so you can extend the beauty to your soft furnishings too. I'd also like to point out that I quite clearly didn't belong there. I was wearing my wellies (which were a little muddy), leggings and a ratty old jumper. Yet I was treated with respect and friendliness.

This beautifully put together interiors shop is run by designers Yvonne Jones and Andrew Burch who…read moreprovide a complete interior design service, from planning through to implementation. Inside the shop itself you find some classic furniture designs and some more contemporary furniture designs, all of it stylish and well-made - but be prepared to pay the price for quality. They also sell other interior design products and accessories, from soft furnishings such as cushions and curtains to lamps, vases and even fabric covered mirrors. If you have pockets deep enough, this shop has some unique products and is well worth a visit.

Harmony Interiors has around for 27 years, which is a considerable achievement! This is largely due…read moreto their professionalism and expertise within the market that they serve. There's no question that they are at the cutting edge of interior design, offering both traditional and contemporary style quality furniture and accessories for the home. They pride themselves on offering a unique and personal service, providing differing levels of involvement depending on the clients specific requirements. Services offered range from discussing simple colour schemes with shop floor representatives or home consultation, where a full interior design service can be provided. Harmony Interiors stocks incredibly beautiful furniture that has been crafted by artisans They have been stocking Duresta for over 25 years and also carry stock from producers like from Parker & Farr. They also offer a bespoke service. Many items for the home can be made specifically to the customers tastes. Sofas can be upholstered in any one of the gorgeous fabrics that they stock, or dining room tables can come with one of many veneers available. There's also the option of buying a bespoke handmade carpet from the Far East, or from manufacturers closer to home, and curtains can be made from a broad selection of fabrics. They are not cheap, but their results are amazing!!!

When my landlady out in St Hilary decided to redecorate and recarpet the huge living room she…read moreconsulted two companies: Sorrento Furnishers in Cowbridge and Modern Decorations in Barry. Her thinking was simple. Both are long established and well trusted family businesses... the kind of people that my landlady endeavours to support. The guys from Modern Decorations came out with swatches and samples of every make and colour, allowing Jill to colour match in the comfort of her own home. Jill is in her seventies and so this was a real benefit from every angle. Although being very active, it helped they Modern Decorations were prepared to come to her. Modern Decorations provide a full measuring, making and fitting service for curtains and soft furnishings. They also even make duvet covers. They have been around for quarter of a century, and really know what they are doing!

M and R get my DIY vote. This family-run builders merchant and decorating supplier are well…read morestocked, reasonably priced and open late on a Saturday (most builders merchants close at 12 on a Saturday). I've brought a lintel, some silicone, a lock and lengths of wood from M and R. I've found them chatty and knowledgable. It's very easy to just drive in and load up your van or car, without attempting to find a place to park on the busy and double yellowed Cowbridge road. Two beautiful Alsatians guard the yard after dark and a caravan is tucked in the corner. I'm not sure who lives in it, it may be a fancy kennel for the Alsatians I fancy. M and R is great for both the professional builder and DIY enthusiast alike.

M&R Decorators Supplies is like a builder's arts and crafts store, or like walking into your mate's…read moreunreasonably large garage and digging out the supplies you want to borrow. With brown boxes stacked high, M&R is not your John Lewis of decorators' stores, but the wide selection seems to the main draw here, with massive vats of paint 10-year-old children can pile into, as well as a range of wallpaper, some priced as low as £3.99. They have everything here - Dulux and Johnson and Leyland trade paints, rolls of linoleum flooring, painting supplies, fence coating, poly filler and pretty much anything else you'd need to complete a house project. Early opening hours means you can get started early, but be aware they're closed on Sunday, so you'll have to save your browsing for the weekdays.

This is a peculiar name for this business, considering that it doesn't sell jewellery. Instead it…read moresells really posh fabrics, which I guess are pretty opulent, but still... the association to the name is still pretty tenuous! That aside, this is a beautiful shop. It's a family run business that provides a quality upholstery fabrics for the domestic as well as the commercial sector. They stock a huge range of fabrics and pride themselves on offering a service that cannot be beaten. They are happy to handle small jobs, (just one chair), or major projects. These guys could reupholster your dining room chairs, living room suite as well as throws, bed covers and curtains to match without breaking a sweat! In fact they'd be happy to! More than happy!

It's wonderful to find, in our day and age, a company who specialises in such a timeless and artist…read moreprofession. Stained glass is, in my mind, one of the most beautiful and long lasting of all art. I'll try not to wax lyrical about this place too much. But their work really is stagring beautiful, it's worth taking a look at their website even if you're not looking to buy anything. You might well become inspired. But what I like best about Ashdown is the humbleness of it all. They make exceptional pieces with due care and attention, but are not showy with it. Instead they rely upon good workmanship and customer service to get them comfortably through the decades. Wonderful.

I visited Ashdown Stained Glass Specialists on Cowbridge Rpad East about a couple of months ago in…read morethe hope that they supplied antique stained glass window panels. During a recent trip to Holland I noticed how many houses have panels hanging from chains within their huge bay windows, and I've decided that I'd quite like to create the same effect. As Ashdown Stained Glass Specialists repair and restore stained glass windows I figured that I'd be in with a good chance of striking it lucky. But it wasn't to be. They don't remarket antique glass, but they do accept commissions and can make new designs look like Victorian originals if that was what I wanted. There are additional benefits too; they are made to measure, and the materials used will be in pristine condition and so will last a lot longer and will require less maintenance. So although a commissioned piece of stained glass window commands a hefty sum of money, I could end up saving myself cash over time, as well as the hassle. It's tricky. They gave me so much advice that I'm not sure which direction to turn in. They were even good enough to put me onto several places where I could find original panels, potentially doing themselves out of business. It's a little ironic, Ashdown Stained Glass Specialists have been in business for well over a century, and so would have made some of the windows I'm likely to find at architectural salvage yards. But, being a progressive company they have moved with the times. Some of their modern designs are breath-taking, especially as they can create design integrity throughout a property, using reinforced glass to be used for partitioning and on stairwells instead of a balustrade.

They were so good and made me some beautiful curtains. I had already bought the fabric but Neil was…read moregreat and they accommodated this and made the curtains which everyone comments on. i would highly recommend them.

www.fabricmill.co.uk…read more The Fabric Mill was established twenty years ago by a very knowledgeable man called Neil, who still takes a very hands-on approach to his business, and manages the shop himself. As you would expect from the address, The Fabric Mill only sells the best, and pays particular attention to levels of service. They aim to be the best! Offering the personal touch, Neil will ensure that your order is closely tracked from start to finish, essentially 'project managing' your requirements for you. As well as selling fabrics, furnishings, loose covers, wallcoverings, curtains, pelmets, tracks and blinds, they also offer a number of added value services. These include a complete curtain making service which includes fitting, tracks and poles, as well as, traditional upholstery and their loose cover making services.

Essence Interiors is a fantastic kitchen and bathroom shop on Whitchurch Road that is always a…read morepleasure to dawdle by, looking in at the elegant displays. Friends of mine had a bespoke kitchen made by these guys about one and a half years ago. It's beautiful, and a dream to use, (but wasn't cheap). The reasoning behind having the kitchen done was because prior to that they had wanted to sell, (mainly because they weren't happy with the old kitchen and were planning a family). The recession made them revise their decision dramatically. They've put the decision to have a family on hold until the economic climate is more certain, and have opted to improve their current home instead of playing a game of chance with the volatile housing market. They are so pleased with the results that they are considering having the bathroom done too. I personally think they're crazy as their present bathroom is really nice, if a little commonplace. There's no denying that the craftsmanship and design skills of Essence Interiors make a home really special, and the results are really seductive, but both of them are facing possible redundancy and I'd hate to see them take one risk too many. Besides, I thought that they were meant to be making babies not bathrooms!