Should I be writing this review?
This place is the specialist furniture section of that well known purveyor to the flouncy brigade - Laura Ashley.
I am not really the target market for flouncy shops.
I have the fashion sense of an Ice Road Trucker.
So why am I writing this? Mainly to tell folks - you can do better.
Don't get sucked into the white washed batten boards and mechanically weathered wooden wardrobes - just remember - you can do better.
The lovely "antiqued" standard lamp on sale for 250 quid at Laura Ashley is definitely not £230 better than a £20 version from Ikea when it is sitting in your post-modern attempt at Mr Darcy's drawing room. If you want to move up in style then head to John Lewis.
Finally, their delivery system is a little weird. We wanted two sofas delivered in a couple months. When the store finally took delivery of them they had to be dropped off at our place immediately. We could not delay delivery. Unfortunately, we also were trying to sort out decorating and remodelling of the new place and were not sure of dates, Laura Ashley were pretty immovable on this and could only offer a selection of dates that may or may not match ours. We left it.
Went to John Lewis and found similar style couches, same price, better quality, much better guarantee and very flexible on delivery. We ordered there.
Looking back on it - I was trying to remember why we were so in love with the Laura Ashley stuff. Not sure, but I think that the store sucks you into this idea that you can be a character in a Bronte novel.
I say leave the flouncy brigade to their romanticism and badly made over-priced furniture. read more