I am really really looking forward to the day when I am living in my own house and I can furnish it…read morethe way I want. No landlords restricting painting, and enough space to put things that look nice and comfortable. This place on the outside just reads 'The Furniture Centre'. However, on their website they call themselves 'DFS - The Furniture Centre'. I am guessing this is so that they show up on search engines when people search for DFS Furniture, fair play to them. But they are not *the* DFS, so don't be confused between the two. Despite this they still offer a really good range of furniture, at a much cheaper price than the original DFS. Coffe tables, console tables, occasional tables, TV and media Units, storage units and book cases, tub chairs and arm chairs, dining room furniture, kitchen and bar furniture, mirrors, bedroom furniture, sofas and sofa beds can all be seen in their 4 showrooms. They also offer free delivery on purchases of over £1000.

This is a large superstore along the pedestrianised high street with loads of different varieties…read moreof furniture. Selections of various styles of beds, lamps, and curtains. Quite modern looking chairs with leather finish and contrasting fabric cushions, dining table and chair sets as well as outdoor furniture. The shop offers a small range of home office furniture, sofas and textile for various uses. All you need to a little home improvement. A delivery service is offered and there is also a comprehensive online shop.

Barker and Stonehouse is a furniture store. Is that all? Nope of course not. To be rude would be to…read morecall it a mismatch of stuff all under one roof. Kinda like Toys'R'us, sorry no, that was wrong and unfair. My caffeine induced manic is taking over. There are many different genres of furniture to be found in this Barker and Stonehouse all of which are excellent in quality. If Habitat is Mark's and Spencer's Food, then Barker and Stonehouse is Sainsbury's, not quite as rich and expensive, but still excellent in quality and taste. There are the styles that suit the grander tastes, more antique French sort of styles, high back chairs, ornate framework and very detailed fabrics, sitting next to the more futuristic looks of leather and steel, clean lines, tubular framing, bold colours and prints, sleek and sharp lines, perspex, acrylic, stainless steel, velvet, leather, fabric, oak, copper plate. Sofas, chaise longues, arm chairs, book cases, coffee tables, dining room tables, bedroom furniture, lounge furniture, you name it and it's probably here. This particular store is fairly huge, there's plenty to walk around and poke at, sit on, open, close, test, wipe, swipe and have a nosey at. The staff aren't as pushy as you'd find in somewhere like DFS where the moment you plonk your derriere down on a sofa there's a smartly dressed sales bod at your feet, you're pretty much left to your own devices until you're ready to ask a person for help, which is great as you don't feel pressured to buy or bolt. Another good thing about Barker and Stonehoue is the end of season clearances, which are unique to each store, there are some mega savings to be had on particular items, with savings edging over the £1000 mark on sofas or speciality furniture.

I bought a number of things from B&S for my place, and one of them, a dining table, has caused some…read moreproblems. Barely a few months after I bought it, wood split along the middle of table, and the cracks were getting longer. For me this was a table that I intended to keep for at least several years, and I wanted to make sure something is done about the cracks early on. Dealing with their customer services, somewhere in Middlesborough, proved a nightmare. I always had to be the one chasing them because they were so unresponsive. After some six months from me initially contacting them I managed to get their technician in to assess the table. His verdict was that there definitely was a problem with the wood as it also split underneath the table, and he said in such cases, B&S would normally replace the table because these kind of cracks are irreparable, and will only get worse with time. The customer service people, who I had to chase again afterwords on his report said that there was nothing wrong at all with the table. They read out to me a passage from the form which I apparently signed, where it said that the wood, due to heat would shrink and explained which might cause splits and cracks. Fair enough, my fault, I must have signed something thinking the chance of this happening to my table was small. But why all the six months long saga, correspondence, photos, the assessment if it was already predetermined from the start by their terms and conditions?!

Went here the other day as part of my hunt for a sofa I actually like that doesn't cost more than…read moremy car did! I found some lovely sofas in CSL and due to the sale they had on there was some actually reasonably priced ones. They do the whole interest free credit for four years thing so I may end up buying one from there as the monthly payments will be very low. I also found the staff in CSL friendly without being too pushy to try and sell us something. The Leeds shop is easy to drive to as well as it's off the motorway and has parking.