Found this antique home goods place in the Monocle travel guide for Sydney. I have high…read moreexpectations on furniture / decoration places and I didn't get disappointed here. Ici et la has beautiful old decoration objects from all over the world. From magical local shells to wooden and metal tables, chairs or lamp to handmade bags. Infact they have a seamstress in the store that creates blankets etc. with your initials. If I would live in Sydney, my interior design would be well influenced by this store.

Parterre is a truly amazing place to get outdoor furniture for your home. While there are several…read moreother outlets around Australia that sell antiques, collectables, and even sculptures, the Parterre on Bourke Street in Surry Hills is exclusively focused on contemporary outdoor furniture. Most of the brands sold at Parterre are European, for example, there are Belgian, Dutch, Spanish, and Italian designs. Each concept is strikingly (and sometimes mindbogglingly) different from the next. Walking around the store made me yearn for a house with a sprawling garden, one that I could fill with things like contoured lounge chairs and an aluminum alfresco bar. I imagine that many of the waterfront homes in Bondi and Balmoral have patios equipped with furniture from Parterre. One really interesting find was the Italian-designed 'mobile cookers,' which are basically stainless steel barbeques that kind of look like sunflowers. Everything in this store is quite pricey, but it is nonetheless fun to check out these avant-garde products.

This is a great outdoor furniture shop and the attitude to boot. When we walked in the lady simply…read morelooked at us and as we said hello she barely acknowledged our presence and certainly made no effort to do anything else than look at her computer. Furniture is for those who just want to spend a lot of money, there is some excellent quality pieces or furniture that requires good outdoor space.

Bunnings is the name that says it all. You can find anything you need here to do up your home and…read moreusually at a price cheaper than anywhere else. I've come here over the years for all my house paints, curtains, lawn mowers, garden tools and nursery pots and plants. If ever I have needed any help with DIY plans, the friendly staff always are able to give me tips and advice on how to do a great job. I especially love the garden section. The manager in charge is fabulous because if you ask nicely, plants that look a bit tattered can be marked down to $5 or $10. Go home and care for them and in no time the plants are thriving.

This is one great hardware mecca. Boys, eat your heart out!…read more The great thing is that this Bunnings is also only a 5-10 minute stroll from Mascot train station in tandem with ample parking available. A great range of DIY renovation ideas, and the cheapest pots of Dulux paint to paint my domain with. Came in to buy a screwdriver, very helpful. Friendly staff which is unusual for a chain store. The self service checkouts are also fast. The cafe is rather small, and is situated right near the nursery area. Brought a Bryon Bay cookie for only $2.60 here, uber cheap! Highly recommended.

If this place could also sell skill also it would have everything I need to cook up a storm…read more They never ceases to surprise and inspire me with their range of products. Some good prices and great sales. Love this place and their staff.

This little gem is tucked off Parramatta Road and has the worlds loveliest staff in it…read more She didn't mind that we seemed to melt at the door when we walked in due to the air con being so knee weakeningly good. We blocked the door for a few minutes taking in the cool. For all your kitchen needs. From cutlery, to plates, to tea pots (with and without cozies) to interesting knife holders that are filled with this stuff that makes you want to stab it repeatedly with the knife. Which I did. It was joyous. Pots, pans, clay pots, cups, glassware, drink bottles, baking goodies, candles, things and stuff! Anything and everything you might want to deck out your kitchen. And delicious little round biscuit ice-creams that made me squeal in glee. Go in and say g'day some time.

I was looking for some plain, cheap, no-nonsense block out type fabric to put up in my bedroom so…read morethat the streetlight outside my window would allow me to be less nocturnal, more hermit. After a quick Google I came across Tessuti Fabrics. The website is awesome in so much as they have some beautiful original fabrics - stuff that could convince even those with the greatest sewing phobias to get inspired to learn. Rather than ordering online I decided to got to the Chatswood store and check out the material in the fabric flesh. It's a pokey little shop upstairs at the back of a raggedy mall. I guess because the online shop is so clean and fresh that I expected to enter a palace of imperial fabrics. Not the case. The fabrics are gorgeous but the actual store looks like any other material/sewing shop. The young shop assistant gave it a bit of that 'fashionable' edge I'd been absentmindedly seeking. Hilarious given I was looking for cheap block out fabric. I found it too in the bargain bucket. $10/metre which is pretty good. A lot of the beautiful fabrics I say were more like $50 and up. I imagine this is a hub for young designers to find pretty fabrics without having to go far. I'm feeling the urge to create... and shop ;)

I like visiting this store when I'm in Chatswood. It is tucked upstairs and at the back of a small…read moreshopping mall next the Chatswood Chase. That just means you can park easily. And it's not far from the station. There is fabric on two floors of this small shop. The quality of their fabric range is top rate. If you sew alot, this is the place for lovely and reputable fabrics and notions. Their staff are helpful and know their stuff. The staff love sewing as much as their customers:)

Wonderful decoration and furniture store, really beautyful and ellegance high standard fashion.read more

If you're strolling down King Street op-shopping you might walk straight past Red Cross as it has…read morefew of the distinguishing marks of the Op Shop. The windows are clean, bright and with clever displays. The signage is prfessional and the shop has a nice fit out that wouldn't be out of place in any of the stores along the street. Take a step in and be amazed at the great range of well chosen clothes, shoes and accessories. There's even a few racks of blokes' stuff (hooray), a spacious change room, and some very cool repro Red Cross merch; World War 2 era posters and the like. Best of all, the staff are incredibly helpful, and everything is reasonable priced. Definitely a shopping highlight of South King Street.

Do you ever find yourself doing that thing where you try on one dress, then take it off and try on…read morethe other dress, and then take that off and try on the first dress again, then OH WAIT, take that off and slip back into the second dress? Repeat, repeat. Well, I do. What's worse, I usually have some sort of project brewing, so I am often the girl in the shop doing something strange that I feel deserves an explanation. On the particular day I went into the Australian Red Cross shop, I was embellishing cowboy boots by wrapping various scarves and belts around them. So there I was with a pile of colorful scarves and leather woven belts that I had pulled out from the bowls that held them. I offered a brief explanation as to my strange behavior and the shop girl responded "No worries!" Phew, I wasn't going to be thrown out for manhandling their merchandise. When I finally sorted out which pieces were going to work best, I brought them all to the counter only to find out that everything was 30% off. SCORE! Aside from the plentiful accessories in this vintage shop, they also have a remarkable coat selection. With tweeds and furs abound, it's easy to get excited here- and with prices on the low end for vintage, feel free to get REEAAAL excited. I was able to create a custom pair of boots with awesome antique accessories for not a great deal more than the cost of my lunch.

Firstly, let me point out that this store caters almost exclusively to middle-aged women…read more Secondly, let me draw your attention to the fact that I am not a middle-aged woman. Nevertheless, every few weeks I throw on a kaftan and a string of pearls and wander around Avenue Joffre because some of the stuff they've got in there is just so damn rad. I dig old, quirky, imported, *different* homewares and this place has a constant rotation of them. Like the old, paint-faded Indian doors for a cool two hunj (check out one of the photos). I don't know who their suppliers are - they could source from a Persian leper and I wouldn't much care - just as long as they keep slinging the quality that they have until now.

A bit of boho brought to Castlecrag! I love this place. The window displays are tantalizing with…read moretheir chaos of colour - always inspiring enough to draw me inside. This place has a bit of everything - lamps to bags, jewelry to cabinets but every piece has a bohemian inspired flair to it. I had my eyes on a beautiful set of bedside lamps - the bases so delicately painted with tiny flowers, the shades green - each $135. Sadly I went back today and they'd sold. Even still there is lots more in to compensate my loss but that's a lesson learned the hard way - if you see something here, don't hesitate!