Life Goods is one of those stores that should be on every corner. It is a "general" store that just…read moreseems to stock everything that one would need for life! What I like, is that provide across a number of household needs; home-wares like Japan Home Centre, stationery like the mom and pop shops, hardware like the guys on Wellington Street. It seems that if you need anything, you can get it here. It is moderately cramped in the store, I suppose the stock has to go somewhere, so if you have shopping bags or a ruck sack, be careful! There are two floors, with mainly stationery, kitchen-ware, and hard ware downstairs, and bigger home-wares upstairs, like ironing boards and plastic boxes. Some of the store highlights include; photo albums, plastic boxes, paint pens, plastic spiral key chains, lots of carabiners, toys, and decorations, and a few items that I would not have expected, including; gas torches and soldering kit for plumbing, and thick transparent plastic sheeting, like stuff they drop down the sides of the junk boats to stop the splashes coming in. The staff are very friendly, if not a bit difficult to spot as they don't wear any uniform, and will help you to get out stock, or cut rolls of linoleum. The prices are very very reasonable, basically cheap as chips, so fill your boots! The store is also very close to Tin Hau station, so only a short walk if you are carrying a plastic box full of stuff!

Dulux Colour Solution Centre is one of those stores that I never thought I'd need to enter or even…read moreknow of its existence. It's not often that I need to repaint my walls, or fix a broken tile - that's usually left to the landlord. That was until I accidentally dragged a bed frame against the entire length of my bedroom wall. I found Dulux much by chance. I wasn't looking for it as I knew I still had a couple months before my contract on the flat ended. Upon seeing it I thought, why not? I entered and realised how much out of my depth that I was. The different types of paints for different types of pain jobs, all sorts of glue, and at least fifty different paint brushes... or are they brushes for glue? I tried asking the lady behind the counter but her English, better than my Cantonese, was not perfect. While exploring the shop I managed to find a section that sold tape. The sticky kind. You don't know how long I've been looking for tape - much of my free time I'm working on video or photo shoots and tape is super handy. So instead of buying a bucket of paint and some brushes I ended up leaving with a bag full of tape. However, the scratch on my bedroom wall is a constant reminder that I need to research what paint to buy, as soon as I know that I'll head straight back to Dulux for I'm sure, with all the buckets they have, they have what I need.

Hong Kong has a surprising lack of Paint stores. The ones that do exist are tiny and dingy and…read morespecialize in hardware and supplies. Paint chips, if they have them, are old, faded, are on a ring and lean toward the pastels and tropical. This paint shop in Wan Chai has more variety, updated paint cards and will mix sample pots in 15 minutes (I had them mix 10 last time I was there). It's with a trip even from Kowloon.

I'm guessing everybody's familiar with Homeless, the eccentric but often pricey lifestyle store. If…read moreyou're into that kind of fun, creative stuff, it's worth checking out lesser-known Lost & Found, which is similar to Homeless but in my opinion sells more practical things rather than quirky items that you'd use once or twice and then set aside. Lost & Found isn't hard to locate (ha!). It's at phase two of Olympian City, and you'll definitely walk past it when you take the bridge to phase three. There's another store at The One in TST, but I've never been to that one. This means that if you live on the Island or in New Territories, coming to Lost & Found may be a little bit of a trip. If I had just moved in to a new place or am redecorating parts of my apartment, I would definitely make a stop at Lost & Found. I like to think that things here can be classes into two categories, in my opinion - the vintage-y stuff and the more modern, colorful items. I love anything with that rugged, brassy look, and Lost & Found has tons of that in its vintage section. I can totally imagine decking my living room out on their gorgeous photo frames and little cupboards! For the more... FUNctionalist ones out there (sorry, I couldn't resist!), Lost & Found is big on colorful, modern-looking kitchen supplies. There are lots of colorful, disco ball-like bowls and plates that can jazz up any dinner party. Kitchen essentials like soup spoons and spatulas come in all sorts of different colors here, so if you're not one to settle with all that boring kitchen ware, this is your place! Another thing really worth checking out here are the clocks. They have loads of vintage hanging clocks featuring adorable animals like polar bears and pugs. Others are attached to a little countryside cottage and those are really cute too. I wanted to get one for a friend for her birthday, but as per Chinese traditions, it's considered sending somebody bad luck if you gift them a clock for their birthday. But just like Homeless, Lost & Found does not come cheap. One of those clocks I mentioned will set you back at least $300, and the more intricate ones with the cottage house are about $480. Although there was a sign outside that said 'on sale - up to 50% off', I didn't see a lot of items that actually were on sale! Overall, this is more of a place to browse and window-shop than to do actual shopping for me. Maybe one day if I'm thinking of redecorating, and if that coincides with them doing a massive sale, then I'll definitely pick up an item or two here!

Practicality and utility seem to be the only concern for most Hongkongers here when it comes to…read moreinterior design. However, who says we cannot make it both fun and practical? Come to Lost & Found, which is a unique lifestyle concept store where you may find all sort of things including furniture, gifts, home accessories, etc. It's flagship is in Tsim Sha Tsui but this one is not as crowded as the one there since it is at a corner on the second floor of Olympian City (which is currently undergoing reconstruction). They have over hundreds of different brands from all over the world like Koziol, Fred, Magis, Umbra. They also have local designs as well. I personally adore the clocks there with all of them having their own design. All are rather unique and innovative. At this modern age where most people tend to use their smart phone as their telling time device, clocks may one day become obsolete. However, once you have seen what they have here, you may buy more clocks than you actually need. Next time when you are looking for home accessories or gifts for your friends, this place will not disappoint you. Warning though: you may probably end up like a kid in a candy store with so many creative products on display here. So... worry about your purse.