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.

Who would have thought that there would be any need for a gardening centre in HK? I mean, who on…read moreearth has enough garden to require an entire centre with which to cater to it? Ahhhh, yes the bling ring on ex-pat contracts - lucky! If you ever do need to do any gardening, then the Garden Gallery is a great place to come. What it does above the outdoor furniture shops and other specialist gardening shops (like Jervis Bay BBQ), is that it has most things under one roof, and sells many more of the small accessory items, rather than just the big ticket furniture pieces. For example, you can get BBQs and garden furniture, but also K'Archer power washers, lawn sprinklers, plant food, furniture covers, table cloths, sheds, storage units, swimming pool tiles. It really has a very extensive and diverse range of products, but doesn't seem to sell plants and/or plant pots! The prices are pretty competitive in comparison to the other shop in Horizon Plaza, but this may be to do with their pile em high sell em cheap approach. This is definitely a shop and not a showroom! The staff are a little bit absent, but I can imagine they get pretty busy with few of them. It's the sort of place you should really know what you want before coming. There are three products I particularly from Garden Gallery, that I have not seen in many (or any) places in HK. Wall planters; these are teak plant pots which click into a shelving unit to make a straight or curved partition wall. Made in Thailand by a company called Deesawat, these are definitely worth checking out. K'Archer pressure washers; for car or garden, every man needs a pressure washer - go on, feel the power! Pond accessories; from giant plastic waterfall scenes to pumps and linings, Garden Gallery stock a lot of pond building materials. Garden Gallery is right their on my list of greatest hits in HK. I don't know any other gardening centres in the area, and this store has so many bases covered, so that when I do start to grow my own herbs on the terrace, I'll be coming here first.

Great range of items IF you want exactly what they have e.g. we wanted 9m of garden hose, had to…read morebuy 50m. Who needs 50m in Hong Kong? We wanted a connection tap to hose - they didn't have the simple connector and would only provide a fancy connector at 4 times the price. NO CUSTOMER SERVICE, no empathy for the customer. We will not go back. They don't care.

You may be wondering who on earth needs to buy carpet in HK, but if you have ever lived through a…read moreheater-less winter, in an apartment with tiled floors, you will probably realise that I'm talking about you. K&L Wallpaper Carpet may just be the solution that you've been looking for. As it says on the tin, it supplies carpets. Now, it's unlikely that you will need to wall-to-wall carpet your entire rental flat, nor should you waste the money on it for two months of cold(ish) winter. However, and this is my Hong Konger inside trick, you can buy offcuts of carpets from K & L Wallpaper Carpet, at a fraction of the price that they sell in IKEA, the cheapest of cheap shops. The carpet offcuts come in a variety of random sizes, I have seen everything from 12' x 12' down to 3' x 2', they are hemmed all the way around so that the tufts will not shed when you get home, they tend to be single coloured (which is great if you're not a big fan of these heavenly pattern rugs you get elsewhere in Hong Kong), and again, they are very cheap. I have a whole bunch of these offcuts that I wheel out every November to keep my feet warm. They even match my decor at home! Of course, there are many carpets stores that offer the same "treated" offcuts, however I particularly like this one in Wan Chai because of the strangely grumpy owner. He is as straight as an arrow, will let you know what is in stock, and if there is anything else due to come in which may suit, and he will do this with no smile and no pleasantries. It is strangely refreshing. However, he will offer some discount, usually rounding down rather than anything concrete. With regard to the other offerings of wallpapers, to be fair I'm not a big fan because they are very kitschy. However, if you want your bedroom to look like inside of the Laura Ashley catalogue from 1982, please do have a browse and see what suits.

I was just walking by and popped in when I saw all the china inside. I needed some small soy sauce…read morebowls and this reminded me that I kept meaning to find some and buy them. This place is like wholesale for plates, cups, saucers, dishes, glasses, utensils, etc. Mostly basic styles in porcelain and plastic, they have a wide variety in basic colors, styles of everything you might need when it comes to a table setting. They also have stuff for the home (ie cleaning products, plastic storage boxes, stackable tubs, etc). There are two floors of product, stacked floor to ceiling everywhere you look

After settling into our new home we needed to fill it with everyday items. We were prepared to…read morespend most of the day going to two or three different markets. We found this place and we basically got everything we needed and saved us a whole bunch of time. It's basically if you crammed the houseware and kitcheware department into one store and then threw in assorted bric a brac in there as well (a bunch of ceramic mugs from and then a key making station?) However, the good thing about it is that you'll be pleasantly surprised at how much of your list you can cross off here and for a pretty cheap. They offer free delivery for purchases over 1000 but even with the all the stuff we bought it came to maybe about half that. Worth a look if you're ever in the need for a shower curtain, fondue set, back scratcher. You know, basics.