High street homewares: from H&M Home and Ikea to Argos and Tesco, here's why you don't have to spend a fortune for a stylish home
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When H&M HOME hit Regent Street in April last year, it radically ramped up mass-market design.
Their story starts in Sweden where Evelina Kravaev-Söderberg, so cool with her fashion background, heads a team of 30, bringing couture touches such as a monogramming service, interior design and in-store florist. “Personal” and “timeless“ are her mantras.
“We’re loving natural tactile materials,” she adds, “wood, rattan, cotton and linen in warm neutrals like beige, off-white and toffee in a mix of modern and vintage.”
New “washed linen” double duvet sets are flying out, priced £79.99 in white and five low-key colours. Also popular, an easy chair with woven cane back and seat is £199.99.
- 208 Regent Street (hm.com; 03447 369000).
Service is the trump card round the corner at John Lewis. They’ll make curtains in a week, lay carpets, install lighting and can do “bespoke” furniture, beds and rugs.
A sharp digital act includes an app that can visualise your room using virtual reality.
The stores are well-laid out with clear information and “experiences” on offer, including a 90-minute home refresh with your own stylist.
Design director Pip Prinsloo is keen to expand John Lewis’s own brand, House.
Committed to “responsible” design, she wants us to “buy once and buy well”.
Find earthy tones and natural materials with stronger shades and patterns as a counterpoint.
Popular is own-brand velvet upholstery, including a peacock buttoned chaise longue, £749.
- 300 Oxford Street (johnlewis.com; 020 7629 7711); White City (020 8222 6400); Stratford (020 8532 3500); Kingston (020 8547 3000); and Peter Jones, Sloane Square, SW1 (020 7730 34340).
Back with a bang since a Sainsbury’s takeover in 2016, Habitat has in-house designers who are ahead of the game.
Head of design Kate Butler manages workshops in Vietnam and Thailand.
Indian weavers and printers deliver a sharp British update on ethnic craft.
For summer come colours from Marrakech: tan, turmeric, palm and azure for cushions at £15, flat weave rugs from £70, and a handsome blue earthenware vase for £25.
- Habitat flagship, 196-199 Tottenham Court Road (habitat.co.uk; 0344 4991122). Stores also in NW3 and Westfield, W12.
- Tableware, accessories and lighting at mini Habitats in Sainsbury’s at Nine Elms SW8 and Wandsworth SW18.
The impressive design team at Sainsbury’s/Argos includes a potter and a calligrapher, achieving stunning standards for low-cost homewares including earthenware dip-glazed mugs, £3.50.
The leader is design champion Andrew Tanner, also voluntary ambassador for the independent designers support agency, Design-Nation.
Tanner travels worldwide to source suppliers. This year’s mix includes Nordic and the English countryside and “decadent, tropical glamour”.
- Flagship superstores are at Vauxhall, Nine Elms; Wandsworth and Ladbroke Grove (sainsburys.co.uk; 0800 636262).
Find stylish cushions, linen and dishes at Tesco, with tropical leaves, tribal textures, fancy florals and simple Scandi motifs.
Prices are keen, with cushions for £6, a blush-pink 16-piece dinner set at £16 and a palm print double duvet for £14.
Fox & Ivy is Tesco’s posher brand, with detailed prints all drawn in-house, plus artisan pots.
For best choice, visit Tesco Extras (Surrey Quays and Watford); or shop at tesco.com.
Hitting the high street next year with a mini store in Kings Mall, Hammersmith, Ikea already has planning studios for its kitchens and bedrooms in Tottenham Court Road, W1, and Bromley. It has brought more style and design to the mix.
Colours for spring include a sunny yellow offset with pinks from blush to rose.
Go rustic with baskets, chairs and lamps in honeyed cane, plus robust jugs and plates. Palms update a wing chair, £199, with a 10-year guarantee.
Ikea is good at homeware tech, with curtains that will purify your air for £25 and smart wireless speakers from £99, plus a whole-home control kit from £40.
Stores are in Wembley, Greenwich, Tottenham, Lakeside and Croydon with an order and collection point in Westfield Stratford (ikea.com).
Quality, value and durability are assured at M&S. Homewares, in most branches, are big at Marble Arch in W1 and Westfields at White City and Stratford.
“We have all things green and botanical, plus warm colours and natural textures,” says head of design for home, Karen Thomas. “Think ribbed glass, grainy woods and ceramics with a thick, reactive glaze.”
- 458 Oxford Street (020 7935 7954; marksandspencer.com).