If money was no object, Weekend Trader would be my number one stop for furniture and home decor…read more The new location looks like it's come straight of the pages of Architectural Digest. Lots of clean lines, raw metal, marble and rich fabrics. I am particularly taken with their brass anglepoise lamp, which I am saving my pennies for. I'm also a fan of their horse prints, which, dare I say it, are similar to the ones in St Clements. Slowly, as I start to buy pieces for the new house that I plan to cherish for a long time, I predict there trips to Weekend Trader will become more frequent, even if it's only to dream...

My wife and I needed a new bed last year and spent the whole of Saturday visiting bed stores in…read moreWest Auckland looking for a bargain. We had in our mind's eye, the threshold figure of $1000 and didn't want to spend much more than that. The woman in this place was very friendly and talked us through some of the options. After bouncing on bed after bed, we found one that was super comfortable but was a bit over budget. We negotiated with the woman and got a pretty good deal. The headstand was $200 extra and we convinced ourselves that we didn't need one. A few weeks later we realised we did need it so we went back to the shop and bought it. A year down the line, the bed is still as comfortable as ever. Like I've said we went to quite a few shops but this seemed have the best deals.

Furniture handmade in New Zealand using Kauri salvaged from the swamps in Northern New Zealand…read more superb quality and range, great service and can do attitude.

Our new couch just arrived this afternoon! I am so excited. We had been looking at couches at…read morequite a few places, and once we reached Sofa Plus, we stopped looking and cancelled all our previous plans. These guys know their stuff and are really passionate about the work they do. Yes, it's more expensive than the other couches we were looking at, but you can see the different in quality and craftsmanship and definitely in service. Plus a 10 year warranty! And, an excellent service bonus - they even took our old couches and redelivered them to our friends' house! I'm totally happy with our purchase, and would gladly recommend Sofa Plus to anyone.

Absolutely love Sofa Plus - they are passionate about providing the best possible quality and…read moreservice - and YES it is all NZ Made out of the best quality materials including wood, frames and coverings. Cut out the middle man and buy exactly what you want from the people that made it. I have two natural NZ leather sofas which have aged with absolute elegance - now 8 years old!!. Highly recommend without hesitation.

I literally want to buy EVERYTHING in this store! BLOC is a collaboration of a number of cool…read moredesigners - kind of like a mini department store. There's beautiful, beautiful homewares, WORLD Beauty, fashion labels and even a cafe. I would even go as far as to say that BLOC has made me excited about christmas present shopping. Granted it's not the cheapest but some labels are more affordable than others (Citta, Father Rabbit) and thankfully, we have a small family!

BLOC is a super stylish department store w Citta design and Father Rabbit downstairs and Peppin…read more(children's clothing), 8 paws (dog clothing) and collected upstairs. There's also a delicious cafe in case you work up an appetite. I was lucky enough to go to one of the Bloc's special shopping nights with wine and cheese as well as discounts and goodie bags. As a marketing exercise, it worked. I explored the Blocs offerings fully and I now know where to go to get that gift for someone that is hard to buy for. The wide variety of things for the home, for the inner self and for the fur baby ensures that The Bloc will solve the gift problem.

Ponsonby road is an altogether dangerous thing, and with shops like Zoo Warehouse as tenants you…read morecan see why! It's a place where wallets come to die, die hard in fact. Like many of my discoveries in Auckland, I happened on this place rather by chance. I'm currently furniture/ knick knack shopping for my poor little empty flat so this store was a godsend. There are some really beautiful pieces, one set of drawers In particular which I narrowly missed out on! Ah regret! I did purchase a really fantastic wall hanging for my bedroom the last time I was in there however, and at $180 I thought it was pretty much a bargain, considering the size and quality of it any rate. If you have to save your pennies to purchase one of these individually crafted and lovingly restored pieces I suggest starting now as they go quick.

What an awesome shop! This is a collection of quirky, fun and interesting pieces of furniture and…read morehome decor items that the owner sources from around the world. The pieces are a mix of French and, Asian and Bohemian, you'll find French chairs upholstered with bright coloured fabrics, Asian styled cabinets in soft duck egg blue with an almost tribal feel to them. They also have a great range of little wood stools and other interesting occasional pieces of furniture that would make for an interesting addition to your place. Home decor items include anything from large glass jars, vessels, cake domes and candles. It is a great place to come for gifts too and with the prices ranging from $20 to $2000, I also think very good pricing. They have some draws and cabinets that I would say are comparable to what Red Current stock but at almost half the price. The layout of the store is really funky too, organised chaos, a great store, something that little bit different.

we bought an Eden outdoor table from DM, and the timber top started to buckle and rot soon after…read morepurchase but we reported just after the expiry date of the warranty. So no claim from the company.

On the hunt for a couch, off to Danske Mobler because their adverts on TV enticed us through the…read moredoor. These guys are the couch specialists and plenty of stock to choose from. The whole experience of walking through the showroom is something luxurious with the plush furniture much of which you can sit down and relax on, there is a coffee machine and the day we were there they even had brownies on offer. Downstairs and upstairs is packed with couches and occasional furniture. We felt the quality was absolutely outstanding, this is what their branding is all about. But you do have to pay for the privilege of quality. Luckily things were on sale because it would be the only way we could make a purchase at this store. Ended up, we re-covered our existing couch and are happy with it for now. Back to DM at a later date, we will time it for one of their major sales.

I grew up in a home filled with art on the walls, sculptures on the mantelpiece and designer…read morefurniture all over the place. Having a well travelled father and designer mom inspired me to enjoy the finer things in life, and also to develop my own taste. These days my home is filled with artefacts I've collected on my many travels, art I've bought at auctions and a few pieces that my wife collected along the way. One of our favourite stores is Uno in Grey Lynn. Sandwiched between the two Jetset Bohemia stores, Uno is home to stylish furniture and artistic jugs and jars. A peek in the window will draw any passerby to stop and enjoy the individual flavour of their stock. From rattan light fittings to moulded glass jugs, anything and everything to beautify a home. I can't always afford the items I like best, but there is nothing stopping me from enjoying their beauty.