One of the best second hand/antique shops that I have ever seen - you name it you can probably find…read moreit here. Its huge inside with brass instruments, old signs, big tin statues of laurel and hardy etc. Modern furniture, antique furniture, bikes, brass ornaments etc. Prices are very reasonable - I bought 2 oak bedside cupboards with drawers in for £40 each which was a lot cheaper than anywhere local. There is a downstairs reached by a rickety staircase or you can go down the side of the building past the gates and garden furniture and statues and get into the downstairs that way. Its packed from floor to ceiling with everything for the home and garden and has some very unusual items too. Good for film sets in period style or for a play Altogether a great place to browse allow plenty of time there is so much to see. If you can find it anywhere it will probably be here

The guys working there clearly didn't want to be. They were rude. I'm sure if we were spending more…read moreon their over priced second hand furniture they may have managed to crack a smile. I can't believe the prices they charge for dirty broken pine furniture! Some of the stuff is lovely but good luck loading it in to your car! No parking on a main road with double yellow lines outside.. So that was nice. Won't be returning, but I'm sure they won't care! Customers seem to be their biggest problem!

It's all for char-i-dee dahlings! Homeless people of Bristol are given worthwhile jobs here (and an…read moreensuite room)- restoring second-hand furniture and then selling them on from the shop- helping them get a foot on the shaky ladder of housing & employment. I took a few odds and ends - to take pride of place in someone else's living room, and returned with a newly sanded coffee table for just a few pounds. Unlike the soul-draining limbo world of Ikea, here you feel ethically good about shopping and get to see real daylight at the same time!

This second hand shop over in St Philips is a really good find. From sofas to bedside cabinets…read morethey have a full range of furniture in varying conditions. Granted, some of the stuff isn't particularly great, but some items are surprisingly good quality for the same cheap price as the rest of their stock. There's a few friendly staff who work there who will try to dig something out for you if you let them know what you want, and there's also a small potential for bartering - always worth a try! I managed to pick up a couple of cool prints to put on the walls in my new flat when we came, and my flatmate got hold a good chest of drawers for under £20. Definitely worth a look in if you're furnishing on a budget.

I always enjoy taking a seat on their latest chair arrivals outside the front of the shop -…read more twirling around on a wheely chair, or lazing on an armchair watching the cars go by. I have never bought anything from here. The owners don't mind...at least i don't think they do- they've never said anything to me! They have a lot of good items in this shop, such as mattresses, bed stands, desks, wardrobes, and chairs...did i mention the chairs? They have the best selection of chairs around! The chairs are probably the best value itesms in the store. Everything else seems quite expensive comapred to similar items at Tescos or Ikea. However, we need to support the independants so i definately would reccommend giving Clearance Centre a visit. The owners leave you free to browse, and the majority of items are second-hand meaning bargains all round! Brilliant!

Hand in hand with it's next door neighbour, The Sale Store, you can sort your bedroom out with…read morecheap and very heavily discounted mattresses, which is their main selling point. Besides that, they have other bits and bobs of furniture inside the store. I'm not sure about the quality, but they do have plenty of choice, and with mattresses from £29 (for a single), how could you say no? A price of a top from Topshop could be the price of comfortable sleeping for well, for the duration that you keep the mattress! Staff are friendly too, so, for some cheap furnishings, this place is worth looking at.

If (God forbid) you should find yourself stranded in Brislington, and are at a loss for things to…read moredo (as you would be), I'd recommend you visit Avon Mead Retail Park if you're looking for something resembling civilisation. Here you'll find a long line of huge shops, including The Range. For those of you unfamiliar with The Range, it sells everything from musical instruments to arts and crafts, furniture, outdoor living equipment, toys and pet care items to name just a few of its many wares. Moreover, these can be purchased at trés reasonable prices (but don't expect the greatest of quality). This branch of The Range is gigantic and pretty souless. But for practical matters and rainy days, it'll suffice.

There's apparently a whole host of these shops all over the country and yet before I came to…read moreBristol, I had never heard of them. The Range is one of those wonderful mish-mash shops which sells absolutely everything, except from perhaps vital organs, although they could diversify into that in the future. Seriously, going in here is a real treat. You can buy everything from bones for your dog to every craft item under the sun. Or there's jacuzzis, huge boxes of broken biscuits, wall canvases, dried flowers and garden gnomes. It's all stacked chaotically around so actually searching for something you need is a total mission. But if you want to go in and come out with at least 15 things you absolutely don't need then I highly recommend The Range.

As soon as I walked into this grand furniture showroom on Whiteladies Road, despite the fact that…read moreit's a chain, I thought of the houses on the Downs. Can you imagine living in one of those beautiful mansions? Oh wow. Suffice to say, if I owned one of those houses, I'd furnish it with pieces from Wesley Barrel, especially one of their floral print classic sofas. Also not to be missed is their magnificent dining range. Be careful though; grand furniture for a grand house, or it could end up looking a little dated and stuffy.

From the frames of each bit of furniture being hand crafted from seasoned wood to the springing,…read morepadding and covering - each item of furniture here is made with love and care. It may carry a price tag that looks more like a phone number, but in this place it's really worth it. Sofas, armchairs and dining accessories the same - everything about this place oozes charm and sophistication. This is the sort of thing Country Living thrives upon. And so it should. Bravo.

First confusion is the sign says Staple Hill Carpets - that's moved up the road. The sheer amount…read moreof stuff that isn't carpet outside the shop should give you a hint that it is no longer stocking carpets. Second confusion, yes they have moved from one side of the road to the complete opposite side! Third confusion - surely they can't stock EVERYthing? Well yes, yes they can. Lightbulb with a vintage fitting in green? No problem sir. Skirting board tacks hand made by virgins in Argentina? Third aisle at the back. One of those squeaky balls my dog lost in the park and now he won't play with anything else? You mean this one? *squeak*

I'm a bit of a novice to say the least when it comes to DIY. Since moving to the area I've used…read moreStaple Hill Stores twice. Although on both occasions I knew I had a DIY problem I needed to fix, I didn't really have a clue what I was going on about and it probably sounded like I was asking for various 'thingies' in broken English. However both times the shopkeepers have been really helpful and pointed be in the right direction straight away, the items purchased were fit for purpose and good value. On the last visit I wasn't to sure which colour thingy to go for and the shopkeeper advised me to take the ones I thought were right and bring them back and exchange for a different colour if need be. Just the sort of friendly service you want from a local hardware store! I'll definitely be returning if I need to purchase any other thingies.