Did you forget your mum's birthday? Spaced on that card for…read moreyour colleague? In need of a little retail pick-me-up after a rough week? Sublime is a great little cure of all these things. A solid gift shop with an impressive selection of high end clothing (basement) that served as quite a pleasant surprise. I didn't pick anything up this trip but I'll be checking back often as I like the style and selection, particularly the shirts and shoes. Where they seem to focus and excel is gifting. They have a lovely selection of cards, bits and bobs, mugs, jewelry, frames, etc. I gifted some wonderful things to myself actually! Some gorgeous coffee/tea mugs from Portugal that I adore an dan Umbra copper geometric frame that I fancied quite a bit. Mugs: £8/each - I've already drunk tea and coffee from them and I love them Frame: £17 They have some great Matt & Nat leather goods, scarves, brollies, etc. It's a nice little assortment of goodies that makes for a fun poke around. They had a few sale racks of clothes that were worth checking into as well.

Little shop packed to the brim with all the best kinds of gift-y stuff for all sorts of people…read more Clever little books and notebooks, candles and soap (the nice, not kitschy stuff), considered cards, interesting jewelry, wallets, shoes, and little objects you don't even know you want until you see them. Despite the fact that the place is only about 80 square feet, you could easy spend almost an hour upstairs alone. BUT don't forget about the cozy basement with all sorts of well-chosen clothes; mix of somewhat affordable though mostly just covetable stuff.

I absolutely love 'In...'. If you're not careful you may miss it but if you work your way through…read moreall the stalls in Spitalfields you'll fihnd this gorgeous home furnishings shop. They have beautiful furniture (dinning room tabels, chairs, cabinets and shelving) all of which have great individual style. My favourite items in here are the trinkets and decor. They have beautiful bird cages for decor that you can put candles in as well as beautiful lighting and ornaments. It's a brilliant place if you're looking for gifts as they have stuff for men, women and children. The prices are reasonable and the staff are great.

I love this unique shop. They sell mainly quirky home decor items, as well as a small selection of…read morebooks (pop culture, fashion etc), jewellery, cards and gifts. It's a great place to head for an unusual gift or for someone hard to buy for. A lot of the stuff is a bit pricey but you can tell it's good quality. I'll definitely be popping in here when I move house to get some of the kitsch lighting and kitchenware they stock.

When I walked in this shop, I had no intention of spending money. I also had no intention of…read morebecoming really, extremely, mucho grande famous, but I did. I was out on an errand to find some grazing for the noontime meal. My coworker, who loves this place, told me to poke in the Trader and see what it's all about. (It's all about the hokey pokey.) This place has tons of nice things from silly prank toys to mugs to baubles and bangles. Things are a bit pricey, I must admit, but its all damn cute like those little puppies you see on calenders, except for less fuzzy. I ended up buying a present for a friend of mine. It was a mug, or maybe it was a mugshot. Maybe I should put a mugshot of my mug on the mug, and refrain from telling you what the mug said, but I won't hold you in suspense. The mug said "I'd rather be making whoopie." I thought she'd like it. The place also has clothes which are not as special as they should be for what their charging. If there were charging bulls, I might call it justified. I also might hightail it outta there. The only bulls there though are inanimate decoration on things being sold. You can find gifts to suit any taste here - bitter, sweet, sour, salty and more - but you might have to spend a pound or two or few more than dirt cheap.

The Dulwich Trader has the prestigious role of providing Dulwich with pretty much everything it…read moreneeds. From dresses to shoes, hand cream to jewellery, home furnishings to mugs, quirky gifts, cards and wrapping paper. The clothing in particular is aimed at women in their 30's and 40's but if you like beautiful things then there is plenty here. The prices differ, with things to suit most budgets but their sales are fantastic. Excellent for buying presents for others, or for yourself.

I once found a copy of 'Elle Decoration' on the train and asked my friend whether we were too young…read moreto care about the interior of our - rented - flats. Her response? An unequivocal yes. After visiting Heals on Tottenham Court Road, I'm afraid I'll have to agree to disagree. If expensive furnishings are your thing then you needn't look further than Heals. A more upmarket version of both Ikea and Habitat with a slightly different design sensibility and a lovely selection of beauty bits and bobs encompassing products by Korres, a natural beauty brand whose tinted lip balms are gorgeous and Diptyque, whose Fig perfume is to die for. The lighting section is divine, with gems including chandeliers rendered in everything from perspex to lead crystal; some rather lovely floor lamps with pure silk shades in de rigeur jewel-tones; and Tom Dixon's popular copper light shades which seem to grace almost every one of London's gastro pubs.

It has always been a bit tricky to figure out where Habitat ends and where Heals begins seeing as…read morethey often share a similar design strategy. Heals however, is decidedly more expensive and tinted with undeniable glamour. Heals houses designs from some of the biggest names. From Alessi to Phillip Stark this shops contains the finest of the fine. When walking in this shop you will find that everything from the beautiful golden globes, the comfy towel robes, the natural soaps and perfumes, the unconventional lampshades and the gorgeous stylish coffee machines will become an absolute necessity rather than a treat. As a lover of all gadgets, designer objects, storage devices, and glamorous furniture, I find myself wanting to wrap every object in store into a neverending Mary Poppins-style bag and immediately head home to live forever happy with my favourite objects. This store will probably bring out the worse of your materialistic nature, but after seeing these 3 floors of materialistic bliss, trust me it will be worth it.

I have decided that Muji has just become my favourite store of the moment. Maybe it is because I…read moream just a little bit of a geek when it comes to home wear, but I love sifting through the shop and examining the clever storage devices and gadgets. Lately I have been getting excited about the weather stations, the solar chargers, the clever international multi-adapters, the shower radios, the city pop-up cards, the wall-mounted CD players, the wind-up walkie talkies, the fair trade cotton sheets and so much more. I will admit that I have recently been suffering from a huge obsession with anything even remotely Japanese and this has obviously played a huge part in my love affair with Muji - but it's just so clever I doubt many people could resist. Muji will definitely be one of my top shopping destinations for Christmas gifts this year.

I don't quite understand Muji. What I mean to say is, there's so much going on it's hard to…read moredecipher what it actually is. Upstairs is a novelty stationers (although they do seem to have some useful items), come home appliance store, come knickknack store. Downstairs on the other hand is a clothing store, which is quite good for basic things like white shirts (which for some reason are incredibly hard to find), but if you want to be a hipster about town, you may want to think twice. My point is that there seems to very little sense of direction in Muji, as you can tell from the somewhat blasé customers it seems to attract. It's too small to accommodate the higher-class department store shtick (that torch obviously being held by places like Fenwicks... etc). Having said this there is a good clean atmosphere here, and it can be quite fun to look around... I just don't really know what I'm looking for when I'm their.

Initially went in here thinking it was a furniture recovery and up-cycling place, but it wasn't,…read morebut kinda still felt like it. It is a lovely little shop that has been put together with a tasteful mish-mash of furniture and shop fittings from many different eras. Quite a wide range of products on offer here from cosmetics and men's shaving kits to hand made cushion covers and personalised stationery sets. This place is well worth popping into, even if it is just to look at the great decor of the shop itself :)

Classic *SIDN store for me. Very pretty, mostly too expensive for my salary…read more Accessories, stationary goods, art, housewares, skincare products. Sigh. At least a look around is in order when I'm in the neighborhood. *Shit I Don't Need. The kind of place where I want everything but don't really need anything and wouldn't spend that much money on myself but maybe on a present for a friend.

So many things in my home have come from this fantastic little gem of a store! They import…read morewell-made, unique, and beautiful home décor accents sourced directly from their makers in both Cambodia and Viet Nam... I'm not sure if it exactly qualifies for "fair trade" but I like to think it does when I'm making purchases... Fine woven floor mats in a multitude of colours, lacquered cups and bowls, and some unique sculptural pieces are just a few of the things that you can find (and that I've purchased) here. Everything has a very Asian-minimalist clean-line feel to it - which I find extremely appealing. Beyond the distinctive aesthetic of the pieces, everything is also extremely well-priced. I guarantee sticker-shock... of the pleasantly low variety. Also, the people who run this shop are total sweethearts... I don't think there's a smite of greed in their souls... this shop really seems to be more their labour of love... which, if you ask me, is just one more reason to spend your money here!

I really lIke this store, which like many of the shops on Columbia Road probably has limited…read morestrange hours, so make sure to check before you head out this way. Basically, this is an upscale Vietnamese housewares shop. So, sure, that coconut laquered bowl, bamboo spoon, or soy sauce pourer that would cost 50p in Vietnam might set you back ten quid here, but at least you don't have to buy the plane ticket? Trying to think positively here. Anyhow, this is a fantastic shop for small gifts, pretty little things of a practical nature (artistic cookware, serving trays, condiment bowls... hand-crafted items of all sorts). If you like beautiful Asian handmade items, this is a place for you. Plus, even with the import upscale markup, this place is still quite affordable. Make sure to sniff the cinnamon boxes. So neat!

Sass & Bell is the most amazingly magical place to spend an hour browsing, yes a full hour. This…read morelittle shop use to be on Neal street but has now moved to this bigger location opposite Scott's on New Row. Basically it is full of a huge selection of RJB Stone goodies. For those of you who don't know this is a company that makes adorable tat that appeals to teenage girls and ridiculous women like me who insist of super cute nonsense in their homes. These guys only sell wholesale and I have never seen a collection like this in a shop. We are talking appliqued pirate bunting and hand painted Russian Doll photo pegs, white bird cages with stuck on flowers and butterflies. If you are looking for a new baby gift they have brilliant kiddies room decoration stuff, and as for stocking fillers, well this place is ideal. Nothing is more than £20 and some start from as little as £2.95 so you can really go nuts if you wanted to. As I have mentioned before I have happy places in London, this is one of them. I hate to Yelp this but I will and I am sharing this happiness with you.

After hours of looking round London for presents for my Mum and a wedding gift for my friend. I…read morefound them all under one roof! The store has loads of great things to hang up in your home. Not being that descriptive i know but if you go in there you will be amazed at what they have. I'm definitely heading back here to shop again as not only did they have so much choice for a small shop. It was reasonably priced!