You know those scraggly old shopping trolley cat ladies, who collect other people's random junk off…read morethe street? I think I have been reincarnated from one of them. To me old stuff is by far superior than new stuff. The more de-stressed and ugly retro a chair looks, the happier I get. If I can get a near new filing cabinet for half the price in olive green, then I know I'm having a good day. And so it goes that every time I enter Hindmarsh Disposals I enter my happy place. Near new and near eras I wasn't even born in are all represented here. There is a particularly large amount of crockery and glassware from the 70s and 80s for $1-4, chairs, side tables, bed headboards and cupboards from the 60s and 70s are well represented and so are filing cabinets. My hipster dream is to make a table out of an old door and for $60-90 you'd walk away with a glass pane, wooden door that needs little restoration. Actually, hardly anything here needs much restoration - this isn't a junk yard after all. Be prepared to rummage as everyone says, but also know that this isn't a Freedom showroom for a reason. You're not paying to have a manikin show how to touch a lamp here and that's why it's cheap. And like the guy on the TV tells you to do, just haggle. You are bound to find a vintage Holden sign or old record through to a brightly coloured collection of aluminum tea and flour canisters for nix or for half the price of even IKEA furniture you can get something that was built in the day when things were made to last more than 6 months and didn't require an Allen key to assemble.

I love junk. Useful and useless junk. Hindmarsh Disposals has got a bit of both - although more…read moreuseful stuff than most second hand stores. The prices are reasonable - when I first moved to Adelaide with my parents we bought lots of secondhand stuff here. Things you can pick up here: - lamps - furniture (dingy or nice, depending on your tastes and wallet) - second hand books - cooking utensils - stereos - tvs - clothes - vases - antiques - rugs - suitcases - fridges - record players - sewing machines - sports equipment - slide projectors - light fittings If you're a vintage furniture hunter, they have some bargains here, but you'll have to be quick because there is a high turnover. I once found a very old fashioned book about how a lady should go about bagging a man, for fifty cents. Antique sexist propaganda!

Unley Disposals have an extensive range of second hand furniture. These guys not only sell…read morefurniture but they are always buying as well. This is a family owned business that's been in operation for four decades. As well as pre-loved items, they also make and sell their own pine furniture. Everything is locally made and they can custom build to your design. There are actually two arms to this business - one part of the shop is the Disposals area and the other is called Mr Bookcases. If you're looking for something to sleep on, something to sit on or something to hang on your wall and you don't want to spend a lot of money, you may just find what you're looking for at Unley Disposals. The shop itself is pretty hard to miss but I always look for the dummy soldier in his army greens out the front.

If you've been sitting there thinking, where can I buy a Bali hut? Or a larger than life-sized army…read moreman? Then look no further. Love, love, LOVE Mr. Bookcases. Not only do they sell good quality and cheap furniture items, they have a range of really quirky things that you probably wouldn't find in many places around Adelaide. Eureka flag included. From incredibly awesome Ned Kelly coffee tables, to beautiful dining tables, to mattresses... There is a whole lot of items available in this massive store. Apparently their stock changes on a regular basis also. Some of the items are second hand, and some of them are new, and some of them are even custom built. It's also family owned, and all the stuff is made in Adelaide. Love.

Dessert was so disgusting i'm going to cry thinking about it my wife is still mad at me for making…read moreus eat here. Apple pie was cold and base was sitting on my tongue with bad feeling. Chocolate cake was a flop, let it be known i'm an eater and do dabble with chocolate often but this is a cry for help. Never again!

Ok... I am going to do it. I am going to review IKEA…read more So, it is hard to describe my relationship with IKEA. I remember when this place first opened. I actually did not know a whole much about IKEA. The brand was very foreign to me. I heard of it, but was unfamiliar with it's scale. Like the rest of Adelaide, I had to check it out. All new, shiny and plastic. Oh yes, walking through the maze that is IKEA was quite wonderful. I then started to notice something. It is not only the deisgn of their products that make IKEA successful, it is also the design of their stores. Do you ever find that when you go to IKEA you end up taking home a shoe horn, dish brush and a new mirror that you don't need? You end up having to go fetch your car to drive into the bay to load it full of stuff with a $2 icecream in your hand. I am always left saying huh? How did that happen? Over the years IKEA's appeal went downhill for me. I have had furniture and items break. What I have always been impressed with is the 3 month return policy. So, if you are not happy you can take it back for store credit. That is a plus. What do I usually get in this store now? Water glasses, plastic tubs, glass jars, curtains and maybe linen. That suits me fine. Every now and then I might get a decoration of some sort, but I have to really like it. I recommend IKEA if you are on a budget. It was awesome while I was at Uni. Try and look for the solid wood furniture if you can. They last a lot longer than the chipboard stuff. It's great that they have started to use solid pine now! Also, here is my HOT TIP: If you want to get furniture from IKEA and want it to look a little special and not just from the catalog, check out a website called IKEA Hacks. It is full of ideas for turning IKEA products into something really cool and unique. Also, don't feel like you have to use their door knobs and hinges, you can get cool antique ones from thrift stores or salvage places to make the furniture look more funky!

I think the guys at Discount Lounge Centre have nailed a niche market here. They have a great…read moreselection, the quality is good, and the prices reflect that quality. You may be able to find something cheaper elsewhere, but it will be poorer quality. An interesting thing happened to me at this location. I bought a recliner that I am totally happy with, but after I had paid full price for it and I brought it home I remembered that the last time I was in the showroom, a sales staff member had offered me a discount (which I had in writing). I brought the discount back to the store and they honoured it and refunded the difference. I think that's real professionalism.

So although there is the word 'discount' in the title, I found it hard to find any anywhere on the…read morelounge furniture in the store and thought it to be just as expensive as every other place. First of all, the location is convenient, smack bang in the middle of the homemaker section on Anzac Highway and there is heaps of off street parking so your side mirror doesn't get knocked off. However, the prices didn't seem as low as I was expecting and there was nothing under $300.00 for a single 2 seater couch. They do have a great range of recliners though if you are in the market, though I can guarantee again that none of them are cheap. The worst thing is there are these weird statues of old fashioned 'Charlie Chaplin' type men all over the store. I don't like browsing and having the feeling of them watching you...

So the furniture has a great rap from my fellow yelpers and I tend to agree - I also find it very…read moreaffordable for such a high quality product. The key cutting sure is a bonus, they also stock loads of kitchen wares and random housey stuff. Aprons, storage solutions and a great selection of wicker baskets (both laundry and other). Strangely enough, I always go here when I want to buy hammocks. It's the only store I've found that consistently stocks them - big sturdy ones, in bright colours, usually priced between $30 and $60 which is much cheaper than elsewhere. A genuine old school variety homewares store... worth checking out for the charm alone.

I know about as much about carpentry as my cat but I do have eyes, so I can recognise the furniture…read morein this store is made pretty darn well. This large warehouse is absolutely packed with wine racks, coffee tables, and TV cabinets, and the artistry in the detailing is clear even to a dummy like me. My partner likes to wander in here and ponder all the lovely things he could possibly make. And by make I mean, buy or ask his dad to make for him. The warehouse smells like wood shavings and leather and makes you want to cook a roast in a country kitchen. The style in here is mostly quite traditional they obviously care more for craftsmanship than fads: you have to love old school quality. The front area of the shop has kitchen gear like mugs and Tupperware but the real 'hero' of the store is the beautiful side tables and bookcases: I don't have the budget just yet but until then, I browse.

If you're looking to buy a SA made furniture, check out Furniture Design on Goodwood Road. The…read moreshowroom has some beautiful furniture range, each offering stunning craftmanship and product finishing. There are entertainment units in various timber finishings, tables, consoles and dining sets to look at. Choose from an oak, jarrah or blackwood. Expect to find modern and contemporary design and style here. Apart from designing and creating furnitures, am sure the brother and sister team here would be able to custom make your desired furniture if you consult them. Ask for Darren or Lea.

Do you know Edina Monsoon the character? This is the sort of shop she would have had in the sit-com…read more"Absolutely Fabulous" but not as inexpensive. Such cool stuff. If only I lived in a great big enormous house that needed a dozen different rooms peppered with artifacts and regularly changed around to suit my mood or the weather or something. One thing is for sure, if you are just starting out in a new house or flat - like it's the first time from home or a new place because you've just decided it should be that way - this is a great shop to go to and find the things that may give it your special touch. It is a little odd going into a shop like this when you can feel like there are so many duplicates of the same thing, so why buy it, however once you have thought through the critical mass of population and how many people you know and what you like compared to your friends, you will discover that if you buy something here cheap, and most of it is very reasonably priced, your friends will be impressed and not have the same thing as you. It is very unlikely they will anyway. Even if you know someone with the same thing, it just means you both have good taste, doesn't it! These people at Loot have things like ornaments and carved wooden giraffes and candles and cusions and screens and such, but my favourite things are the cushions and the little rugs. very handy and not too expensive. Also they have a annual clearance sale at the start of the year with really good bargains, they do advertise it and it does get busy - this year it is 21st and 22nd January so it is as I am writing this review - actually this weekend - and they have up to 75% off their stock! They do this big sale every year. I got a whole lot of tea lights last year for about 50 cents (non rapping) so check out Loot. It's pretty cool.

If I had another house, one that wasn't already so full of stuff we can hardly move, I would deck…read moreit out entirely from Loot. Who needs furniture anyway? This home decor shop is the only Loot in South Australia (according to its website) so no wonder I didn't know it was a chain. The shop is packed full of gorgeous decorations and trinkets, bags, scarves and some clothing, pillows and throw rugs, hand made and other gorgeous stationary, candles, fragrances and dozens of cute boxes, large and small. Much of it is inspired by Indian designs, mixed with many European images. It's obviously not authentic - it's way too cheap, and though not particularly good quality it's not poorly made; it's somewhere in that enormous middle ground. Loot is a brilliant place to go Christmas shopping, as there are many items within a very affordable price range, like the gorgeous little jewelry boxes that are only $6.95. They also have a nice range of daily inspiration cards and magnets, as well as these strange fragrance balls that are made of something that feels like styrofoam, that make the whole shop smell fantastic. It currently has heaps of specials on leading up to Christmas, so now is a very good time to check it out.

When I used to work in Blackwood, this was my go to lunch break venue. I would spend my 30 minutes…read morehere just browsing through the stunning Asian artefacts and exotic homewares from Africa, Morocco and more! I absolutely love colours, fabrics and tastefully selected homewares, especially if there are from Asia or India to reflect my heritage and culture. Although the prices are steep than what I have purchased back in Asia, but I have no doubt that the proprietor Jenny who hails from Africa has exquisite taste and a deep background in interior design and will lend you her expertise and decorating tips that you so deserved to turn your home into an oasis of love, comfort and beauty.

I love this shop, it's full of all the things I'd never dream of doing myself hence the interior…read moredesign service is very helpful. Choosing this option is a great opportunity to get your colours happening and create the mood you want in your home. This is not only in regards to where the wall hanging or canvas is best suited to but the actual colour of the walls! Unique, classy and blendable homewares to furnish any home no matter what your colour scheme. And...guess what - YOU CAN TRY BEFORE YOU BUY, I dare anyone to name another shop that does that !! Yes, take it home and if it's not suitable take it back....but read the fine print first regarding conditions. It has a melting pot of cultures so the homewares are mutable in their application, going from Asian, tribal influences, Moroccan, Indian, Balinese and more but that's the general look and feel. There's a large range of jewellery, candles, essential oils, etc, so whether it's for yourself or a loved one this place has something you've been looking for to add a touch of class in your home.