As H&M Home announces the launch of it’s very first furniture and lighting collection, I thought it was as good a time as any to take a closer look at what else the high street has to offer in terms of affordable homeware and simple style for less.
Just like it’s done with fashion and what we wear, the high street has made dressing your home on a shoestring budget more accessible and attainable than ever. You might pop into your local shop for a new outfit and come out with a new plant pot for a fiver, a scented candle or a basket or two you never thought you needed. It’s all about easy, seasonal updates – little pick-me-ups for the house – just like buying a new lipstick to make you feel good.
But these pieces needn’t be cheap, temporary or throwaway – high street stores are seeing the value in the handcrafted as well as the mass-produced. In addition to the universal appeal of value ranges – House by John Lewis for instance – brands are setting a middle ground for homeware, something between IKEA and the popular high-end Scandinavian brands. They’re pairing everyday essentials you know and love with stylish, forward-thinking pieces you might only need to buy once. You can find functional, built-to-last furniture to rival those by designer names, unusual lighting you won’t find anywhere else, and handmade accessories created with artisans where each one is ever so slightly different.
So I’ve rounded up five of the best stores for high street homewares, with six of my favourite interiors buys available right now from each. Everything from on-trend marble tables and slender metal designs, to artisanal stoneware, beautiful glassware and quality textiles. Happy shopping!
H&M Home
I’m always popping into my local H&M Home to see what’s new – I go there for their pure linen bedding (tablecloths and cushion covers too!), simple stoneware jugs and minimal tableware. Whenever I need a few things for a styling project it’s always my first port of call and I can never resist coming away with a couple of new pieces for myself.
And now with their expansion into furniture and lighting, I’m even more obsessed. With a focus on long-lasting design and versatility, the new collection features a selection of coffee tables, benches, shelving units, mirrors and lamps. Think sleek lines of powder-coated steel, marble-topped tables, rustic wood stools and bohemian bamboo pendants. But hurry fast, some designs have already sold out, with the rest of the range being released early August.
Arket
Scandi cousin to H&M, COS and & Other Stories, Arket is your port of call if you’re looking for simple, everyday essentials and quality basics. It’s great for minimal glassware, terracotta plant pots and all your utilitarian needs, from gardening gloves to washing up liquid. As well as their own brand products, you’ll find pieces by the likes of Iittala and Iris Hantverk. Perfect if you’re looking for a gift for a stylish homebody.
Urban Outfitters
Urban Outfitters and you think of twenty-something clothes and Millennial fashion, but their online home department is a little known gem for affordable furniture and eclectic accessories. They have a few pieces in stores but the best is online. Urban Outfitters is particularly great for rugs under £500 (many under £100, which is hard to find) and utilitarian storage units – side tables, shelf organisers and clothes rails, you’ll find everything you need to create a stylish home.
Zara Home
While Zara Home can be a little too decorative and flouncy for my liking, you can find some beautiful basics. A quick browse at their new AW18 collection, and there’s smart black tableware, Seventies-influenced vases, minimal metal planters and baskets galore. As with their clothes, there is A LOT online so you have to spend some time seeking out the best. But once you’ve found the good stuff, it’s great!
French Connection
French Connection is probably one of the lesser known names for homeware here. I didn’t even know they did furniture until my mum ordered a beautiful new dining table and chairs, and was surprised when she said where they were from. The focus here is more bohemian in look, with Aztec patterned rugs, textured cushions and mango wood accessories. Not always for everyone, but then there are industrial console tables, hand-blown table lamps and simple ceiling lights.
What do you think – do any of these high street homeware picks catch your eye?
In the future I think we’ll see high street stores collaborating more and more with well-known designers on one-off collections, in a similar way H&M, Topshop and M&S has done for clothes. IKEA is already leading the way with ranges created by the likes of Tom Dixon, Ilse Crawford and Piet Hein Eek. Habitat too with Jackson & Levine. Such a relationship is mutually beneficial – the high street store appeals to a new (mid-to-high-end) audience that might never ordinarily shop there, while the designer has a platform to expose their brand to a larger group of people. And we get good quality design for less, and isn’t that what Scandinavian design was originally all about – making it accessible for all. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next…
All images courtesy of respective brands, lifestyle images: H&M Home
