Lockdown has seen a shift in focus to the home, with many of us looking to improve or refresh our immediate surroundings.
Makeshift home offices have been created, luxury bedding is getting some newfound attention, and even our bookshelves and wall coverings are up for online scrutiny these days.
It’s only right, then, that we should shine a spotlight on some of our best loved furniture and homeware brands still delivering during the crisis.
Our top picks cover a range of homewares – from large furniture pieces to the smallest accessories to suit every space and budget.
We looked at the whole shopping experience from navigating the site to customer service and delivery.
You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world and expert advice. This revenue helps us to fund journalism across The Independent.
Amaraâ
This is a one-stop shop for global luxury brands, including the in-house (and more affordable) A by Amara. A visit to the site is like a virtual tour of a high-end department store with each section thoughtfully curated with complementary pieces. From furniture to lighting, kitchen accessories to kids’ homeware, we can spend many a happy hour browsing Amara’s beautiful homewares.
Audenzaâ
We love Audenza for its quirky take on accessible luxury. The online boutique features a range of furniture and home accessories, all dripping in glamour: think shiny metallics and plush jewel coloured velvets. More affordable products mix with high-end investment pieces here. Pick up a gold metal planter for as little as £15, or an Art Deco-inspired velvet armchair for £835.
Beaumondeâ
This online emporium brings some of the best Nordic homeware labels to a UK audience, including Broste Copenhagenâ, Bloomingville, Umbra and Umage. From kitchen and dining to lighting and wallpaper, the curated collection features design led pieces in calming neutrals and earthy tones. We love the current green edit for its range of ethically produced and sustainable pieces.
BHSâ
One of the most high-profile high street casualties of recent times, British Home Stores (BHS) has successfully reinvented itself as a streamlined site for lighting, with a few bedding and textile pieces on offer, too. But for those in the know, BHS was always about the lighting department, and despite losing its physical presence on the high street, that still stands. Here, you can pick up a glittering chandelier that looks way more expensive than it is.
Go Modern
If you know your contemporary European designers, you’ll love Go Modern’s online edit. Bringing together furniture pieces and accessories from the likes of Porada, Bontempi Cassa, Gallotti & Radici and Missoni Home, the site is filled with design classics – and future design classics to invest in now. It is super high-end though, so you’ll need some deep pockets.
Habitat
A stalwart of the furniture world, Habitat remains a go-to for those looking to update their abode with style, hitting just the right balance between design-led original pieces and affordability. Almost all of Habitat’s offerings are created in-house, yet boast an outward-looking, global perspective. We’ve got our eyes on The Rich Brothers’ first outdoor capsule collection for the brand.
H&M Home
This international high street fashion chain has proved its worth on the furnishings front with some highly covetable homeware. And that’s thanks to its fast-changing and affordable offerings that manage to tap into the zeitgeist of a younger audience, perhaps setting up home for the first time. Design-led and globally-influenced pieces that were once out of reach are now enticingly attainable.
Loaf
Whether you’re looking for a sofa bed or a sideboard, Loaf’s homeware collection merges cool Scandi-inspired design with the ultimate in cosy. The brand believes in good old fashioned craftsmanship with each piece carefully handmade in the UK, making it our go-to for high quality beds and mattresses and stylish settees, as well as homely accessories and craft-driven ceramics. You won’t find bold patterns and prints here, just beautifully soft, earthy and tonal block colours.
Matilda Goad
With her penchant for colour and pattern, this London-based designer offers a range of beautifully crafted home buys from tableware to lighting, planters and accessories, all with a playful dose of English whimsy. Goad brings contemporary sass to vintage-inspired pieces, shown in her signature scallop-edged rattan lampshades and her hand-woven baskets and trays in tonal stripes.
Nkukuâ
Working closely with talented artisans from all over the world, this brand offers a delightful mix of home decor and furniture pieces that are beautifully rustic and craft driven, all in earthy natural tones. Nkuku puts sustainability at the fore with reclaimed materials and ethical practices. Whether you’re looking for lighting, furniture, kitchen or dinnerware, there are some highly original handmade pieces on offer here.
Oliver Bonasâ
We’re never not impressed with Oliver Bonas’ fast-moving homeware collection, which currently mixes bohemian rattan pieces with crafty tableware and glamourous Deco-inspired shiny metallics. It’s a heady and eclectic blend. Beautifully designed and handmade larger furniture pieces are on offer, too, from coffee tables and chests of drawers to statement armchairs. We love that the fashion and homewares sit side by side in the brand’s distinctive style.
OYOY Living Design
This much-loved Danish brand has recently launched a dedicated UK webshop, which is music to the ears of British design lovers looking to fill their homes with stylish finds. Created for the modern family, OYOY’s chic offerings span furniture, textiles, accessories and the cutest design-led homeware for kids. We love the brand’s recurring rainbow motif. Shop by room, including hall and office.
Pepper Sq
Where chic Scandi-inspired pieces mix with sleek mid-century design, Pepper Sq’s individual offering is quite something. But ingeniously, here you can shop an entire dining room, kid’s room or home office by concept. Purchase the entire look or mix and match pieces to discover your inner interior designer, all the while keeping a close eye on your spending budget.
Rockett St George
A shared passion for antiques shops and flea markets brought Jane Rockett and Lucy St George together in 2007 to launch this online treasure trove. A maximalist’s dream, Rockett St George offers everything from lighting to tableware to wallpaper and floor tiles – and of course larger furniture pieces. Expect quirky and glamorous products, all of which carry the stamp of Jane and Lucy’s impeccable interiors style.
Rose & Grey
12 years ago, the concept of buying furniture from a website was a pipe dream, but that didn’t stop Lyndsey and Guy Goodger from creating this inviting online boutique. Rose & Grey is a furniture and home accessories brand with its finger on the pulse of the latest interior trends. Made to order sofas sit prettily next to lighting, rugs, tableware and wallpaper here, whether you’re going for a room set that’s Scandi chic or mid-century modern.
Swoon
Previously Swoon Editions, this high-end, high-glamour furniture brand is best loved for is Art Deco inspired pieces that combine sharp geometric lines with rich colours and chic metallic accents. We’re seeing more natural wood pieces in its latest offerings across sideboards, chests of drawers and coffee tables – but these are no less elegant. Expect exquisite craftsmanship here.
WallpaperSTORE*
Design lovers in the know choose their furniture, lighting and home accessories from this curated site with its strong editorial voice. It is, of course, a means to shop all the beautiful design that’s featured in the magazine, and all of it is highly covetable. The range is vast, so choose Wallpaper* editors’ picks as a good place to start and you really can’t go wrong.
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