Bargain hunting in Nottingham....without the kids!

Yesterday I spent the whole day wandering around Nottingham, mostly window shopping as there is still quite a lot of sale stuff around and I'm afraid I can't cope with shopping in the sales. Some people are expert at it and I envy their skill in grabbing a fantastic bargain. Not I. I get irritable and by the time I have found something, it is probably not enough of a saving to warrant the aggro and more than likely I've picked something that I don't actually need. Anyway. That's just me.

However, on occasion, bargain hunting is not such a bad thing. I was chatting to a friend at a birthday party over the weekend and she is in the process of 'doing up' her new house at the moment. We got on to one of my favourite subjects, if you haven't already spotted this.....chairs. Specifically, dining chairs. The lovely lady in question has two young children and so she is looking for something with the obvious practical advantages...wipe clean, durable etc. etc. but still stylish and comfortable. Therein lies part of the problem. Does such a chair exist?

I can completely see where she is coming from. Her initial thoughts were of the super stylish, very statement piece, Eames DSW chair (and the DAW). A fabulous looking, modern yet uber classic (in design terms) chair which would look great against a modern table or a wooden table for that modern/traditional mix and it comes in a range of great colours. The reservation was comfort factor. Would it be upright enough for small children and is it a chair on which you could sit for extended periods of time whilst entertaining for example? All valid points.

I will endeavour to have a look around and see if I can find a chair that satisfies someone with an obvious eye for design who also needs a chair that meets practical/comfort requirements. Could be a tough one! I think if I had had my eye on an Eames chair (which incidentally, are really quite comfortable.) then I would struggle to compromise by looking any further! I think what you may lack, slightly, in comfort, you massively make up for in the fact that it is a great looking chair! What I might be inclined to do is to road test a more affordable alternative. Buy one. Live with it for a day or two.  Cult Furniture,(www.cultfurniture.com) do 'Eames style'  chairs, as well as other design classics (Navy chair, Panton, Starck etc). Essentially exactly the same as the original but at a fraction of the price. An original Eames can set you back £217 at least. Cult do an Eames style chair for £49 plus delivery. I have to say I cannot comment on the quality as I have yet to order through them, but I am about to order an office chair for my husband's office and so will give them a test drive. You would have to pay for returns, but that's unlikely to be to the tune of £217!

For a slightly more affordable option to an Eames original, I had a good sit in a couple of dining chairs at John Lewis. My friend is not a big fan of stackable chairs, yet I have to say, the Gel chairs in John Lewis and the Swirl chair, both below, were very very comfortable and come is some lovely modern, zingy colours. Yes. They are stackable (I wouldn't stack them!), and perhaps not to everyone's taste, but if you do like the design, I think you'll like the comfort factor. The Swirl chair in particular was firm, yet  really quite comfortable.




Eames DSW chair £217



John Lewis Swirl chair £130

John Lewis Gel chair £99

I did make a bargain purchase today. My son loves the Mr Men and Little Miss characters and I'd spotted this bright, jolly picture in John Lewis for £120. I then spotted the wrapping paper in the card section for £2.00, so I bought a sheet of paper and a frame from Ikea and 'Bob's your Uncle'...job done for less than £20! The large picture below is my version!