England At Home

I always find myself wandering into here when in town. More than anything I like their buyers eclectic taste, he/she goes from smutty (but funny & untacky) cards & gifts right up to some tasty designer objects that will find their true home in my ubercool, sea view Brighton pad that I won't ever get round to buying.............I like their mini kitchen composter, 'stabbed man' knife holders (!!!) and inflatable chairs with speaker docks. I did buy some lovely furniture in their other shop over the road though. Ace Brighton retailer!

The name of this place makes it sound like it should be a traditional, little English home store... but that could not be further from what England at Home has to offer. Inside, you’ll find a huge mix of the quirky and downright weird, as well as some pieces that are actually rather nice.

They’ve got rude (I mean VERY rude) greetings cards, the pointless but brilliant ‘Dead Fred’ pencil holders (plus related bookmarks and coasters), animal key chains that light up and make their respective noises, bizarrely-shaped balloon whisks, adopt-a-vine (or pony, if you’d rather) gift boxes, humorous or arty coffee table books, eye chart tea towels, cat-end tea towel holders, multicoloured stackable espresso cups... and the list goes on and on.

My absolute favourite thing about England at Home is their collection of gorgeous telephones. These range from payphone-style 1950s designs to retro 1970s circular dial phones in a range of colours. So cool they make me wish I had a landline I actually used.

A pretty boring name for such a cool shop, England At Home is another of Brighton’s quirky homeware shops, selling all sorts of funky, original and unique homeware and gadgets to brighten up your place.

From Union Jack front door mats and dog and cat arse tea towel holders, skull design hot water bottles and Banksy coasters and canvases, this place has it all.

They sell funny fried breakfast and pizza printed plates, with the latter coming in actual pizza boxes, brightly coloured kitchen utensils and equipment, cushions, furniture and lamps, as well as loads of gifts and gadgets for kids and adults alike.

Space Hoppers, cool clocks (including mini alarm clocks that can be flicked across the room with minimal effort), old school dial phones, bar stools, recipe books and cardboard tank and fire engine cat play houses are just some of the stuff on offer.