Habitat

Oh so stylish!

I think the thing with furniture stores is that there is never one which covers all your needs. There's always something that seems not quite right that you need to go somewhere else for. So it is with Habitat. I like a lot of their furniture, but their lighting doesn't do it for me, for example. I like their cutlery, but I'm less keen on their crockery. And so on.

This is quite a nice Habitat store, laid out attractively over two floors, on the King's Road near Chelsea Town Hall. The staff are generally helpful, they have a nice range of accessories to complement the furniture, and they have regular, good sales.

The one major item I did buy from Habitat was my dining table. Although it is "partially self-essembly", it is still a lovely solid piece of furniture and, unusually, opens out on the long side to form a square, which seats eight. It's great for working on, too. So spot on in design terms for me.

I was a little nervous about home delivery - my flat is 78 stairs up, with no lift - but the delivery staff were cheerful and came exactly when they said they would, waited for me to check everything was as it should be, and that there was no damage, and then took away the packaging. That is what I regard as good service.

They have a great selection here and the layout of the space is quite nice. I always like to head straight for the lighting section upstairs to heat up on a cold day! the staff in this section are really friendy as well! Some evenings they have special late evenings for the customers where you can get a goody bag and some nice cocktails.

In my view, Habitat, the upmarket IKEA, has a bit of a hard time making their shops equally attractive in different markets. While I am not too excited about the Hamburg store of Habitat, this one in King's road is always worth a visit. Same merchandise, different layout.