NINE STEPS TO CREDIT CRUNCH DECORATING.

Stylish ways to shop smart during the credit crunch.

1. SALE SHOPS
Check out your nearest HomeSense, the homeware sister to TKMaxx. Also investigate Trade Secrets and National Brands with lines from Laura Ashley, House of Fraser, John Lewis and M&S.

2. ONLINE OFFERS
Annoyed but intrigued by all those 20% off offers that keep being forwarded to your inbox? Sign up to vouchercodes.co.uk, and access them all from one manageable website. Also try secretsales.com – an online sale club with discounts of up to 80% – moneysavingexpert.com, and moneysupermarket.com.

3. USE SHOPBOTS
Price comparison sites sift through retail sites to find the cheapest – but use at least three – from kelkoo.co.uk, pricerunner.co.uk, pricegrabber.co.uk and shopping.com – as not all retailers have relationships with all of them.’

4. GET A STORECARD
…but don’t use it. Many lure you in with a massive discount on your first purchase, which is great if you are furnishing a home. Take out the card, use the discount, access the privilege club, then pay the bill and cut the card up.

5. FREE AND EASY
Check out freecycle.org and pick up other people’s unwanted items. Great if you want old furniture to customise.

6. BE CHEEKY
Many sales personnel will go to great lengths to land a sale so don’t be afraid to ask for a discount. Or offer to pay in cash, which saves them on credit card commission.

7. FACTORY SHOPS AND OUTLETS
Some of our favourites include include Arthur Price, the Fired Earth Outlet, Christopher Wray Lighting, OKA Discount Shop, Portmerion, Sanderson Clearance, Waterford Crystal, Wedgewood and Wesley Barrell. Go to their websites to join the mailing list of your favourites and you’ll get prior notice about special sales and exclusive discounts.

8. OUTLET VILLAGES
With manufacturers increasingly producing merchandise specifically to sell through outlets, they no longer have that ‘last-season’s reject’ vibe. One of the smartest is Bicester Village with the likes of Cath Kidston, the White Company, Bodum, Descamps, Molton Brown, Calvin Klein and Paul Smith at bargain prices. Also try York Designer Outlet, Cheshire Oaks, Ashford and Gunwharf Quays.

9. HIGH DESIGN ON THE HIGH STREET
Savvy shoppers will already know to head to Habitat, who have enlisted the talent of top names such as Paola Navone, David Adjaye, Daisy de Villneuve, Christian Lacroix and Celia Birtwell to add to their already impressive collection. Graham & Brown have produced wallpaper ranges with Basso and Brooke, Barbara Hulaniki and Marcel Wanders, whilst Debenhams have long had collaborations with a Matthew Williamson, Julien Macdonald and John Rocha. House of Fraser stock both Jaeger and Ghost bed linen and Orla Kiely’s new collection for Heals launched last autumn. Designer style at high street prices – what’s not to like?

Visit our decorating archive for more modern decorating ideas.

As a dedicated follower of fashion you will know that one of the best places to get great designs at great prices is at one of your local department stores. With the in-house clothing ranges available in stores like Debenhams, Selfridges, M&S, House of Fraser and John Lewis all becoming better and better over time, they are now a fine place to go for all your fashion needs.

In the past, department stores’ own brand t-shirt departments were stocked nowhere near as well as their high fashion rivals, now departments stores ranges are of a quality which is really pushing the style levels very high and if high fashion stores had a comparable range of good value fashion t-shirts they would indeed be very good competition. For now though let’s just find out who has the best range of fashionable t-shirts amongst the department stores…

Debenhams

The casual clothing section at Debenhams is particularly good. With excellent designers like Ben Sherman available, those visiting this store are in for a treat. However, while they do have great range of clothing, if you are looking for more offensive t-shirts you will find it hard to find anything even a bit risqué.

Selfridges

Have been under fire in the past for dropping some of their plus size clothing ranges, Selfridges have a lot to answer for. Sadly, they have made no changes since this rash decision, leaving thousands of Selfridges mad, plus sized t-shirt wearing women forced to look elsewhere for their clothes. They do however have a range of cool t shirts which includes a particularly nice Guinness one.

M&S

Marks and Spencer has one of the worst ranges of cool t-shirts in the country. While they have a range of designers who make lovely plus size clothing like women’s dresses and coats, they don’t have a very good selection of fashion t shirts and certainly nothing that could be deemed cool.

House of Fraser

While House of Fraser has a good selection of big brand t shirts and a number of slogan t shirts, they still don’t cater for the retro t shirt market or have any funny t shirts. The t shirts they do have are quite cool though.

John Lewis

John Lewis has a fairly limited selection of cool t shirts. The ones they do have are good quality though but still, probably unsurprisingly, no offensive t shirts.

Winner: Selfridges

When we go about the home, many things to take into consideration. Building a summer home is no exception. Not only should your beach house designs take in to account the dimensions of your property, but also the specific details of its location. For example, when you purchase beach house designs, they cannot reasonably tell you how well their house would stand to a hurricane. That is the job of builders, inspectors and engineers. What’s about flooding and earthquake? Your holiday residence might be where you escape to dream a little, and take a break from your everyday life, but you shouldn’t be day-dreaming during the planning phases of its construction. Take into account all the details that may affect your beach house.

The fact of matter is that merrily getting a quality beach house design isn’t nearly enough. You must take extra steps to know where you are building, and insure that it is solid enough to accommodate your plans. Nature is never changing for and must realize that there are only going to be an increasing number of natural disasters, and you are wise to take into account all of the force of nature can affect your beach. It’s not about the aesthetics alone. Not by a long shot.

Before you delve into the various beach house designs, you would be wise to do some good research, due diligence about the location where you are going to build it. You should take into account the tides and available breakwaters, insure an adequate distance above sea level for protection, and do your research to insure that you are not building in a place of the planets which is often beset by storms. If you don’t want to be paying a fortune to build your dream cottage, you should also research what local materials are readily available at affordable prices, and then buy a beach house design which incorporates these materials in its design.

Probably the most important thing you could do would be to hire a builder that is intimately familiar with the area. All lands are different and have unique characteristics. There are probably tens of thousands of people who could draw out perfect beach house designs which will positively make you jump for joy, but a big part of building the perfect beach house is ensuring that it is designed for where you are going to put it.

Great beach house designs, like great designs for any building, always take into account the local geography and climate. They don’t foolishly seek to build the most sprawling, extravagant design possible, without factoring in the environment. You must also take into account the cost for homeowners insurance because they can get pretty damn pricey. Take care to do this to in a thoughtful fashion and you will be happier knowing that you have built a beach house which will keep you and your family safe for years to come.