21 Great Value New Buys for Your Home
Real Living Dina quilt cover, $109-$119, from Target Australia.
All the new spring/summer homewares are dropping into stores in Australia right now, and I can't help but feel excited about summer - and giving our home a good spring clean. The thing is, we're right in the middle of renovating, and I've just been made redundant from my part-time editing job. So things are a bit tight and spending on extra bits and pieces for our home isn't our highest priority. I'm used to living on a budget, especially when we were living on a single income after my son was born, and my usual reaction is to Just. Stop. Spending. On stuff. As much as love stuff, too much stuff can be... too much stuff. And all non-essentials are strictly off the table. This is a big deal for a blogger who likes to write about stuff. But my driving passion is admiring beautiful design and other people's stuff, so I'm OK with that. But sometimes? All it takes is one thing to instantly brighten up your home and bring it bang up to date. Fresh flowers and foliage from the garden will do that. But so will these 21 new things that have just arrived in store in Australia. I'm really impressed with Target's new Essentials range, and their great value bedding collaboration with Real Living magazine. Also, the design team at Freedom have been working with artisans in Thailand to create a collection of limited edition vessels for their new spring collection. They're really very beautiful and you can see the detail and handmade quality in each one.
Freedom's Vessels collection. Photography courtesy of Freedom.
Kmart, meanwhile, are going great guns with their new homewares collection. I talked to Kmart's Australian design team at last year's Kids Business NSW Bloggers Brunch, and they were very excited about the opportunity to work on a new range of homewares for Australia. And it seems the new collection has been a huge success, with several products already sold out, no doubt due to their current TV ad campaign.
Kmart's urban homewares collection. Photography courtesy of Kmart.
The prices are exceptionally good, but of course, everyone queries the quality of mass-produced stuff. When I visited my local Kmart last week, I couldn't assess the quality of furniture as they had sold out, but I was very impressed with the lovely Mosaic textured bath towels, which are reminiscent of Missoni's luxury home collection. They're a steal at $12.
Mosaic textured bath towel in citrus, $12, from Kmart.
I also had the opportunity to talk to Kmart's Australian PR, who asked me if I shopped for homewares at Kmart. I admitted that I was predominantly concerned about where the items were made, and under what conditions. When I see products that are extraordinarily cheap, alarm bells go off in my head. I can't 'unlearn' what I already know about underage sweatshop labour in third world countries. Kmart's PR assured me that they had changed factories and carry out regular checks on workplace standards and worker well-being. So with that knowledge in mind, you just have to hope that these standards and checks are being maintained. New to the Australian market is Swedish retailer H&M, and while their Melbourne store has been open since April, online shopping is not currently available. However, I've included a few good buys from H&M's homewares collection, as the Sydney store will be opening at the Macquarie Centre in October. Hurrah!
H&M Home Basic Collection in Glass. Photography courtesy of H&M.
Right, mini-rant over. Here are my top 21 picks for the best value new homewares in Australia. Just click the product images to be taken directly to the original shop source.
Boathouse desk lamp in blue, $59, from Target Australia.
House Lantern in yellow, $7, from Kmart.
Knitted ottoman in charcoal, $29, from Kmart.
Chimney vessel in Spearmint, $39.95, from Freedom Australia.
Real Living Dina Euro pillowcase, $30, from Target Australia.
Wire orange storage basket, $9, from Kmart.
Summer Days placemat in Zest, $3.95, from Freedom Australia.
Set of 4 porcelain papier latte cups, $10, from Target Australia.
Linen cushion cover, $19.95, from H&M Australia
Inca vessel in yellow, $24.95, from Freedom Australia.
Round acacia wood paddle board, $10, from Kmart.
Navy coverlet for King bed, $45 from Kmart.
Allegra vessel in Surf Spray, $39.95 from Freedom.
Zedd decorative chair 16cm in Sunshine Yellow, $9.95 from Freedom Australia.
Banyan cushion in Teal, $34.95, from Freedom.
Braiden throw in Blue Grey, $39.95 from Freedom Australia.
Two tone tea light Holders – set of 3, $7, from Kmart.
Trove planter medium in white, $29.95, from Freedom Australia.
Duvet cover set, $29.95, from H&M Australia.
Mosaic textured bath towel in citrus, $12, from Kmart.
