Aston Matthews

This bathroom emporium has been trading since 1823 and the showroom, stretched over several shopfronts on the Essex Road, is packed floor to ceiling with a huge selection of bathroomware, showerheads, screens, taps and accessories. Every taste is catered for from Empire-style cast-iron baths, such as the Brunel, through to art deco-inspired taps and the latest Philippe Starck-designed bidet. You’ll also find cloakroom-sized basins and, for very bijou spaces, corner WCs. The extensive range means anyone with lavatory pretentions will be happy here, yet the store maintains the reassuring, competent feel of an old-fashioned plumber’s merchants.