The best homeware shops in London for stylish furniture and unique decor

Aria is located in an atmospheric space in Islington’s Barnsbury Hall. Many of the building’s original features have been restored and they now contrast beautifully with the über-modern lines of contemporary furniture and homewares. High-quality designer pieces are here, as are more unusual pieces like Serax's nature-inspired decorative plates (from £22) and the Geen-A portable lamp by Ferruccio Laviani (£167). This mix, teamed with a very nice in-store coffee bar, makes Aria a pleasure to visit. Chairs are a speciality, with Fritz Hansen and Ligne Roset well represented. Smaller stand-outs include a collection of Moomin cups and glasses (from £11) and pretty Taika bowl (£23) that would make a great gift. Check out the store's website, which now features a gift list.

Mint feels like a Dalí painting come to life, with its hand-picked and specially commissioned furniture, glassware, textiles and ceramics arranged like an avant-garde curiosity shop. Owner Lina Kanafani fills her space with international designs, and form and colour play a large part in her selections. Much of Mint’s stock could be considered as art with a capital ‘a’, a fact reflected in the prices. If you're looking for something unique to make your interior really stand out from the crowd, this is the place to come – just be prepared to pay big bucks for making your space look good.

While Terence Conran pioneered the idea of modernism in Britain back in the 1960s, he’s always had an impressively sharp eye for the decorative too, and nowhere is this more evident than at the Sloane Square flagship. The furniture here ranges from design classics, such as the award-winning Magnus Long chair range, to collaborations with established designers, such as the contemporary Menton (Loose) sofa with Matthew Hilton, to more prosaic but well-designed armchairs, tables, storage units and beds.

Much stock is exclusive and Conran mixes them in among classics to create inspirational room settings on the ground floor. The basement is home to a vast array of lighting (with some innovative designs), tableware and accessories and a strong, recently expanded range of inventive kids’ things.

There’s plenty packed in at Pentreath & Hall's Lamb's Conduit store, from kitchenware and stationery to cushions and candles. True, this place is an ideal gift destination, but as you’re buying your mate a gorgeous husky green Finn Juhl tray with a curved teak frame, you just might find yourself stocking up on those trendy Kilner jars you suddenly need. Looking for something bigger? There’s a limited stock of rugged furniture to bring some vintage elegance to your home, too.

Heal’s may be the grand old dame of interiors stores, but its happy combination of excellent sourcing, helpful staff and a layout that’s constantly being reinvented means it manages to stay relevant. Heal’s commitment to sourcing new designers is impressive, while established names such as Knoll, Vitra, Porada and Alessia are also well represented among the mirrors, rugs, bedlinen, clocks, cushions, art and photography available. The store’s ground floor is the most fun for casual browsers, offering a cornucopia of table- and kitchenware, toiletries and gift items, plus a terrific lighting department. The first and second floors house the bulk of the furniture, and for mid-century modernist fans, there’s a great selection of vintage Danish furniture. 

New and vintage design meet in this design store beloved of, and frequented by, Islington’s substantial coterie of architects, designers and other assorted trendies. Quality, beautifully-designed homeware is carefully sourced and advice on investing in classic retro furniture (or splashing out on a contemporary piece) is always on hand. If money is tight, hold out for one of Twentytwentyone's many sample sales, often offering up to 75 percent off ex-display and discontinued items.

House of Hackney's home, unsurprisingly, is in its namesake borough and is one of the most gorgeous retail establishments to land in London in years. Since 2013, this flagship store has been bedecked in the deliberately over-the-top juxtapositions of print-on-print-on-print that have made the brand's name. Once you cross the threshold, you're met with black polished floors and Dalston rose wallpapers lined up cheek by jowl with palm prints, bee prints and more. All of House of Hackney's stunning print collections are here – represented upstairs in rolls of paper, fabric, trays, mugs, fashion and collaborative designs with brands including Puma and William Morris. Elsewhere, you'll find furniture - with generously proportioned sofas and plump armchairs in more-is-more combinations of print and texture.

This store sells the sort of things everybody would have had in their kitchen or pantry 60 years ago: functional domestic goods. There is also a small range of classic vintage clothing (work jackets, aprons) and some old-fashioned gifts for children, such as a pinhole camera kit and vintage-style satchels, plus a range of notebooks. Labour & Wait also has a small concession inside Dover Street Market.

The demise of Boy George’s boutique Rude freed up one of Shoreditch’s most interesting shop sites, The Clerk’s House on Shoreditch High Street, and created an opportunity quickly seized upon by husband-and-wife team Luca and Nathalie Bomio. The Swiss couple offer the usual design-store fare like Fornasetti plates and ToyWatches, alongside some truly brave picks, from lurid dyed cowhide rugs to Milanese designer Fabio Novembre’s plump-buttocked Him/Her resin chairs cast from naked bodies.

It’s hard to believe SCP has lived on Curtain Road for over three decades, having been founded in 1985: its creative, contemporary products feel entirely geared to the East End’s influx of cool-hunters. But founder Sheridan Coakley has long championed functional and beautiful design and stocked the two floors of his store with statement items for every space in the home, from garden furniture to bathroom accessories. Each cherry-picked product is designed meticulously and aimed squarely at stylish homeowners who care as much about what their tape dispenser looks like as their dining table. There are textiles, furniture and homeware by guest brands, together with SCP’s own work, which often takes the form of collaborations with international designers.