General Home Furnishings
=
Laura Ashley's home furnishings are quite traditional but are pretty without being too twee. They have a good lighting collection as well. I find their shops generally quite small and therefore they only have a fraction of stock on display - I recently got one ... Read review
Advantages: Wide choice - not as pricey as I was expecting - quick delivery Disadvantages: style has a tendency for 'musminess'
...Home Furnishings
=========================
Laura Ashley's home furnishings are quite traditional but are pretty without being too twee. They have a good lighting collection as well. I find their shops generally quite small and therefore they only have a fraction of stock on display - I recently got one of their catalogues and this gave me a good idea about what they do - pretty much any furniture for the home can be bought including ... ...as saying minimalist. Some Laura Ashley furniture is great - some of it I do find a bit 'mumsy'. This review isn't intended to cover all of this - only to tell you about a good experience that I had with a recent purchase of some made-to-order curtains.
Curtains
========
For ages I've been meaning to buy some curtains for the main bedroom at home. Having chosen the wall colour and carpet I set out to find suitable ... more
General Home Furnishings ========================= Laura Ashley's home furnishings are quite traditional but are pretty without being too twee. They have a good lighting collection as well. I find their shops generally quite small and therefore they only have a fraction of stock on display - I recently got one of their catalogues and this gave me a good idea about what they do - pretty much any furniture for the home can be bought including crockery; glasses; sofas; beds; rugs; wooden furniture as well as the expected soft furnishings. There is a wide choice overall that will have something to suit most tastes except extreme modern. I personally like quite plain things - not too fussy although I wouldn't go as far as saying minimalist. Some Laura Ashley furniture is great - some of it I do find a bit 'mumsy'. This review isn't intended to cover all of this - only to tell you about a good experience that I had with a recent purchase of some made-to-order curtains.
Curtains ========
For ages I've been meaning to buy some curtains for the main bedroom at home. Having chosen the wall colour and carpet I set out to find suitable curtains. I wanted full-length interlined curtains that will suit a wedgewood blue paint. After much hunting high and low I finally found a suitable pattern. I finally opted for a Laura Ashley pattern with fat blue and white stripes and flowers on the white in a chintzy fabric. Sounds a bit twee - but trust me - they're OK.
Laura Ashley curtain material prices vary accordingly to the band of the material. The prices range from about £11 per metre for band A up to some much higher figure for the leather / suede furnishings (something like £40 / m I think). This isn't too steep if you compare it with some designer brands which can start at £30/m.
I popped into my local store and order the curtains with the appropriate measurements. The whole lot came to £280.50 for 2 sets of full length curtains with pencil pleats and interlining - the material was £13.50/m and I used nearly 10m. This isn't a bad price for having curtains made up - I also scoured 2nd hand shops who would quite happily have sold me a single pair of laura ahsley curtains for £200! The deal was made better due to it being a 10% off day.
I was told delivery would be 6-8 weeks in fact I had a call within 3 weeks to say the curtains were ready to be collected and i'm very pleased with the finished result.
This was my first purchase from Laura Ashley and I was expecting it to be much more expensive. Look out for their 10% off weekends as they do seem to have them quite often so it's worthwhile choosing what you want and then ordering on the appropriate day. I'm going to order an armchair next and I'm waiting for the discount day before doing it. This does seem to apply to all furnishings so it's better than a sale.
Where to shop ============== www.lauraashley.com promises to be up and running soon - in the meantime you can buy a home furnishings catalogue from one of their shops.
Incidently for those of you local to me, they have just opened a new store in Camberley. They also have stores in most towns and home furnishings can also be found in some Homebase branches.
Advantages: Easier to choose at home, advice from designer Disadvantages: None
...a few I liked in Laura Ashley, at my local Homebase in Ayr. I spotted that they did an interior design service, and I thought this would be a good way of trying to create the room I wanted, with all the little touches and the desired ambience. So I decided that I would ask them to come out to my home.
Their design service is £50, and this covers you for up to three rooms. You do get the £50 back if you place an order with them, and I therefore figured ... ...tradespersons are not guaranteed by Laura Ashley however they are of good quality overall. Payment options available are the Laura Ashley Credit Card, which has a rather hefty APR when compared to a regular loan, but you do get 4% back in Laura Ashley Vouchers. Alternatively you can have 12 months interest free credit, or a loan. You can also pay with good old-fashioned cash of course.
I was delighted with the way my lounge and guest bedroom turned ...
helencbradshaw 02.01.2002 (09.02.2002)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Laura Ashley (Shop)
Advantages: good furniture Disadvantages: unpopular clothes
...I'm writing this review about Laura Ashley's home furnishings rather than their clothes, of which I don't have that much experience! I also have a vested interest in the shop as I have got a few shares in it that are not performing particularly well, and I would like to hear other people's opinions on it.
Laura Ashley has home furnishings stores in some Homebase shops and also as part of some of their clothes shops. They sell cushions, wallpaper, ... ...just returned to profit, with Laura Ashley trying to ditch their 1980s floral pattern image.
I have to say that I quite like the furnishings in Laura Ashley although everything does tend to be a bit on the expensive side. If you wait until the summer or January sales you can pick up a few bargains. They have nice looking leather armchairs and loads of patterned cushions. the lighting ranges from simple lampshades to chandeliers.
One bonus of Laura ...
jonathancowley 26.03.2001 (05.04.2001)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Laura Ashley (Shop)
Advantages: good quality and style Disadvantages: poor sales advice and after care
...a rather expensive sofa from Laura Ashley last November in the sale at their Southampton branch. It felt luxurious in the store and we could not wait to get ot delivered, there was no sales advice given at this point, they just eagerly took the money while geting us to sign up for the card. Delivery was about 3 months which was the dissappointment. When it finally arrived it had no care guide and we were amazed that after sitting on it for a while ... ...a couple of days! There was nothing wrong with the manufacture rather the design was poor. It had 'luxurious feather filled' large cushions. Every time you get ff the sofa you had to plump the cushions. They are so big that my wife struggled to do this. We were extremely unhappy with the product. When we rang to complain we they were polite and sent someone to look at it. He explained the cushions were high maintenance. This was never explained to ...
gibology 01.09.2007
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Laura Ashley (Shop)
Advantages: none Disadvantages: lack of customer care and none delivery
...would I have ordered from Laura Ashley if I had known about their shocking customer service. I only wanted an 11 metre length of fabric so I ordered on 28th october and money was taken from my account. Today is 21st of november and I am still waiting. I have been on the phone 3 times and sent 3 e mails and each reply says 7 to 10 days. Now I hear that they have 1000 metres in stock but the warehouse is in a mess so guess what, delivery is likely ... ...to follow the dispute procedure to get my money back. The fabrics are nice but the stress is not worth the effort. Look somewhere else and avoid Laura Ashley. I wish I had known about their dreadful lack of delivery beforehand and I hope someone else benefits from my experience ...
katie34 21.11.2008
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Laura Ashley (Shop)
I've been purchasing from Laura Ashley for many years now, and I just love it! You could totally re-decorate your home from paint right through to finishing touches. Their ranges include paint, furniture, soft furnishings, light, material, crockery, accessories and clothes... I could go on. There is a very distinctive country look but saying this, a lot of the designs would fit into any home. I've found everything I have bought, (and that is a lot) ... ...own curtains (I have a Laura Ashley curtain making book) which is good for people on a tight budget but they also provide made to measure services from the same materials which I think makes style accessible for everyone. Laura Ashley has a seasonal mail order catalogue and you can order over the phone, online and from the shop. They have an account facility should you need it (it's very hard to fall in love and run away with yourself in this shop). ...
a_lil_gem 04.04.2005
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Laura Ashley (Shop)
Price
Value for money
Selection & range
Availability
Quality
Staff knowledge
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "Laura Ashley (Shop)"
Advantages: Convenient, good selection of shops Disadvantages: Can end up spending too much and too long in here!
name some more popular shops are Miss Selfridge, New Look, Gap, Baby Gap, Claires Accessories, Lifestyle Sports, Boots, La Senza, Clintons, Car Phone Warehouse, Argos, Bargain Books, LauraAshley, Quicksilver - the list of shops really is exhaustive. If you wish to find out even more shops there are available check out the following link:
http://www.westfield.com/castlecourt/ourstores/index.html
When feeling tired from investigating all the many shops, you can recharge the batteries with some food/and or drink. There is a juice bar on the ground floor, and a coffee shop on the first floor. The main food court is also located on the first floor. Here you can find Subway, KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut and Spud you like outlets and ample seating available to rest your weary legs, although as expected it does get very busy around the lunch ...
Advantages: Great prices Disadvantages: End up spending too much
sure we parked the opposite end to the play area to ensure a chance to go in the shops.
The village is set out like a mini town with small streets branching off a main one and a main centre square. We did get lost once or twice so a guide is a good idea. Along the route we went in the shops we wanted, spending lots of money.
Avisit to their website will list all the shops but some examples are, Alexon, Georgio,Edinburgh Woolen Mill, Mexx, LauraAshley, Wedgewood, Thorntons.
We then arrived at the kids part. You need to pay entrance but at £8 for a family it is really good value. You are given a hanful of tokens, get your hand stamped to allow you to go off and return, and off you go. Our children whizzed through to the cars. Safety is important here and hemets were provided. The cars are token run and they get about 10 minutesof ...
Advantages: Well spaced, attractive layout, good quality Disadvantages: Pushy sales assistant!
for a wedding outfit this lady then seemed to decide to make it her mission not to let me out of the shop without a purchase. Deciding for me, that plum would be best she piled plum skirts, tops and dresses on her arm and directed me to the changing rooms. These too, are very pleasant, quite spacy with plenty of mirrors, hooks and a seat to put your things on.
I tried on each item and switched skirts with different tops and visa versa. Sizing seemed a little strange. Thinking of myself as a size fourteen, it was the size twelves that gave the best fit. Sizing in shops can be a right pain nowadays. M & S seems to have gone quite small, together with Next and LauraAshley. Moonsoon, Dorothy Perkins ans Principle sizes are on the generous side - which I suppose can make you a little more disposed towards their brand.
After trying everything ...
